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Virtual Festival of Trees

Quad City Arts
from a past Festival of Trees

A wintertime tradition in the Quad Cities that usually lasts a couple of weeks, will be reduced to one virtual day this year. Because of the pandemic, on Wednesday Quad City Arts announced the Festival of Trees will not be held in person in November.

Quad City Arts Executive Director Kevin Maynard says each year planning begins in January, and since March they've been talking about what possible changes they could make due to COVID-19.

"Really July and even June is really when we start making a lot of investment into Festival. It's also when our designers come on board and we didn't want to waste the time of our designers because they work very hard to create everything that happens at Festival."
So instead of the usual in-person event at the River Center in Davenport, the Festival will present a one hour Holiday Special on KWQC-tv, and ask local residents to participate in a Day of Giving.

It is the main fundraiser for Quad City Arts each year. 

Credit Quad City Arts
from a past Festival of Trees parade

"All of our programs are scale-able so really the impact that's going to be felt here at Quad City Arts is a reduction in programming and that affects the entire Quad Cities."

Maynard says each year, 3,000 volunteers help organize and present the Festival, 30,000 people attend to view the designer trees and other exhibits, and thousands more turn out for the annual parade in downtown Davenport. 

The day of giving and tv special will be held on November 21st - at the same time the parade would have been held. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.