{"id":21554,"date":"2015-11-08T18:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T00:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=21554"},"modified":"2015-11-08T17:28:56","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T23:28:56","slug":"spiritfest-event-to-provide-parade-goers-abundance-of-fun-in-clarksville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2015\/11\/08\/spiritfest-event-to-provide-parade-goers-abundance-of-fun-in-clarksville\/","title":{"rendered":"SpiritFest Event to Provide Parade-Goers Abundance of Fun in Clarksville"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Clarksville'sClarksville, TN<\/strong> – The first-ever SpiritFest, a celebratory holiday event at 2:30pm on Saturday, December. 5th, will offer an irresistible opportunity for those who gather early to watch the city\u2019s 56th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade. It is being touted as \u201cA Pre-Parade Celebration of Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than getting an early parking spot \u2013 then waiting through cold and boredom until the parade begins \u2013 parade-goers can enjoy a variety of family-friendly activities during SpiritFest.<\/p>\n

\"SpiritFest<\/a>

SpiritFest will conclude with the lighting of First Presbyterian Church\u2019s three historic rosette windows for the first time since their recent refurbishment.<\/p><\/div>\n

Located on the sites of two Historic Downtown Clarksville churches, the event will culminate at 4:30pm with the first public lighting of First Presbyterian Church\u2019s three historic rosette windows, which will celebrate the completion of the stained glass windows\u2019 exacting refurbishment.<\/p>\n

SpiritFest\u2019s main stage will be located at the corner of Main Street and North Third Street. This area is between the two participating churches, First Presbyterian Church at 213 Main Street and Trinity Episcopal Church at 317 Franklin Street.<\/p>\n

The free festival will feature kids\u2019 inflatables, Santa Claus, complimentary hot chocolate and desserts, Christmas music performances by multiple groups, the Roxy Christmas Carolers, food trucks and two art and gift markets.<\/p>\n

SpiritFest will end in time for the parade to proceed down Main Street in front of First Presbyterian Church.<\/p>\n

The Clarksville\/Montgomery County Arts and Heritage Development Council has recruited artists and artisans to SpiritFest to offer one-of-a-kind items for sale as Christmas gifts. Two associations will also sell \u201cgifts for a cause.\u201d One is Ten Thousand Villages, which will feature \u201cfair trade\u201d baskets, jewelry and crafts from international artisans. Another is Thistle Farms, which will sell handmade items, such as beauty products and teas, made by women who have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction.<\/p>\n

The brainchild of First Presbyterian Church, SpiritFest was conceived after congregation members became eager to get more involved in supporting Historic Downtown Clarksville \u2013 or in the words of Rev. Gregory L. Glover, FPC pastor, to \u201cbless our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

During last year\u2019s parade, Glover explained, church members observed that people waited in front of their church for a long time for the parade to begin, without amenities or anything to occupy the children. This prompted the creation of SpiritFest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better opportunity could there be to serve our neighbors than by hosting a pre-parade festival?\u201d Glover says. \u201cThere\u2019s no better time for a church to get deeply involved in its community than during the Christmas season.\u201d<\/p>\n

[320left]The lighting of the rosette windows during SpiritFest will mark First Presbyterian Church\u2019s broader vision of blending community and architectural preservation interests.<\/p>\n

Since historically-important churches are integral to Clarksville\u2019s aesthetic character, as well as to its religious and social history, Glover feels his congregation\u2019s historic church, which was built in 1878, should be preserved and shared.<\/p>\n

Both First Presbyterian Church and Trinity Episcopal Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n

For an events schedule and map \u2013 and specific information about musical performances, artists, kids\u2019 activities, food trucks, the historic rosette windows and more \u2013 visit www.SpiritFestDowntown.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – The first-ever SpiritFest, a celebratory holiday event at 2:30pm on Saturday, December. 5th, will offer an irresistible opportunity for those who gather early to watch the city\u2019s 56th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade. It is being touted as \u201cA Pre-Parade Celebration of Christmas.\u201d Rather than getting an early parking spot \u2013 then waiting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[16799,825,1266,4097,1579,27070,1491,2310,10507,27069,13,27068,646],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-5BE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21555,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21554\/revisions\/21555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}