Downtown Soul City Spectacular turns Broad Street into a winter wonderland

Christmas display in the window of Urban K9 at 501 Broad St., for Downtown Soul City Spectacular holiday decoration contest. Photo by Skyler Andrews.

Date: December 17, 2024

Downtown Soul City, the merchants association of businesses along and near the Broad Street corridor, is continuing its mission to encourage Augustans to shop local, as well as spreading more than a little Christmas spirit throughout the Garden City’s central business district.

Christmas window display at Book Tavern, for the Downtown Soul City Spectacular event. Photo by Skyler Andrews.

The Soul City Spectacular is its latest promotional event, right on the heels of the Small Business Saturday Crawl. Since Dec. 6, 26 downtown shops have garnished their windows, doors and facades with merry holiday trimmings, both to prettify the strip for the season and to invite locals to choose their favorite decorative designs.

Holiday window display at Freshwater Curated Goods. Photo by Skyler Andrews.

“I think people are still feeling the emotional toll after Helene and so we wanted to provide an incentive for downtown businesses to help promote a sense of holiday joy and cheer,” said John Porter, executive director of Downtown Soul City. “I think we could all use a little more beauty and joy in our lives.”

Wintery holiday trimmings at the entrance of Craft & Vine. Photo by Skyler Andrews.

A stroll down Broad Street shows a festive outdoor gallery of yuletide trimmings, from Farmhaus Burger to Field Botanicals, Mod Ink to David’s Men’s Wear, Book Tavern to Laziza Mediterranean Grill.

Nativity display at Redemption Church. Photo by Skyler Andrews.

“I find it fun to participate in transforming downtown into a winter wonderland,” said Alexia Gonzalez, owner of The Earth Pantry grocer at 1026 Broad St., which has tinseled garland arched above its entrance. “When people see lights and décor, any time of year, it gives them the same feeling as watching a Hallmark movie – merry and light!”

A heralding angel trumpets next to a Christmas tree in the window of Michaels’ Emporium on Broad Street. Photo by Skyler Andrews.

Redemption Church presents a silhouetted Nativity in its window, while Michaels’ Emporium features trumpeting angels on display.

“We decorated to show people how to have pet friendly holiday decorations so that people with pets would still be able to enjoy the beauty of the holiday,” said Tonya Boswell, owner of pet grooming store Urban K9, currently hosting an elaborate Christmas diorama in its window.

A bit of friendly competition makes the winter land spectacle a little more interesting, as a panel of anonymous judges will evaluate the decorations, and present awards for the Most Creative, the Most Colorful, the Most Elegant and the Best Overall.

Moreover, to encourage shoppers to head downtown and peek at the displays themselves, Soul City invited the community to offer input and vote for favorites, either via QR codes at each location, or via the Soul City website. The resulting popular vote will factor into the final decisions.

“Then all the winners this year will get a small trophy with Santa Claus on it, saying they won,” said Porter. “So they’ll get a little bit of bragging rights, too!”

Winners of the Soul City Spectacular will be announced on Dec. 20.

Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.

What to Read Next

The Author

Skyler Andrews is a bona fide native of the CSRA; born in Augusta, raised in Aiken, with family roots in Edgefield County, S.C., and presently residing in the Augusta area. A graduate of University of South Carolina - Aiken with a Bachelor of Arts in English, he has produced content for Verge Magazine, The Aiken Standard and the Augusta Conventions and Visitors Bureau. Amid working various jobs from pest control to life insurance and real estate, he is also an active in the Augusta arts community; writing plays, short stories and spoken-word pieces. He can often be found throughout downtown with his nose in a book, writing, or performing stand-up comedy.

Comment Policy

The Augusta Press encourages and welcomes reader comments; however, we request this be done in a respectful manner, and we retain the discretion to determine which comments violate our comment policy. We also reserve the right to hide, remove and/or not allow your comments to be posted.

The types of comments not allowed on our site include:

  • Threats of harm or violence
  • Profanity, obscenity, or vulgarity, including images of or links to such material
  • Racist comments
  • Victim shaming and/or blaming
  • Name calling and/or personal attacks;
  • Comments whose main purpose are to sell a product or promote commercial websites or services;
  • Comments that infringe on copyrights;
  • Spam comments, such as the same comment posted repeatedly on a profile.