Dozens of fake Christmas trees set up in a function hall, decorated with ice cream cones, scratch tickets, candles and more. It can only mean one thing: the Bektash Shriners’ Fez-tival of Trees is back for another year – its 15th, to be exact (wouldn’t be 2015 without a milestone anniversary in Concord).
Since we told you about the Fez-tival after it happened last year, we decided to fill you in ahead of time this year – so you can go check it out this time.
The Fez-tival of Trees is an annual fundraiser put on by the Bektash Shriners in which dozens of local businesses and community members donate and decorate artificial Christmas trees with gifts that will be displayed at the Bektash Shrine Center for about a week before being raffled off. The proceeds of the event – the largest fundraiser of the year for the Shriners – go toward keeping the place running. There’s also a silent auction, games for kids, visits with Santa and refreshments. You really can’t go wrong with a combination like that – especially that last part.
What started off as a small fundraiser has grown into a real keystone event on the holiday calendar – it takes place the week surrounding Thanksgiving – and a spectacle to behold.
“We have an astounding variety of trees,” said Richard Dooley, past potentate of the Bektash Shriners. “I’ve been doing this 15 years, and every year I say I’ve seen it all, and I still see something new.”
There’s usually about 120 full-size trees in there, Dooley said, and they had a record 128 last year. There’s also a separate room that houses about 30 mini trees. Many of the trees are cleverly decorated with actual merchandise, and some trees are actually made out of items, which is what makes the event such a sight.
“It’s wild to watch,” Dooley said. “It’s quite a show, it really is.”
When you get there, you can buy a book of 25 raffle tickets for $5, and you’re free to drop as many tickets as you want into the post located next to each tree. If you want to drop 25 in that tool tree (a popular and expensive item), go for it. If you want to spread the love around and drop one ticket in 25 different trees, that’s fine, too.
If silent auctions are more your speed, you can do that, too. There’s a separate room for the silent auction, and it’s a little different from the trees. The merchandise will be on display and you can sign a bid sheet if you’re interested. The silent auction closes Saturday, a day before the whole thing wraps up.
And as Dooley mentioned, the types of trees you see – and the gifts they come with – are endless. Last year there were trees covered in candy, board games, Christmas movies, gift cards and scratch tickets.
There were also some jackpots to be had. “Nottingham Underground Music last year donated a tree that had several musical instruments that were given with the tree,” Dooley said. “That tree had to be worth a couple thousand dollars, and that’s not unusual.”
Apart from all the tree perusing, which Dooley said kids always love, there’s also a scavenger hunt for the youngsters. “If they find all the items, we give them a little prize,” Dooley said. Sounds like there are plenty of prizes to be had by everyone at the Fez-tival of Trees.
And the whole extravaganza has grown each and every year of its existence. “We actually had to do a little remodeling on the building to accommodate it,” Dooley said. “If it keeps growing, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Dooley did concede that if this thing really takes off, they may just have to do the silent auction at another time and use that space for more trees.
The specifics
So now that you know what the Fez-tival of Trees is, you probably want to know things like which days, what time and how much.
We’ve got you covered.
The event, held at the Bektash Shrine Center at 189 Pembroke Road, begins this Saturday with doors opening at 1 p.m. and closing at 7. From Nov. 22 to Nov. 28, the hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the exception of Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving), when the Fez-tival will be closed. On Nov. 29, the hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at which time the trees will be raffled off. Bidding for the silent auction closes Nov. 28 at 4 p.m.
Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and free for kids ages 12 and under. Raffle tickets are $5 for a book of 25.
If you want to learn more or donate a tree, go to bektashshriners.org or call 225-5372.
