By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
ROCKFORD — Stroll on State, the city’s annual one-day festival to kickoff the holiday season, drew an estimated 81,825 people to downtown this year, according to the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The visitors bureau released those figures on Thursday, saying they contract with an event analytics firm that uses mobile device data provided by Placer.ai to create its estimate. This past year’s crowd grew by nearly 17% from an estimated 70,050 in attendance in 2022.
The event, which always happens the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, attracted an estimated 87,500 people at its peak in 2018.
More holiday events: Festival of Lights in Rockford hits new record attendance with more than 126K people
“Back in 2013, we introduced Stroll to give people new, fun reasons to come to and experience downtown Rockford and to gather as a community,” John Groh, president and CEO of the visitors bureau, said in a news release. “Rockford was in comeback mode then. Our once-dismissed Midwestern city has pulled through, continues to make strides, and is developing at an impressive pace. Our board of directors and staff are proud this event has become an example of how we can build our confidence when we work together as community.”
An estimated 637,000 people have now visited Stroll on State during its 11 years. The event was not held in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The event transforms multiple blocks of downtown Rockford into a winter wonderland with s’mores, hot cocoa stations, bonfires, ice sculptures, snow-making machines, horse and wagon rides, carolers, live music, ice skating, character dance parties and appearances by Santa.
There is also a 5K run to start the day and a parade with floats and nine giant balloons, the largest of which was a 30-foot tall sock monkey. There were 46 parade entries this year.
Photos: Stroll on State 2023 in downtown Rockford
The event is funded by dozens of corporate sponsors and put on by a team of volunteers along with the visitors bureau.
“Each year I’m inspired looking back on the success of Stroll on State and what our team, sponsors, supporters, partners and volunteers have been able to accomplish by working together. They say it takes a village and we are immensely grateful to ours for helping in so many ways,” Kristen Paul, executive vice president of the visitors bureau, said in a news release. “We are thankful to all our guests who helped us to ring in the holidays and we are already gathering our lists and checking them twice to bring another incredible Stroll to downtown Rockford in 2024.”
More news: Hard Rock Casino’s revenue jumped 26% in 2023, the biggest gain in the state
Attendance fluctuates through the seven-hour event, with the largest crowd of more than 25,000 people gathered at 6 p.m. for the tree-lighting ceremony, according to Placer.ai data.
The parade was the second busiest part of the event with more than 17,500 guests, the largest crowd on record for the parade. People still downtown at 10 p.m. matched the highest total for the end of the event with 2,800 guests.
“Attending Stroll on State has been a meaningful holiday tradition for my family since the very first year,” Sarah Reed McNamara, the owner of SRM Prints Studio, 330 E. State St., said in a news release. “Now, as a business owner in downtown Rockford, it’s exciting to be a part of the event in a whole new way, especially on Small Business Saturday.”
Stroll on State attendance
2023: 81,825
2022: 70,050
2021: 62,500
2020: Canceled
2019: 21,875
2018: 87,500
Source: Placer.ai; Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
By the numbers | Stroll on State
12,112 s’mores sold
1,138 Dasher Dash 5K participants
801 letters to Santa from children in nine states
50 gallons of mulled wine sold
1,545 hot buttered rum drinks were sold
124 string-lit trees
35,000 sparkling lights and 275 ornaments on the city’s Christmas tree
58 vendors at outdoor markets
25,000 pounds of ice for the Fire & Ice towers
14,256 users of the interactive Stroll on State map
Source: Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas