Christmas Mall returns to Civic Center this weekend

Despite canceling the 12th annual Prairie Days festival in early October due to the COVID-19 surge and low vendor turn out, the El Campo Chamber of Commerce is moving full steam ahead with this year’s Christmas Mall.

With COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all dropped drastically since October, leaving the door open for the Christmas event that traditionally marks the start of the holiday season for El Campo.

“Last year, we had a good year, but it was definitely down because people were taking precautions and staying home,” El Campo Chamber of Commerce President Rebecca Munos said. “Then we had to cancel Prairie Days, so it will be great to be able to have a community event centered around families and their needs.”

The Christmas Mall will have many of the same vendors it has had for the past few years, but there will be new shopping options, including a leatherworks, boutiques and a duck call booth.

Shabby Chic Boutique and Tanning owner Beverly Skow will participate for the 15th year, and she expects a good turnout for this weekend.

“This November has been better than any we have had in the last few years,’ Skow said. “I think people are excited to get together as a community and just act normal for a couple of days.”

Although the event is geared towards adults and their Christmas shopping the Sylvan Learning Center will participate, and the El Campo Museum of Natural History will be hosting pictures with Santa. 

The pictures with Santa will be by appointment only. Each session will be 15-minutes and include five digital photos. Those interested can go to http://www.tinyurl.com/SantaPictures2021 to sign up for a time slot. Proceeds for the photo shoot benefit the museum.

“We invite everyone to come out and kick off the holiday season by shopping local and having a little bit of fun at the same time,” Munos said. “We are excited to end the year right and hope a lot of people come out and enjoy themselves.”