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Ucluelet’s annual Midnight Madness shopping extravaganza is tonight

Over 30 Ucluelet businesses kickoff the holiday season with the annual shop local celebration
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The Blue Room’s Janine Riley, left, and Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce manager Seika Anderson will be spreading holiday cheer on Friday, Nov. 25 as the town lights up for its annual Midnight Madness. (Nora O’Malley photo)

Folks far and near are invited to bring the cheer this Friday, Nov. 25 as over 30 Ucluelet businesses kickoff the holiday season with the annual Midnight Madness shopping celebration.

Stores offer crazy specials, and many stay open until 10 p.m. or midnight. While Friday is the big night of ‘madness’, most shops offer weekend long deals. New this year for the kids is a fun event taking place a The Blue Room from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“When my kids were younger, I tended not to do the Midnight Madness thing because it’s hard to keep the kids entertained the whole time, so I thought it would be a nice break in the shopping for the kids so they would have somewhere fun to hang out,” said The Blue Room owner Janine Riley.

She said there will be free games for the kids to play like a fake snowball fight, pin the nose on the snowman and antler ring toss. The Grade 7 Ucluelet Secondary School students will also be onsite selling baked goods, popcorn, hot chocolate, apple cider and Christmas ornaments to raise funds for their year-end trip to Strathcona Provincial Park.

“We will have backyard burgers a little bit later on in the night,” said Riley, noting that the burgers will be about $10 with partial proceeds going to Food Bank on the Edge.

Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce manager Seika Anderson said the Ucluelet Children’s Centre will have a pop-up gift wrapping station set-up across from The Blue Room on Friday as well.

“Midnight Madness has been going on for over 40 years in our community. It started with a few pillar business staples. It’s always been a really fun event for the town and it’s a good time for everyone to get their holiday shopping done and a great time for business owners to have fun,” said Anderson.

The next day, on Saturday, Nov. 26, the Ucluelet Community Centre will host a Holiday Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. About 40 local vendors will be selling handmade crafts or goods.

“We will have a pop-up bubble tea station by Jennii G’s from Ty-histanis. We will have some younger vendors and the Chamber will be there selling cookies and hot chocolate. It’s a great weekend to shop local,” said Anderson.



nora.omalley@westerlynews.ca

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