Christmas at Silo Square

Photo: The Christmas tree at the Clock Tower is lit to welcome the holiday season at Silo Square. (Credit: Silo Square on Facebook)

By Bailee Harris

Silo Square recently transformed into a winter wonderland for Southaven and surrounding community members this past weekend. Shopping, visits with Santa, carriage rides, and more helped kick off this holiday season in DeSoto County. 

Leah Brigance, Silo Square’s Marketing & Events Coordinator shared her excitement, noting, “As always, our little town square feels like a Hallmark movie for Christmas with the lights, carriages, and just the ambience. We love being a part of the community when it comes to the Christmas open house.” 

The festivities began on Thursday with Ladies Night. Shops provided shoppers with sales and $1,000 worth of giveaways. 

“Obviously Thursday night was rainy, but Ladies Night was great. There was a lot of shopping done,” Brigance reflects. 

Lauren Norton, owner of Ultimate Gifts, described this event as “Magnificent, magical, and merry.” She added, “We loved kicking off the holiday season with all of our loyal customers and enjoyed meeting a lot of new people.” 

Friday, Silo Square businesses hosted pictures with Santa, horse drawn carriage rides, performances, and a photography pop-up with Katie Stone Photography.  

Photographer Katie Stone shared her experience, saying, “It was just an opportunity for people to come and get their last-minute Christmas pictures done… I had about 25 families sign up to get pictures done by me, so it was really nice.” 

The festivities continued through Saturday, introducing additional activities such as face painting with Sarah Litney Art and cookie decorating with City Hall Cheesecake.  

Norton says, “I would say my favorite thing is all of the things we do for the kids and seeing how all of the small businesses come together to throw this three-day weekend. It’s always something to look forward to.”

With a rainy forecast last Thursday night, the highly anticipated Christmas tree lighting ceremony was rescheduled to Monday night, Nov. 13. The tree, located at the bell tower, was a stunning backdrop for entertainment. The DeSoto Central High School marching band, color guard, cheerleading team, and the Longview Heights Baptist Church choir performed. 

This past weekend’s events proved that the holiday season is truly here in DeSoto County. 

Bailee Harris is a journalism student at Ole Miss and is a contributor for desotocountynews.com.