Festival of Trees Calendar

Festival of Trees Calendar

Event Timing

The Festival of Trees is scheduled each year around the **first Saturday in December**. The public event dates are always:

• **Thursday** before the first Saturday in December
• **Friday** before the first Saturday in December
• **The first Saturday in December**
• **Sunday** immediately following the first Saturday in December

For example:

• If the first Saturday in December is December 3, the Festival of Trees event dates will be December 1 (Thu), 2 (Fri), 3 (Sat), and 4 (Sun).

Committee Meetings

• **Festival of Trees Committee meetings begin in July** each year.
• Meeting frequency and specific dates are determined by the Committee and added to the current year’s planning notes.

Evergreen Planning Calendar

This evergreen calendar is designed to help plan the weeks leading up to the Festival of Trees.

• **Weeks begin on Sunday.**
• “Event Week” is the week that includes the first Saturday in December.
• For each year, you can fill in the “Major goal for the day” or key tasks in the cells below.

Week Labels

• **Week -10**: Ten weeks before Event Week
• **Week -9**: Nine weeks before Event Week
• …
• **Week -1**: One week before Event Week
• **Event Week**: Week of the Festival of Trees (Thu–Sun event days)
• **Week +1**: Week after Event Week (follow-up, debrief, thank-yous)

Evergreen Weekly Grid

Week (relative)	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week -10
Week -9	| | | | |
Week -8	| | | | |
Week -7	| | | | |
Week -6	| | | | |
Week -5	| | | | |
Week -4	| | | | |
Week -3	| | | | |
Week -2	| | | | |
Week -1	| | | | |
Event Week	Prep sanctuary; remove tables; set up rows, etc.	Set up electricity according to last year's grid	Trees mostly set up	Complete trees; shop vacuum sanctuary	Soft open from 5 PM; people start arriving by 5 PM; food 5–7 PM	School field trips (1 hr 10 min blocks, ~100 kids per group); evening event 5–8 PM; food 5–7 PM	Event 11 AM–8 PM; light-up around 5:30 PM; Santa 2–4 PM; food (time TBD)
Week +1	Event open 1–6 PM; regular church AM & PM services	Count tickets and determine winner	Have everything in bags/bins for storage	Put everything in attic (needs 4 people)	Vacuum and have sanctuary ready for NA		Food pantry day

Usage Notes

• Update the **Week (relative)** labels with the actual dates for the current year, if helpful.
• Use each cell to record the **major goal for that day** (e.g., “Finalize tree assignments,” “Confirm vendors,” “Program book to printer,” “Decorating night,” etc.).
• For detailed date-specific information for a given year, you may create pages such as:
  • Festival of Trees 2025 Calendar
  • Festival of Trees 2026 Calendar