Bob Plasse, from Westfield on Weekends, helps lead a parade around the Park Square Green during a previous year’s tree lighting ceremony. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD — Traditional holiday events will be back on Park Square this year, after being canceled or severely scaled back during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
The Parks and Recreation Commission met Sept. 1 to hear proposals from Artworks and Westfield on Weekends to use parks in Westfield for their events.
Cheryl Crowe, treasurer and coordinator for Artworks, sought a permit to use the Park Square Green for an annual art and author show where books can be sold to the public. Crowe dubbed the Oct. 23 event “Artoberfest.”
Crowe said that 24 authors will be featured on the green and inside the pavilion. The event was originally planned for the Boys & Girls Club, but the authors had asked for more physical distancing. There will also be live music performed nearby in a private parking lot in the area of Mina’s Spirits.
Bob Plasse of Westfield on Weekends received permission from the commission to use the Park Square Green Nov. 27 for the annual Mayor’s Tree Lighting Ceremony, and for the Decemberfest events that will take place each weekend from Nov. 26 to Dec. 20. Plasse said that he wanted the tree lighting ceremony to take place on Small Business Saturday, which is the day after Black Friday, or two days after Thanksgiving. He said he hopes to work with the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce to do something related to Small Business Saturday on that date.
Plasse said that the tree lighting will likely be a smaller ceremony, as was the case last year due to the pandemic.
During the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Plasse said that Pumpkinfest would be moved from downtown to the children’s campus of the Boys & Girls Club and Amelia Park Children’s Museum on Oct. 16.
Plasse said that Pumpkinfest had grown in popularity to the point that Westfield’s downtown may not be large enough to contain it.
“The Pumpkinfest was created for children and their families, so the children’s campus makes perfect sense,” said Plasse.
The Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to allow the use of the Park Square Green for Artoberfest, Decemberfest, and the tree lighting ceremony.
Correction: Because of a source’s error, the date of Artoberfest was incorrect in the original version of this story. This article was edited Sept. 3, 2021, to add the correct date.
