Save the Dates for 5th Annual Roc Holiday Village!
Four Weekends in December 2023 — Opening Day December 1st!
Rochester, NY—December 27, 2022—The fourth annual City of Rochester Roc Holiday Village presented by Five Star Bank wrapped up 15 days of holiday magic Thursday, December 22 with a farewell to Santa parade.
The holiday festival drew a record-breaking attendance of 140,000 people of all ages who visited Roc Holiday Village in the heart of downtown Rochester at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial Park.
“As we reflect on our 4th annual event, we want to express how thankful and humbled we are by the generous and loyal support from our sponsors and the entire Rochester community,” said Jenna Knauf, Sean McCarthy, and Kelli Marsh, co-founders and producers of Roc Holiday Village.
“Our wish every year is to create a joyful and magical destination for everyone to gather and celebrate this enchanting time of the year. That wish came true as we welcomed thousands people to downtown Rochester this year and created holiday memories with their families and friends.”
Due to dangerous weather conditions, Roc Holiday Village was closed on Friday, December 23 and wrapped up one day earlier than originally scheduled.
Free ice skating and skate rentals sponsored by Wegmans continue after the Village is closed from noon to 8:50 p.m. on Monday, December 26, Tuesday, December 27, Wednesday, December 28, Thursday, December 29, Friday, December 30, Saturday, December 31 and Monday, January 2.
Save the dates for 5th annual Roc Holiday Village, which will be open for four weekends in December 2023. Opening day will be Friday, December 1.
- 2022 Roc Holiday Village Highlights Included:
Santa’s Workshop returned for the first time since 2019 and featured free visits and photos with Santa, free cookies courtesy of Wegmans, and Santa Text Express, for shorter wait times. Santa’s Workshop is sponsored by Wellcare by Fidelis Care. Over 700 letters to Santa were written. - Free ice skating and rentals sponsored by Wegmans drew tens of thousands of people of all ages.
- Shopping Village presented by Visit Rochester featured 27 retail vendors each week.
- Mini Makers Market presented goods for sale from 16 local vendors.
- The Triple-O Lodge indoor heated tent bar served up wine, sparkling wine, beer, hard cider, hard seltzer, mulled wine, juice, soda, and water. It also featured a mini arcade with free games and TVs.
- The Igloo Village sponsored by Samson Fuel included 10 Cozy Winter Igloos for private parties and events for up to eight people each, and two Igloo Inns, one for up to 30 people and one for up to 40 people. Cozy Winter Igloos sold out in an hour.
- “Frosty’s Food Court” took over Court St. where a variety of up to five food trucks served visitors daily.
- A Hot cocoa and coffee bar was busy inside The Triple-O Lodge where guests purchased specialty hot and cold beverages.
- Outdoor seating sponsored by the YMCA of Greater Rochester and a new outdoor bar with fire pits and blankets provided a popular place to get cozy and relax.
- Explore the Village was a new way to discover the magic of Roc Holiday Village and enjoy winter’s festivities and including a Scavenger Hunt, Adventure Map, and Photo Quest. Explore the Village is sponsored by GreenSpark Solar.
- Special events in the Triple-O Lodge bar included BeerPass ROC pop-up, Empire Merchants North wine tastings, 1911 Established hard cider sampling, Stella Artois chalice engraving and Ellicottville Brewing Company beer tasting.
- Live music on The Buckingham Properties Stage inside The Triple-O Lodge took place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening.
- Free Crafts for Kids inside the T-Mobile Gingerbread House presented by Goldfish Swim School, Girl Scouts of Western New York, Home Depot, Macaroni Kid, and Boy Scouts of America Seneca Waterways Council.
- Band Karaoke with Up2Somethin’ returned to the Buckingham Properties Stage inside The Triple-O Lodge took place every Wednesday evening.
- Holiday Celebrations presented by the Rochester Area Community Foundation included Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Three Kings’ Day and Christmas.
- Ice rink theme days and special events included curling demo, sled hockey demo, hockey skills competition with the Ryan Callahan Foundation, figure skating performances and Amerks scoro.
- Special appearance meet and greets with live reindeer, Anna and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen, and Milo The Bat Dog from the Rochester Red Wings.
Roc Holiday Village is Rochester, New York’s favorite, magical winter festival! Delighting people of all ages, Roc Holiday Village 2022 presented 15 days of enchanting festivities on varying dates from December 2 to December 22. The downtown festival features outdoor seating and fire pits, free ice skating and skate rentals, a unique shopping village, an indoor bar with tasty food and drinks, free visits with Santa, hand-crafted goods, cozy winter igloos, free crafts for kids, holiday celebrations, live music, private events, nightlife and more. In its fourth year in 2022, Roc Holiday Village drew more than 140,000 people of all ages to the heart of downtown Rochester at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial Park. It is produced by Rochester natives Jenna Manetta Knauf, owner of Bella Events Group; Kelli Marsh, owner of Kelli Marsh photography; and Sean McCarthy, owner of McCarthy Tents & Events and Nolan’s Rentals Inc.
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