Low temps, warm spirits for this year’s Stroll on State in downtown Rockford

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — An arctic outbreak delivered frigid weather for this year’s Stroll on State, but there was perhaps one upside to the low temperatures.

The cold snap, which saw temperatures in the teens with below zero wind chill factors, may have driven a few more customers off the downtown streets and into the shops on Saturday.

“Some people just wanted to warm up, but they ended up buying,” said Tamika Brown, the owner of Infinite Soul Vibrations, 333 E. State St., in downtown’s Stroll on State footprint. “My sales more than doubled last year’s.”

PHOTOS | Stroll on State parade and festival in downtown Rockford

Brown said the higher sales can also be credited to more intentional shoppers, who came to her storefront with purchases in mind. Brown’s metaphysical shop sells healing crystals and handmade jewelry and offers services such as guided meditation and energy readings.

“It’s people who — even if they didn’t make huge purchases today — I feel that they’re people who will come back and utilize my services,” she said. “It was more of a love, light experience today. I didn’t make thousands of dollars but I’ve never made thousands of dollars from Stroll on State because I’m more of a specialty shop.”

This year was the 12th annual Stroll on State, and it was among the coldest on record. The holiday festival transforms downtown into a winter wonderland filled with food, drinks, markets, music and other themed activities.

It’s designed to be Rockford’s kick off to the holiday season, but GoRockford, which puts on the annual event with a team of volunteers and sponsors, also hopes it spurs traffic to local businesses.

David Pedersen, the owner of Maze Books at 406 E. State St., said he wasn’t expecting sales to be better than last year, when an estimated 81,825 people came downtown for a warmer Stroll. Fewer people were out this year with the lower temps.

But the bookshop surpassed last year’s sales a little before 8 p.m., which is about an hour before the event ended.

“We met a lot of new people. We met people who came back from last year, so it’s always good,” Pedersen said. “So many people will come in and say, ‘I didn’t even know this was here.’ You can’t buy that kind of marketing. To get 80,000 or 60,000 or whatever people to come to your front door.”

Estimates for this year’s attendance will come in a few weeks.

https://www.rockrivercurrent.com/2024/11/30/photos-2024-stroll-on-state-parade-and-festival-in-downtown-rockford/

The pre-stroll running race, the Dasher Dash 5K, had its largest number of entrants with 1,450. Then, the parade kicked off the event at 2 p.m. with 79 organizations participating.

“I love this parade. Everyone is out lined up, smiling, cheering — I laugh the entire route of the parade,” said Jennifer Furst, the president of Furst Staffing who has tossed out candy for years outfitted as Mrs. Claus. “It’s just a fun, family way to celebrate the holidays. Even on a cold day like today they’re already lined up on State Street.”

The annual Stroll is provided for free each year thanks to multiple sponsors and the work of volunteers.

“It’s just a wonderful gift to the community that all the sponsors provide to us,” Furst said. “It’s a happy day. You don’t see anyone not smiling.”

This year’s Stroll on State also featured an aerial drone show for the first time, with 200 lighted drones depicting Rockford-centric images such as sock monkeys and holiday-themed creations like candy canes and mistletoe.

The drone show was put on by Northern Lights Drone Shows and sponsored by Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 23.

“It’s so nerve wracking worrying about the weather, and then when it’s the very last day of the month it’s even more nerve wracking,” said Kristen Paul, executive vice president of GoRockford. “It was just nice to see people in the crowd and to see people still here celebrating and just bundled up a little bit.”

Paul gave credit to Stroll’s volunteers, some who started as early as 5 a.m. on Saturday.

“We’re all freezing and they’re still smiling. They’re still keeping us going and they’re the ones who are cheering the loudest,”she said.  “To have a team like that behind us that is here as volunteers is pretty amazing, and it gives me more motivation to keep doing it.”

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