The Billerica Holiday Festival is an independent, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide free, family events and to provide for the lighting and decorating of the center of town during the winter holiday season. We take no money from the Town budget to achieve these efforts. All of our money comes from various fundraising, sponsorship, and donation support from over 200 individuals, local businesses, and organizations, not to mention the thousands of people who purchase Raffle Tickets at the Billerica Public Library for a chance to win one of the fantastic Display & Raffle items adorning the Library.
2021 has been an up-and-down year. While we had hoped things would have been different by now, the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to linger and provide uncertainty over many aspects of life. This has significantly impacted decision making as to the feasibility of us holding events in 2021.
Given how things have progressed recently, and where they appear to be going, we would not be able to safely host our events that take place inside the Billerica Public Library. The Library is the sole venue for our Holiday Reception and our Home for the Holidays Display & Raffle. Though we gave our best efforts to find suitable alternatives to each of these events, we have made the decision to cancel both of these events.
We do have some good news, however. As of right now we are still planning to hold our Annual Tree Lighting (December 4, 2021) and Free Pictures with Santa (December 11, 2021) events. The Winter Festival (Games & Activities) portion of our Tree Lighting event will not occur, but we will be holding the Tree Lighting itself with our Music Program, Arrival of Santa, and the Lighting of the Common.
The Display & Raffle is our main fundraising event. With its cancellation we are reviving our Light the Common Campaign that we held in 2020. Beginning today, the Billerica Holiday Festival Board of Directors is announcing our 2021 Light the Common Campaign with the hopes of raising enough money, solely via monetary donations, to allow us to fund the stringing and lighting of the lights on and around the Common.
We received a lot of fantastic feedback on our efforts last year. A recurring comment was that not all of the Common was lit in 2020. It is true that only a portion of the Common was able to be lit based on the funds raised. It was also expressed by many that they wish they had known about our efforts and would have contributed. We have heard this feedback and this year we are setting a goal of raising $25,000 by November 2, 2021 to fully light the Common. Once our deadline passes, should we have not made our goal, we will take assessment of our financial situation and in consultation with our dedicated partners at IBEW Local 103 and Gaston Electric, to light and decorate as much of the center as we can. We ask, if you are able, to go to https://tinyurl.com/bhf2021 to donate any amount you can.
We would be remiss if we didn’t extend our sincere and utmost thanks and appreciation to our partners: Lou Antonellis and all of the leadership of IBEW Local 103; and John Buckley and all of the leadership of Gaston Electric for their continued partnership and extreme generosity in these times to help us give you the best lighting display possible.
We are immensely disappointed that we are not able to return to our full slate of events. We are hoping you are able to enjoy the abridged version this year and can help us achieve that through a donation. We are hopeful to return bigger, better, and stronger for our 2022 season. Until then, if you are able to, we ask that you help us make 2021 the best it can be!
Sincerely,
The 21 Directors of the Billerica Holiday Festival
Billerica Holiday Festival 