There may or may not be 99 red balloons — someone will have to count — but there will be a lot of red balloons in Castlegar on Friday and Saturday as 35 businesses celebrate our city’s downtown with the I Heart Downtown Castlegar event.
All of the participating businesses in the downtown area — from the bottom of Sherbico Hill to Castle Theatre — will display red balloons and will have some kind of a draw.
“It varies from a gift certificate to a toothbrush, a vacuum, a dinner out, movie tickets, gift baskets,” explains Shawna Tarasoff, owner of Mother Natures and organizer of the event.
Each business will also collect entries for the grand prize, which is $800 in $100 gift certificates at eight of the participating businesses, as chosen by the winner.
“The more businesses you visit, the more chances to win the grand prize,” says Tarasoff.
No purchase is necessary to enter.
The event offers residents and visitors an opportunity to learn more about the businesses located downtown.
“Each business will be showcasing their own business and telling their story,” says Tarasoff. “What they are and what they do, and an offering of some sort, whether that’s a heart-shaped pretzel or a store-wide discount or a sidewalk sale.”
The event pairs well with Castlegar Sculpturewalk, as people can check out both businesses and sculptures while they stroll through downtown.
“The main idea was to create some excitement to the downtown businesses and just bring some people out,” says Tarasoff.
The success of the event will be determined by foot traffic, according to Tarasoff.
“It’s an opportunity to shop, socialize and savour.”
If the event is successful, it could happen again next year.