by Michelle Rice
EAST ATLANTA — The East Atlanta Santa Fest 2013, returns to the Village on Dec. 7 and 8.
This will be the seventh year a group of volunteer elves has been doing pictures with Santa in East Atlanta Village to benefit neighborhood nonprofits.
This year's beneficiaries are East Atlanta Kids Club and Neighbor in Need.
A few years ago, the elves combined the pictures event with the annual East Atlanta Community Association tree lighting and added a tree decorating contest.
Now, Santa and the elves are upping their game even more, with an artists' market and sidewalk parade on Saturday, and caroling, horse-drawn sleigh rides and ornament making on Sunday.
The pictures are $15 for a set on a flash drive, but everything else is free.
The tree decorating contest is in need of more tree adopters, so we'd love it if we could get everyone in our community — groups, businesses, families or individuals — to adopt one of the trees on the west side of Flat Shoals and fill their tree with lights and decorations.
The crowd attending the Village tree lighting votes for their favorite and Village businesses provide a prize. Past winners have included a tree decorated as the leg lamp from the movie "A Christmas Story" and a tree decorated with a replica of the EAV chicken, the neighborhood's unofficial mascot. Folks can contact EAVSanta@gmail.com to adopt a tree or to get more information about the festival.
The Facebook event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/762038710489774/
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