It's time for Festival of Trees.

We take you into this holiday wonderland for a look behin the decorations in The Cities.

Since the first of the month.

People have been quickly transforming 30,000ft of the river center in downtown Davenport to become Santas headquarters in the cities.

The ten day Festival of Trees celebration, a fundraiser for the arts, and is marking its 40th year this year.

The river center filled with all different types of trees, some very unique and all for sale.

So are decorations like wreaths and entire home and hearth displays.

Plus some traditions like miniature train set and the various baskets and ornaments that are for sale.

They're already getting inspected by thousands of visitors.

It's a big change from 1986, when a group wanted to help the arts during the height of the farm crisis of the 1980s.

Now, the arts face new challenges.

We'll talk with the hea of Quad City Arts in a moment.

But first, what's up for the 2025 Festival?

We talked with festival of Trees administrator Sandy Bircher.

Since 1986, I mean, this ha been going on for a long time.

And Festival of Trees is the unofficial start of the holiday seaso in my mind in the Quad Cities.

That's exactly how we think of it.

We are the kickoff to the Christmas season, the holiday season in the Quad Cities.

Absolutely.

And I still go back to 1986 period of time and say that this area was under a depression.

It's the farm equipment crisis was going on, and, and the core group of people were looking for a way to help the arts.

I mean, this the basis of where Festival of Trees comes from really has some meaning.

It still resonates today.

Oh, absolutely.

A handful of women wante to make sure that the Visiting Artist series continued in the school systems.

They got together.

They got their husbands, their husbands companies, and they pulled this off.

And 40 years later, we're still going strong.

What do you think of that?

I mean, that that tradition and the fact that it's to kick off the holidays in the Quad Cities.

That tradition is so important.

It's the community.

You know, the community absolutely loves us.

They support us.

It's the feel good place to be.

And they come back year after year an and just want that experience.

They want to walk through there.

They want to see the magic, you know, they want to see good ideas for their own homes.

Maybe.

But it's just just what you do.

You know what's always been fun for me when I've gone to Festival of Trees is is I mean, I've already looked at all the trees, I've looked at the displays, and then you spend some time and look at the people, especially the children, the eyes opened, the jaws drop.

But people are mesmerized when they walk in.

Absolutely.

I love to watch the little kids you know, their eyes light up.

And then, of course, the train.

You know, you can get up and into the horn on the train, but, you know, and even it's the older adults I'm really looking forward to our art hour.

We have two events on Thursday the 20th.

So one of them is Santa's stars.

Peopl that need a quieter experience without the hustle and bustle, the noise, the lights and and the crowds.

And then in the afternoon, we have Silver Bell Social for our 55 plus attendees.

And I love watching those people think about how Christmas has changed from their lifetime.

You know, some of them.

So that's the part I really I really enjoy that.

And that's kind of nice because it's almost a sof opening for Festival of Trees.

Tell me a little bit about what's different this year because you you have to make it fresh.

You have to make it a little bit different.

You do, you do and we work, you know, that is already starting for next year.

How can what can we do?

I have, two ladies that have a grand idea, and I can't wait to to launch that next year.

Everything's pretty much in place except just getting the, you know, getting to work on it.

But this year, we have Quilt Village.

Festival of trees is about half of the operating budget of Quad City Arts.

So we like to keep the arts at Festival of Trees, and we were looking for unique kind of artistry.

And somebody mentioned quilting.

Now that's a very special artistry.

Now, maybe you're not sitting around on a loom like grandma did, but it is still an artistry and and very intricate work.

So we have Quilt Village this year.

Another idea they came up with was, a petite forest.

A lot of people are downsizing, or maybe mom or grandma had to move into an assisted facility and doesn't have that big house anymore.

And some people just like to put up multiple trees, you know, and they could add a tree to their collection.

So that is something new this year as well.

In our gallery, we have our six by six art raffle.

We have an idea to take, artwork that would fit in an imaginary six inch plastic cube.

So we have 1D, 2D, 3D pieces of work from local artists, and those are going to be raffled off by $1 raffle ticket and and win original artwork.

So those are the new things we have on the floor.

Plus we worked with John Deere and instead of a sponsorship, they gave us a Z track, zero turn electric start lawnmower that we're going to be raffling off.

So that's pretty exciting.

Is valued at about $7,000, so you can buy a $20 ticket and eight days later hav a $7,000, a lot of a lot more.

It's kind of nice because you're kicking off the holiday season with a thought to spring.

Exactly.

That's how I like to think.

This cold stuff.

Maybe that's not what I was supposed to be saying.

That kind of what's going on.

But then, of course, you've got the the designer trees and you've got the designer reeds, and you've got the designer, hearts and and it's, it's everything is basically for sale.

And we, holiday entry, we changed, you know, holiday entry.

We you had four steps that went up to a door.

Well, we got looking at just driving around neighborhoods and we were all talking, thinking, you know, not too many homes look like that anymore.

Many of the homes just have a stoop, you know, you have one step up and you have a porch area in your door.

So all of the entry became holiday porches.

And we decided this year we just see how it went.

And we tried to start with six.

And I think we could have sold 20 of the or we could have signed up 20.

So next year that'll be really exciting.

But, yeah, there's some beautiful porches this year.

The same way with the trees.

We have one lady who is doing seven trees.

Yeah.

And she already.

Overachieving, and she.

She is just into this every day.

She dresse different in a holiday spirit, but she is already.

She already has ideas what she's doing next year.

She has her own.

She shed.

What I always like, though, is that there's such a huge variety of designer trees.

And some of the thought that goes into it is a little wacky.

I mean, there's been upside down trees.

There have been all those different types of trees.

Yeah.

Does it ever cease to amaze you how people can come up with a different concept for such a basic thing as a Christmas tree decoration?

It kind of does.

It kind of does, you know, the days of just simply hanging board or boards, hanging balls and, stringing string Garland around your tree.

Those are kind of over.

Yeah.

You know, putting in false flowers and, and, making their own ornaments.

It's pretty.

Remarkable.

The other thing that people might not notice because, I mean, of course, everything's for sale, but everything's also judged.

Tell me a little bit about that.

The judging system, when it comes to some of the best of shows or or first and second place.

We have a new judge chair.

She was new last year and she has reached out to people who are literally in the art industry as our judges.

So, they brought a brand new perspective into it.

And it's really interesting to see their comments and how they look at trees.

So that was fun.

We came up with some new categories.

We eliminated some last year, came up with some new ones this year that we felt were more conducive to what people were doing, looking at trees that had come in.

So that's going to be fun and interesting again.

People seem to embrace that last year.

So we just stayed with what we came up with.

And it is just the fact tha those people donate their time and their money to build and create trees that benefit us.

Pretty heartwarming.

And I also heart, and I also want to point out that you have the honor tree ornaments, which include the patriotic ornament and the memorial ornament.

I really like memorial.

I just felt that, you know, and then also always the Isabelle Bloom, sculpture that is special this year.

It's special each year.

Which is the Christmas tree with the star at, Yep.

Donna has named that the celebration tree for us.

And that's been a long standing relationship between, Isabelle Bloom and Quad City Arts.

And it's always well received as well.

But the honor tree ornaments this year seem to, just really explode in popularity.

So the girls have the trees up and, the ornaments on with the beautiful tags commemorating, you know, our, our military.

And I kind of want to bring up, of course, the events like the Sugar Plum Ball, which was on Tuesday, the silent disco party, which is, next to Saturday.

When you're talking about those, they sell out quickly.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

Sugar plum ball teddy bears and treats and Celebrity Lunch.

Those are the three most popular events that we have.

Silent disco.

It kind of depends.

You know, it it.

Some of the kids, it's wel received by the younger crowd.

So you have the kids, but you're.

Trying to get.

Back to the.

You're trying to bring them into the fold.

You know, when we when we met our quilting chair, she was so excited to become part of this.

She goes, you know, this isn't your grandmother's quilting anymore.

And so it's really interesting to see the people come in.

The young people come in with quilts.

I was just I was at a meeting last week, concerning parade.

And I had it was at a very long table and a mix of men and women.

Everyon that's involved in the parade.

And we get talking about, you know, the quilts.

Somebody asked what was new, the the conversation about Parade and Quad City Arts literally stopped for a good 3 to 5 minutes.

By the while, the women in the room all talked about quilting, whether they were doing it or they knew someone that was doing it or they were thinking about doing it.

So I just sat there and listened.

It went, hey, we're on to something, and.

That has to wear.

On or something.

It was.

It.

So one last pitch, of course, for those who haven't been to the festival for a while.

I mean, things keep changing and in some ways they stay the same.

It's the 40th year for this.

That's a major, major milestone.

It is, it is.

And there's going to be many, many more to come.

We have no intention.

We have no intention of this going away.

This is this is our contribution to the community for the wonderful support of Quad City Arts by just supporting us, coming in and viewing the trees and enjoying the experience.

Our thanks to Festival of Trees administrator Sandy Birch here once again.

Festival of Trees is ope every day except Thanksgiving.

It wraps up on Sunday, November 30th, just ahead.

How does Festival of Trees benefit quad to the arts, and what does the group provide for the community?

But first, look at some of the other events in our area thanks to visit Quad Cities.

Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities.

Enjoy incredible harmonies and amazing choreography as you experience a Motow Christmas at the Adler Theater until the end of the year, you can see painted windows throughout downtown Bettendorf, Davenport, and Rock Island.

Next, get ready to see the freight house transform into a winter wonderland for the holiday season.

Then experience Barrel and Brewfest sip sample.

Enjoy live music at the Mississippi River Distilling Company.

Finally, it's the start of the Quantity Arts Festival of Trees.

Experience designer displays, events, attractions and the largest heliu balloon parade in the Midwest.

For more events like these, check out our events calendar and visit Quad cities.com.

Festival of trees is a ten day event that literally transforms the River center in downtown Davenport.

Almost everything you can see in the Great Hall is for sale.

Whether it's the designer trees, the celebrity baskets, the room decors, or those wreaths that decorate doorways.

And you can make your bids online at Festival of trees.com.

All the money raised helps fund quantity arts and it allows them to continue the programs throughout the cities.

But what are those programs we keep talking about?

We talked with the executive director of Quantity Arts, Brian Allen.

Festival of trees is such a critical part for Quantity Arts, of course.

Definitely is.

Tell me about the artistry of the holidays.

Sure.

Yeah.

So one thing that's interesting to me, because, you know, I've been bringing my kids there for 12 years now, but I've never been on the other side of Festival Tree.

So being there for my first time and watching people, create their own, their creations, their artistic creations.

It really is something.

And talking to the designers and having them say, oh, I spent all year long getting supplies an getting ideas and coming here.

And so it is really fascinating to watch them work.

And just like an artist, they're they're considering color and space and texture and all the elements and principles of design.

And what's interesting is that about 150 different designers, and let's be honest, about 150 different idea of what the holiday look like.

And that's kind of exciting, too, because there's the people that are way off.

Yeah, and it's neat because they're stretching the limits of what you would think of for a holiday decoration.

Right.

And you could say the same with art, right?

I mean, there's the people that make, art in the way that you might expect.

You know, especially here in the Midwest, we get a lot of people that like to do, say, landscape painting or something.

But I think the cool thing about art is you get to say, what is painting or what is a tree?

And so you'll see there are some interesting trees there that that are unconventional trees.

One of my favorite parts of Festival of Trees is also the area where you, highlight a student artwork.

And let's be honest, for Quad City Arts, getting to just make that, that passion grow in young people is so critically important.

It is so important.

And that's one way we like to show people, too, because not everyone is familiar that Festival of Trees is Quad City Arts.

In Quad City Arts is Festival of Trees.

So by bringing high school artwork to the floor of Festival, we normally give students an opportunity to showcase their art and people a chance to see it and understand, you know, what young people are making in schools, but it helps you know them create their career.

It helps make that connection for the community that we are.

The, the arts in the in the community.

We are Quad City Arts.

And also, as you well know, I mean, even for the, veteran decorator of trees, there's a certain amount of pride having your work displayed and having people take a look at it.

Right, and enjoy it, or at least make you think about what you're seeing.

Yeah.

And so that's really cool for the kids I think.

So yeah.

We are talking about ten day event, that draws, about what is it, the 100,000 people.

Yeah.

Expected.

How important is Festival of Trees as far as the fundraising effort for Quad City Arts?

Oh, it's vitally important.

So about a half of our annual programing is provided by Festival of Trees.

And so that means to bring visiting artists out to schools to do our Metro arts program for kids ages 15 to 21, get to to be an apprentice artist under a lead artis and make art in our community.

That's all because of Festival of Trees.

Is that at all in danger right now?

When you're taking a look at various cutbacks and the tough economic times that some people are through, is it tougher to provide these services?

Sure.

I mean, I could say that it it we are, you know, you know, concerned and looking at that.

But I think one thing that Festival Trees provides is some type of stability.

Right.

We know this has been working for so long and actually provide stability in the in a time when other things maybe grants are being reduced or eliminated.

You know, and the whole nonprofit sector, I'm sure you're feeling it here at Wqpt that it's like we have to be we have to be mindful of, where where everything's going in the community.

We're concerned about the future of different funding streams.

And I think that's a nice thing about festivals.

We can we can count on it.

We have that historical, data to be able to say this is what we can expect.

I was thinking that other art agencies must be envious of this, 40th year of this event.

Yeah.

And that you do have that funding stream that they may not have.

Yeah.

That's true.

I think that when I went to a conference with the Illinois Arts Council and there were many people that were like, you make what from that?

And I was like, yeah, but it's a it's a huge time because, you know, I like hav a lot of people at the office.

I mean, everybody's working on it, everybody's running around.

And and then also we have an army of volunteers and great people on our committees, our steering committee and management committee that help us get it done.

And so it takes a lot of work and a lot of time to make it happen.

Well, you brought up the fact, about the visiting artist series and this actually, Festival of Arts, Festival cheese.

I keep doing that.

Festival of trees was actually started to continue that program.

And you've got, coming up, pianist and composer Baro Ryan is coming up in February.

Yeah.

And what I like about this whole thing is the visiting part, of course, is that they're not sitting in a studio and you come to them, they go out into the community.

They do?

Yeah.

And so we have a certain number of school engagements where we'll have them go out to schools, and we have schools that sign up for that so that we can arrange where they're going and make that schedule.

But then there's also ways to get them to the community.

So for example, we just had a group from Zimbabwe.

They're not a cappella group called no.

One two, and they just came and performed at the Butterworth Center and at the Geneseo Public Library, in addition to their school visit, so that we can get them out to the community as well.

And I gotta admit, I know Geneseo has been actively involved in this.

That particular library really does enjoy what, Quantity Arts provides.

They do?

Yeah, we have a lot of partners that are like that.

They've been doing it for a long time and they just love it.

The other one that I saw that is coming up and mind you, this is coming up in May and my Spanish is not good.

Ballet Folklorico del Rio Grande de.

Yeah.

I think like you would pointed out, is that when these visiting artists come to a school or an event, they really bring along their culture and, and kind of to that part of the artistic talent.

Right?

No.

For sure.

I mean, for example, with no one to that was just here, you know, one of the public performances I went to, people were asking about costume, and then it leads to, tribes and all that.

They said, I think by the time they're 10 or 11 in the area they grew up, they know seven languages, you know?

So just kind of like tha cultural awareness is part of, you know, bringing artists in from all over the world.

And it's true in the schools as well.

And we're pretty excited with the, Ballet Folklorico del Rio Grande to be able to, when they're in town, be able to partner up with the local, Ballet Folklorico with Quad Cities and, even the mariachi groups at UT and at Glenview and, and really celebrate.

So that's something we're looking forward to.

And the Hispanic heritage in the Quad Cities.

I mean, it's become more and more a vibrant community.

This just kind of underlines that.

Yeah, exactly.

Yep.

Let's talk a little bit about what you have for event space and for display space, because you have the three art galleries, right?

Basically art at the airport.

Yes, which is a unique idea.

And, and it's a very public place, of course.

You also have your, your Rock Island headquarters, your base, and then the windows now, that are a part of that on a second.

How how do you decide what's going into those spaces?

Yeah, that's a great question.

So yeah.

And I'm glad that you mentioned the art at the airport gallery because that's another one.

Like when I was mentioning Festival of Trees that like, people might not know it's us.

It's like, that's the same for that gallery is do you know that it's Quad City Arts every time you go fly in or out somewhere and you see that artwork there?

We're happy to be able to have that artwork there and be able to welcome, people and show that we are a culturally rich community.

So the way I think about these different spaces is, well, I guess to answer your question, how do we select the artwork?

It's we have a committee, a visual arts committee that gets together.

And so it's not just it's not Quad City arts people only.

It's, a committee made of community members, and they get together and they actually go through each piece and they select which artists they think will will look best and also sometimes recommend which space.

But otherwise that's left up to our visual arts director, Don Wolford.

Metallo and and so then we figure out which space they're going to go into.

And so the two spaces that are juried are the art at the airport and our Rock Island gallery.

The Second Avenue window space is not a juried space.

And we came up with that one as a way to really kind of think about new and upcoming artists.

So whereas the other space is focus on, you know, established artists, artists with the studio practice already, they've shown before, most likely, the Second Avenu window can be people who maybe they've never shown before.

And maybe this is a way to to have that on their CV so that they can apply in the future.

Well, and the other part about quantity Arts, it's really also, public art, it's, it's really getting the art into the community, such as the windows, such as, Artist Alley, the public sculptures, throughout the community.

And that's also a part of, of, quantity arts that people may not realize.

Yeah.

I think that's what makes us such a unique organization is we take art and we bring it to the community, wherever people are.

So on the streets, you know, in the in the schools, in businesses, in every city, we've got something going, you know, so, we really do take, take to the, to the community with the artwork.

You had to endure, months of construction, of course.

Downtown Rock, I think it's now completed.

The renovation is done.

Yeah.

Do you think that's going to provide a huge new spotlight for quantity arts?

I really do, yes.

And I think that, with Arts Alley also being recently revitalized, that, it's just makes for, you know, it's creative placemaking in practice.

We've got a really cool spot where people are going to see themselves, want to spend time, want to go and do the different events, like with the second Saturdays at the downtown Rock Island Alliance ran over the summer and, activating those those vendor stalls that are in Arts Alley and the farmer's market now that's on Second Avenue.

So it's all very exciting happening downtown Rock Island.

And it's getting, as you were saying, it's getting that artwork out into the public, for, for people to enjoy.

And not every community i blessed to have something like quantity arts.

You might have art galleries.

This is not the same thing.

Yeah, right.

An art gallery is just one of many things we're able to do for artists, because that's what we believe in, is supporting artists and also making our community a better place.

Through art.

2025 is coming to an end.

You've got a whole new year going forward.

Once the calendar hits January 1st, what are the plans for 2026 that people may not know about?

Oh, sure.

That's a great question.

Well, one of the thing we mentioned earlier was like, oh, it's scary funding time, right?

So one thing we are doing is we're saying, let's use this as an opportunity.

If we look at our programs and really kind of get feedback from our community, what can we do with our programs?

How can we build them or change them or make them better and more impactful for our community?

So that's one thing we're doing.

And another thing, and it's a little bit of a secret.

So I'm going to only tell you a little bit, all right, which is tha we are working with the Moline Public Art Commission to, to help with putting a sculpture into the city of Moline.

Because the, with the bridge gone, and a lot of the consultants were saying you have to have public art in that area.

It's almost a brand new white canvas is downtown Moline for Quad City Arts.

So it's it's in the works.

That's why I sai it's a little bit of a secret.

So but that should be coming for 2026.

One last pitch.

So tell me about Festival of Trees and why this is such an important event for quantity arts, but also for the community in its 40th year?

Sure.

Yeah.

Well, this is our 40th year.

We're excited about that.

I think that it being a cultural tradition and a way to connect the community is what really makes it important.

It also provide 2.5 million of economic impact for the Quad Cities, which is really exciting and gets art into our communities through Quad City Arts.

So thank you for coming to it.

Our thanks to Brian Allen Executive Director of Quantity Arts.

And once again, Festival of Trees is open every day until November 30th except on Thanksgiving.

Next year marks 250 years since America declared its independence in 1776, and throughout the coming year and leading up to the 4th of July next year, we're asking people about their civic spark, why they chose their career and how it impacts our society.

We asked Reverend Rich Hendricks, an activist and leader of the Metropolitan Church in Davenport, about his civic spark.

Wow.

My civic spark is love.

I do what I do because of love.

I think love is the answer to all of our problems.

I really do, because.

And, you know, we're not talking about sappy stuff.

We're talking about, integrity and the ability to connect with one another.

And the more we promote that, that inclusive kind of love for, for everyone and respect and honor everyone, then we build stronger, more healthy communities.

And I am glad to be a part of doing that.

Our thanks to the Reverend Rich Hendricks for sharing his civic spark, and also thanks to everyone at the Devonport River center and the Festival of Trees for letting us share this holiday tradition with you again this year.

Festival of trees continues every day except Thanksgiving until the end of the month.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on The Cities.