Light Up Ahwatukee Holiday Festival

AHWATUKEE’S FAMILY-FRIENDLY HOLIDAY FESTIVAL IS BACK

The 27th annual Light Up Ahwatukee’s Holiday Festival is Saturday, November 23 as Desert Foothills Park transforms into a vibrant celebration of creativity, community, and festive wonder. The free family-friendly festival is a great way to kick off the holiday season and get into the Christmas spirit. The festival has become a cornerstone for the holiday season in Ahwatukee, inviting guests of all ages to experience live music, highlight local food and businesses, community performances, holiday-themed activities, and of course Santa.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

10:00AM - Doors open - Admission to the festival is free.
10:00AM-11:00PM - 21+ Wren Tavern/Beer Garden, Live Entertainment on stage
10:00AM-8:00PM - Candy Cane Lane/Inflatables (All day wristbands just $25)
10:00AM-CLOSE - Food Truck Trail
12:00-5:30PM - Santa’s Village
10:00AM-CLOSE - Marketplace Street Village
6:15PM - Motorcycle Parade

LUA has selected HOPE for the Homeless as their designated charity partner for the Holiday Festival. HOPE stands for Humbling Offering Positive Encouragement for the Homeless and their mission is to make a lasting impact for the homeless throughout Arizona. They shine light in our community by feeding the homeless who are hungry, meeting the homeless in their recovery journey, and loving the homeless for who and where they are.

Set against the backdrop of the Ahwatukee Foothills skyline, one of the festival's latest renovations over the past few years has been the Holiday Marketplace, transformed into a delicate focus on local artisans, providing a holiday arts and crafts shopping experience with local businesses, gifts, homemade goods, handmade ornaments, candles and more. The vibrant outdoor market brings local flair and festive cheer to the park with rows of marketplace stalls lining Marketplace Street and scattered throughout the park.

Over 75 local marketplace and service vendors have signed up to offer unique gifts, locally sourced handmade crafts, and delicious treats this year for our open-air market festival the community has come to love. Whether you are shopping for the perfect gift, local goods or simply soaking in the festive holiday vibes, you can sip and snack on specialty food truck fare while you shop this is the must-attend event.”

Click here to check out all the vendors signed up including local artwork, woodworking home decor, artisan crafts, vintage goods, pet clothing and treats, jewelry, candles, boutique clothing, sand art, toys, plushie gifts, culinary treats, and live experiences. Pair that with live entertainment, holiday-themed activities, and a strong community spirit, it is the perfect way to celebrate the season while supporting local.

This year, Light Up Ahwatukee has partnered with local brewery and pub, Wren Südhalle (South Hall); the latest concept from Arizona-based award-winning Wren House Brewing Co. that celebrates traditional European beer styles, culture, and food. Südhalle, which just celebrated their one-year anniversary.

Wren Südhalle and Scout Distribution will be collaborating as the festival's primary beer sponsor for the event. Wren will have 3-4 different beers on tap throughout the day for guests to purchase drink tickets.

The popular wine pouring stations will be located in both the 21+ Tavern and the new for 2024, and an extra wine pouring station will be in the 21+ Lush Winter Cocktail Garden with a variety of wines, bubbly, and seltzers. A Winter Cocktail Garden hosted by Lush Café and Lounge with craft cocktails available for purchase.

Guests will not go hungry, that’s for sure. Light Up Ahwatukee has just about 20 food trucks and vendors for festival goers to nosh at. New for 2024, Zzeeks Pizza will be on-site selling both full-size pizzas and slices. Zzeeks also will be providing every volunteer on-site a slice of pizza as a thank-you meal for volunteering.

Other food/drink/snack vendors include Hot Bamboo, Cuties Lemonade, Parlor Donuts, I Dream of Weenies, Chick-fil-A, Food Love featuring a variety of fair food items, Fried Agee Rolls, Wok This Way, Chris’s Water and Ice, Jakes Treat Trolley featuring Mini Donuts, Yoasis Frozen Yogurt, Mangled Foods showcasing breakfast burritos, Beccarra's Kitchen with burgers and BBQ, Gus’s Gyro, and Eddy Dee’s featuring nachos, wraps, churros, mac and cheese, turkey legs and more.

As far as entertainment, LUA has quite the impressive line up set for the stage all day from 10AM to 10PM.

Community Stage Performances

10AM - Welcome from Board President, Maria Reyes-Smith
10:15-11AM - Dance Connection 2
11AM-12PM - Ahwatukee Children’s Theatre
12-12:30PM - Brandon Riggs / My Special World
12:30-1:00PM - Mariachi Estrella de Cobre

Live Band Performances
12:30-1:45 - Sunday Night Friends Club
2:15-6:15PM - Contents May Shift and Lil’ Debbie Band
7:00-10:00 PM - Iconic / Voyager

HEADLINER Iconic Band / Voyager - Experience ICONIC – A Hi-Energy Pop & Rock showcase featuring something for everyone with hits from the 60s to today performed by the members of the Journey tribute band Voyager. Guests at the Festival can dance to every song or sing along to the chart-topping hits. Chuck Berry to Cheap Trick, The Beatles to The Bee Gees, Bon Jovi to Bruno Mars, Journey to Justin Timberlake, Def Leppard to DNCE, and so much more. You'll know every song, they're all ICONIC! Their alter ego band is the Journey tribute band, Voyager.

LUA’s popular Santa’s Village, sponsored by San Tan Ford, as guests enjoy personal one-on-one time with Santa for complimentary family photos from 12pm-5:30pm. Candycane Lane will operate inflatables and bounce houses from 10am-8pm. An Arizona Humane Society dog adoption will take place from 11am-3pm.

LUA is still seeking community volunteers and Motorcycle Parade participants.

Sponsors committed for the 2024 Light Up Ahwatukee Holiday Festival include San Tan Ford for Santa’s Village, Wren Sudhalle sponsoring the Tavern, Big O Tires sponsoring the tavern and game area, Lush Lounge sponsoring the Winter Cocktail Garden, supporting sponsors include Holiday Lights Phoenix, Zzeeks Pizza, Philly’s Sports Grill, Concerts in the Park, Vero Chicago Pizza, PostNet as the Print Sponsor, and Ahwatukee Foothills News.