On Friday, a Tucson neighborhood will finish the final touches on their themed yard decorations, blow up their inflatable Santas and switch their Christmas lights on promptly at 6 p.m.
The annual, volunteer-run Winterhaven Festival of Lights is coming back for its 76th year with party bikes, new food vendors and two assisted living and disability awareness nights, planning to attract 200,000 people across the state over the course of two weeks.
Apart from spreading holiday joy, this year, more than ever, the festival’s major priority is fundraising for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, an organization it supports every year.
“It has been challenging for them to function in a model of not knowing what tomorrow will bring,” festival chair Kate Marquez said. “The number of residents that are hungry is increasing.”
Currently, more than 50,000 Arizonan’s SNAP applications are waiting to be processed. Additionally, the Trump administration is threatening to withhold SNAP funding from the state, as Arizona refused to provide the federal government personal information about people benefiting from the program.
Marquez said the donations will feed the community, something “the federal government is not doing right now.”
“Our goal is to raise a record amount of $60,000 cash for them to double what we did last year. While we will still accept food donations, we really try to message that the Community Food Bank can do so much more with one dollar than they can with one can of food.”
She said the festival doesn't only represent a community that wants to give back to their neighborhood, but also gives back to those who are in need right now the most - according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1 in 6 Arizonans are affected by food insecurity.
“We want the festival to kind of be a beacon of light for joy in this community, and that's why the community does rally together and put this on as an all-volunteer festival. Recognizing when there is need, we show up. And I think that is Tucson. That is who we are.”
Winterhaven Festival of Lights runs from Dec. 13-27 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
