Downtown Paris Business Improvement Area (BIA) is getting ready to kick off the holidays with the upcoming 17th annual Jingle Bell Night on Friday, November 21, 2025.
The idea of the event, which was originally started around 2008 by former BIA board members Laurie Brain and Judy Simpson, is to mark the start of the holidays and encourage people, whether they’re longtime residents or new to the area, to visit downtown Paris.
“Jingle Bell Night has always sort of been labeled as the big kick-off to the holiday season, and it’s really the BIA’s way to get the community involved, bring people downtown and encourage them to support the local businesses,” said Pennylane Ritchie, chair of the Downtown Paris BIA. “Being on the board, part of our job to bring people into the downtown core, either through tourism or through community initiatives, and so while we have some events that are more catered towards tourism, this is one of our events that’s really geared towards community.”
As far as what people can expect from the big event, which runs from 5 to 9 p.m., Ritchie said many of the downtown businesses and vendors will be offering tax-free shopping or other various deals and promotions throughout the evening.
“There’s also a lot of other fun things happening too. For example, we’re encouraging our businesses to decorate their window fronts and we’ll have some student judges for that, there’ll be live entertainment and carolers, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a colouring contest for kids,” she said. “Some of our businesses are also going to be providing hot chocolate or apple cider and the fire department will be there with a toy drive too. We’re also working on securing a horse and buggy because the construction on Grand River Street North will be done by then, and so we would love for people to ride around downtown and get to enjoy the new streetscaping.”
Of course, one of the big highlights of the night will be the tree lighting ceremony.
“The tree lighting will happen at 7 p.m. at the Cobblestone Commons and our mayor will be there to help us do the big countdown,” said Ritchie. “It’s always a really fun part of the night and I want to give a big shout out to Davey Tree Care Services because they always donate their time to get us a great big live tree and put it up for us.”
According to the County of Brant website, there will also be gift wrapping happening inside Wincey Mills, and people will have the chance to enter and win a $500 downtown shopping spree.
Overall, Ritchie said that she and the BIA are looking forward to the big event, and hopes everyone can make it out to enjoy the evening.
“This is one of those big annual events that our businesses really rely on and that the local community looks forward to every year, so we’re definitely excited,” she said.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
