Lima kicks off Christmas season

LIMA — A sprinkle of Christmas cheer filled Town Square in Lima on Friday as families gathered to celebrate the annual “Flip the Switch” event.

The Details

Sponsored by Spring & Main, this year’s event featured vendors, food and festive fun.

“Christmas season’s always special for a lot of folks, and we thought a free family event downtown is the perfect way to bring in the holiday season,” said JB in the Morning with iHeartMedia.

“Plus, the chance to light the City of Lima’s Christmas tree every year is always festive. So, a lot of everything is here.”

Flip the Switch introduced something new this year, bringing classical music for families to enjoy.

“A few new things, we have a farmer’s market and then we have a Christmas concert inside with the Lima Area Concert Band. That’s very new as well,” JB said.

The Lima Farmer’s Market extended its original crop season.

“I know they do the Flip the Switch event to really bring people together for the holiday season and kick off the family feel and that community feel for this time of the year,” said Madelyn Downing, manager for Lima Farmer’s Market.

“Since this is our first year joining, we just thought it was a great opportunity to allow our vendors to see customers that late into the season. Our market season ended earlier in the year, so another time for them to spotlight and get out there.”

Other small businesses partnered with the event to promote their products and services.

“Well, I’ve heard a lot of good things last year,” said Meghan Pepple, owner of Countryside Skincare. “I’ve heard that they had a really good turnout, and I didn’t actually think this was a vendor event at first. So, it’s really nice to know that the community is coming together and actually attracting vendors.”

From Santa Claus and hot cocoa to free raffles and giveaways, every attendee was able to kick-off their holiday season with Flip the Switch.

“It’s really so cool to see so many different people from different areas of Lima come together for this. I know there’s always all kinds of events going on in different areas of Lima, but we can really come to the center of Lima and see people. It really gives that Christmas holiday feel for sure,” Downing said.