I am a downtown girl. I love strolling through New York City on the way to a Broadway show, the perfect bagel and cream cheese in one hand and a splendid cup of coffee in the other. Some of my favorite memories from college are from my internship at the Rialto Center, a performing arts venue in the heart of downtown Atlanta, where I mingled with the likes of Savion Glover, Capital Steps, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo to name a few.

And of course now I have downtown Huntsville, which as of late has been increasingly hopping! It’s always had some delightful restaurants and terrific bars that are perfect for hanging out with a group of friends until the wee hours of the night- or 11pm when your babysitter is ready to go home or you’re ready to go to sleep; however you like to roll.

I have to give special props to the Downtown Forty-Seven and the Huntsville Museum of Art for making this year in downtown Huntsville the most festive I have ever seen. I adore the Tinsel Trail in Big Spring Park (way to go D47!), especially with this year’s addition of an outdoor ice skating rink. Because let’s face it, no matter how many times I ask Santa to freeze the pond in Big Spring Park so I can ice skate, that just ain’t gonna happen.

Catch the Holiday Spirit

This weekend in downtown is going to be filled with extra Christmas cheer. The cheer I’m talking about is centered around the aforementioned awesome Tinsel Trail. Like every weekend this month there will be performances from local artists (more on that in a bit), but that’s not the exciting part. Saturday and Sunday, they will host the 1st ever Pop-Up Store featuring products from local artisan cheese maker, Belle Chèvre products.

“We’re excited to partner with and support a wonderful local business, Belle Chèvre, with the pop-up shop concept. We hope that we continue to see large crowds this weekend for this special event. The Trail has already seen more than 16,000 visitors since we opened two weeks ago, and we are grateful for the community’s support of our project,” Downtown Forty-Seven Board Member and Tinsel Trail Chair Ashley Dinges told me.

Pop-Up Details

You may be asking yourself : What is this pop up store? And is it for me? Lucky for you, I just happen to have those answers! Let’s start with a quick definition of a Pop Up Store: a store that magically appears (in this case by the Tinsel Trail in Big Spring Park) for a day (or 2 in this case) and sells items (in this case Belle Chèvre products).

Items that would make terrific (AND LOCAL) Christmas gifts (hint hint). Plus you’ll avoid the insanity that is holiday shopping at the mall, something I personally avoid like the plague. And I guarantee the Tinsel Trail will be the nicest holiday shopping scenery you’ll find anywhere. Plus you’ll be shopping local, which means supporting our community. A win, win, win the way I see it. And I’m in good company. Belle Chèvre president Tasia Malakasis also shares my opinion.

“Our artisan goat cheese is the perfect holiday gift. That’s why we wanted to pop up in Huntsville as a one stop gift shop,” Tasia told me. Some of you may remember Tasia from this year’s TEDx Huntsville event. She was one of the featured speakers and did a fine job! And I can tell you, not to brag or anything, but I got to sit by her in the front row with the other VIP folk.

She also gave me a preview at what you’ll find in their store this weekend:

Samples of all Belle Chèvre products
A gift box crafting station
Signed copies of Tasia Malakasis’ new debut cookbook with personalization options
Customizable books, including signed copies
Personalized gift boxes, which can be shipped from the pop-up store at a flat rate of $5

Also worth noting, you’ll get free shipping for orders over $100 and any visitors who spend over $50 can enter a raffle to win a Belle Chèvre goodie basket that includes an apron, bag and cheesecake.

Performances

Remember all this chèvre delightfulness is taking place by the Tinsel Trail, which features local artists performing every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Here’s a look at who will be entertaining who during your shopping this weekend:

Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre
Comic Science Improv
Asher
The Love Apples
Discovery Middle School Flute Choir

You can find out more about each group by clicking on their name. Visit the Tinsel Trail website to see the complete Tinsel Trail entertainment schedule. [spacer size=”0″]

Tinsel Trail Lights Up Downtown Huntsville

The Downtown Forty-Seven Tinsel Trail is a display of live Christmas trees in downtown Huntsville’s Big Spring Park East. In December 2011, our first Tinsel Trail featured nearly 200 trees decorated by local businesses, nonprofit organizations, churches, families and school groups. The free event attracted over 10,000 visitors to the park in the month of December.

The 2012 event will move to the west side of Big Spring Park, adjacent to the Huntsville Museum of Art ice rink in the park. See below for a draft of the site. The 2012 event will include 200 small trees, 4 large sponsor trees, and one main, large tree.

Belle Chèvre: Local Artisan Cheese

Belle Chèvre has produced a variety of internationally acclaimed chevres since 1989 using time-tested European farmstead techniques. The company is purposefully small, and each chevre is hand made in Alabama by its passionate cheese makers.

Belle Chèvre cheeses have received numerous national awards from the American Cheese Society and the American Dairy Goat Association, and have been featured by Martha Stewart, Oprah, and everyone in between.

Event Information

Days and Times:
Saturday, December 15th from 3-8pm
UPDATE: The Sunday 12/16 portion of the event has been canceled due to weather. It will be rescheduled. As soon as we have the new date and time we will post that information here and on the Our Valley Events calendar.
Location: Tinsel Trail in Big Spring Park. For a map of the Downtown Forty-Seven Tinsel Trail click here
Cost: Free!