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Big crowds bring sizzle to first Holidazzle Village

New village and market open to replace Holidazzle parade.

By Emma Nelson

November 29, 2014 at 4:51AM

Fireworks light the cold night sky Friday over downtown Minneapolis, launched from Vincent's, as part of the reimagined Holidazzle. (Dml - Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Rosy-cheeked crowds braved freezing weather Friday to eat, drink, be merry — and shop — at downtown Minneapolis' first Holidazzle Village.

Opening day visitors were greeted by stationary parade floats leading to an array of activities, including a sparkling carousel and a pen filled with six hay-munching reindeer.

The festive village on Nicollet Mall between 10th and 12th streets replaces the city's Holidazzle parade, which had snaked along the mall for more than two decades.

A European-style Holiday Market with 30 huts filled Peavey Plaza at 11th and Nicollet, with vendors selling items from around the world, from colorful scarves to scented candles to beer. Visitors entered the market free Friday, though they'll typically pay a one-time, seasonal admission of $3 to $6. (The Holiday Village itself is free.)

Niklas Curle, 19, was working at a quiet German gingerbread stand. A Minneapolis native, he said he had attended the Holidazzle Parade as a child. "It was definitely one of my favorite parts of winter," Curle said.

Though he'll miss that tradition, he said, he likes the feel of the village and thinks it will draw people from outside the Twin Cities.

The event is part of a larger effort to ramp up holiday activities downtown after the parade was closed down last year. The Holiday Village and market give the event a decidedly more commercial flair, offering visitors more to see, eat and buy. There are similar holiday-themed villages across the United States, including in Chicago, and around the world.

Allison Jenson drove from Park Rapids, Minn., to visit the village with her husband and 5-year-old daughter. They'd learned about it after doing an Internet search for the parade — planning to attend it for the first time — and discovering it no longer exists.

Jenson's daughter, Danika, was planning to ride the village's carousel Friday afternoon. The family also planned to visit some of the village's shops. "It's different," Jenson said, "but still fun."

Carmella Jasperson, 23, was also visiting with her family. They came from Wisconsin for Thanksgiving weekend and wanted to explore downtown Minneapolis.

Jasperson, who is originally from Rhode Island, said she grew up visiting villages like this one on the East Coast. She said that she likes the opportunity to support the vendors and that she already had made a dent in her holiday shopping shortly after the market opened.

She wasn't the only visitor armed with a pocketbook. Vendors at most of the outdoor stands saw a steady flow of foot traffic, while a long, shivering line waited to enter a tent filled with trinkets.

Other visitors spent time just huddled around open-air tables, drinking from steaming mugs and eating pastries, chocolates and baked cheese.

"Just browsing, looking, drinking," said Yarira Pineda, 43, of her family's plans for the afternoon. She, her husband and two young children had parked themselves at a table at the market's center, near a quartet singing carols in four-part harmony.

Throughout the afternoon, droves of visitors paused, listened and then moved on to the next thing to eat, buy or see.

Said Curle, looking out at the crowd from the gingerbread stand: "It feels a little more like something you spend time in."

Emma Nelson • 952-746-3287

This is the first year of the reimagined Holidazzle, where it’s Holidazzle Village, rather than the Holidazzle parade. Here,members of the Collide Theatrical Dance Co. perform "The Velveteen Rabbit during story time. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Fireworks burst over the cold downtown Minneapolis sky from atop Vincent A Restaurant at 11th Street and Nicollet Mall on Friday to mark the opening of the city’s re-imagined Holidazzle celebration. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)