MATTAWA — Mattawa’s annual Winter Festival will take place Wednesday.

“The goal is to bring families together to celebrate the holiday and to make crafts as a family,” said Mattawa Mayor Maria Celaya.

The event is put together by a coalition of community stakeholders including the city of Mattawa, Wahluke School District, the Mattawa Community Medical Clinic and Columbia Basin Health Association, Celaya said.

Crafts play a large part in the Winter Festival, Celaya said. Local first responders will have a table where children can decorate cookies with police officers, and MCMC will have a space where children can write letters to Santa. The Wahluke High School Future Business Leaders of America will have a booth where children can make a Christmas ornament for the 50-foot tree in the school commons. The craft materials are donated by CBHA, Celaya said.

There will be a piñata, but not the conventional kind, Celaya said.

“There’s a family in the community who made a special piñata for us,” Celaya said. “It’s a wooden structure, and instead of hitting (the piñata) you pull a ribbon and it spins and throws out the candies, which is a much safer way of having a piñata.”

Each family will be given a tote bag and a passport when they enter, Celaya said. As they go from booth to booth doing the activities and crafts, they can use the bag to carry their creations with them and present the passport at each booth for a stamp. Once the passport is filled, it can be turned in and entered in a raffle for toys donated by community members. About 200 totes were given out last year, Celaya said, and about 200 gifts were raffled.

As with almost any holiday festival, Santa Claus will put in an appearance with some of his elves, Celaya said. A gingerbread man or the Grinch may also turn up as well.

To add to the festivities, there will be an ugly Christmas sweater contest. Celaya herself won’t be much of a contender in that competition, she said.

“Mine doesn’t get too ugly,” she said. “If anything, it has the Grinch or a Christmas message.”

After the festival, a local church will offer free hot chocolate to fight back the chilly air, Celaya said.

“A lot of families enjoy the evening more than anything,” she said. “It’s in December, when the weather’s a bit colder, so we don’t go out much. So we enjoy socializing with friends and family.”

Winter Festival

4:30-7 p.m. Dec. 17

Wahluke High School

505 N. Boundary Road

Mattawa

    Children line up to have photos taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus at last year’s Winter Festival in Mattawa. This year’s festival is Wednesday.
  

    The Winter Festival in Mattawa will include a specially-made piñata that spins and tosses out candy rather than being hit with sticks.
  

    About 200 families attended last year’s Winter Festival in Mattawa.