By Khalida Sarwari
The opening of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities may as well have been about the holidays–it really is at once the best and the worst of times. The season gives us beautiful Christmas trees, delicious meals, family time and gifts, but it also gives us long lines at the mall, crowds of people everywhere and fruitcake.
While there isn’t much one can do to make the unappealing aspects of the season disappear, there are ways to mitigate the stress that comes with the shopping and cooking chores during the holidays. On Nov. 15, the Downtown Campbell Business Association will host an event to bring together local merchants and restaurants for an opportunity to showcase their holiday deals and meals.
The inaugural Downtown Campbell Holiday Extravaganza will feature pre-holiday shopping specials from nearly two dozen downtown merchants and food tastings from at least nine local restaurants. The merchants will set up tables to display sale items or introduce new items for the holidays. Some will offer discounts and gift certificates and take advance orders. The eateries will present holiday foods and new specialties.
“It’s one of the things the DCBA does to promote small business and local shopping,” DCBA president Sonya Paz said of the event. “A lot of these things you may not be able to find online or they are in limited supply.”
At the expo there will also be festive music by a DJ and free gift wrapping services for items that are purchased at the event.
The participating restaurants and merchants include Sonoma Chicken Coop, Naschmarkt Restaurant, Sushi Confidential, BYR of Belgium, Frost Cupcake Factory, Snake and Butterfly, El Guapo’s, Blue Line Pizza, Liquid Bread Gastropub, Rocket Fizz, Olive Bar, Sonya Paz Fine Art, Bombshell Boutique, Stone Griffin Gallery, Villa Ragusa, Celtic Shoppe, In Style Shoes, Campbell Showroom, the Carla deQuant Gallery, the Campbell Furniture Gallery, Sara’s Fresh Florals, Tiny Tots and the Darling Fisher Memorial Chapel.
The price of admission for the event is one new children’s book or a $5 donation to the Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga, the local chapter of a national nonprofit that focuses on programs benefiting children, families and seniors in Silicon Valley.
The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Villa Ragusa, 35 S. Second St. in Campbell.
For more information about the event, visit downtowncampbell.com.
