When Brandy Gibson relocated her business from Monte Sano Avenue to Broad Street last year, she fell in love with the new location’s storefront windows.
Gibson, owner of Tiffinie Bleu Bridal Boutique (pictured above) located at 1251 Broad St., is one of 32 business owners participating in the fourth annual Making Spirits Bright Downtown Décor Crawl, a month-long event sponsored by the Downtown Development Authority of Augusta and Augusta & Co.
“I decorate them every year, so when I found out about the crawl, it gave me another reason to add to my creativity,” she said. “This year’s theme is a bridal winter wonderland.”
This year, Gibson even won an award for Most Whimsical display.
Other participating businesses include The Book Tavern, The Brunch House of Augusta, Augusta Candle Company , Wier/Stewart and 10Twenty-Eight.
While the event was designed to help local families enjoy a festive holiday experience, it’s also a competition, according to the DDA’s Project Coordinator, Katherine Bonner. Bonner said Tiffinie Bleu was one of the businesses selected to win an award by a panel of judges who have no connection to downtown businesses. There’s also a People’s Choice Award, which allows community members to vote for their favorite decorations.
“Everyone loves a little healthy competition,” she said. “We want to encourage everyone to get those last votes in.”
Bonner said winners will be announced on social media by the end of the next week.
“We give them plaques and trophies by the end of the year,” she said.
Bonner said they hope that while families are checking out the Christmas decorations, they will also eat at downtown restaurants and shop at its retail stores. The event was created in 2019.
“Through the pandemic, it was a way to bring people to downtown Augusta,” she said. “We want everyone to go out and enjoy this unique holiday experience.”
That’s why the team at Halo Salon & Spa located at 1122 Broad St. decided to participate in Making Spirits Bright.
“We chose to participate in the downtown window decoration crawl to help spread Christmas cheer and to make people feel more welcome in the salon,” said Halo’s permanent makeup artist, Aubrey Ciechan, who designed its window display.
Like Ciechan, Gibson is excited about participating in the event.
“I love the camaraderie of the downtown businesses coming together for patrons in the Christmas spirit,” she said.
Families can see the decorations until Sunday, Jan. 1. For a list of businesses participating or to submit your vote, visit https://www.visitaugusta.com/spiritsbright