City of Mesa continues Merry Main Street with safety in mind
Despite the increase in COVID-19 numbers, Mesa continues to celebrate the holiday traditions and activities–with safety as a top priority.
The City of Mesa’s Merry Main Street event began Nov. 27 and continues until Jan. 2. The season started with a virtual tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 27.
Merry Main Street is an annual holiday gathering with music, holiday lights, ice skating, Santa Claus and a large, lit-up Christmas tree.
The ice rink will be open daily, but a limited number of people will be allowed to skate at a time. Tickets must be pre-purchased to allow for social distancing.
Skates will be also disinfected after each use, and skaters will exit the rink at a different location from skaters entering the rink.
City of Mesa’s communications specialist,Kevin Christopher, said in an email , “Merry Main Street has been a well-attended event since it began in 2015. Our goal this year is to continue the event this year while taking measures to provide a safe and healthy environment for all of our visitors.”
The press release published by the City of Mesa also details the safety measures for annual photos with Santa. Santa will be inside his snow globe, and children can stand in front while their parents take pictures.
It explained, “Bring your cell phone or camera for pictures. All visitors are asked to wear masks while waiting in line and follow all safety guidelines posted or requested by Santa’s elves!”
This holiday season may look different as COVID-19 numbers continue to spike in Arizona. Safety precautions are a necessary part of all holiday festivities.
Arizona has seen a steady increase in COVID-19 numbers in the last five weeks. The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) dashboard reports Maricopa county has nearly 250,000 reported cases of COVID-19.
According to a recent graph shared via Twitter by AZDHS, COVID-19 numbers have increased by 179% since the beginning of November.
City of Mesa is also continuing their tradition of breakfast with Santa by making it a drive-thru breakfast with Santa.
Breakfast with Santa Drive-Thru will be held at 8 a.m, 9 a.m and 10 a.m. on Saturday Dec 12.
All proceeds from the event will go to City of Mesa’s Community Spirit program, which gives back to the Mesa community. The program allows city employees to decide where to donate their money and participate in charitable efforts.
Those who want to participate can register for the event online at www.mesaparks.com.
