There are so many great reasons to do your Christmas shopping in Forbes this year! Did you know that spending money in your home town helps to boost the local economy? When you support your local businesses, you are supporting the people and entrepreneurs of Forbes. There are items in Forbes that you likely won’t find anywhere else – quirky, one-off gifts and unique handmade by local crafters.
When you shop locally, you are helping build in your community and keep those small, independent businesses alive and kicking. Shopping locally gives you the chance to help keep the community unique as well as supporting good jobs that hire local people. When you shop locally, you actually reduce your environmental impact and invest in your town. It’s quite likely you’ll get better service because local businesses generally take more time to get to know their customers!
But there is an even better reason to shop locally in Forbes this Christmas. Once again this year the Forbes Business
Chamber will host the Find It In Forbes This Christmas promotion and festival in 2015, and this year is set to be bigger and better than ever before! This year, shoppers can be rewarded for shopping locally in Forbes by making a
purchase from any of the 33 participating businesses. This will put you into the draw to win in a total of over $15,000 worth of prizes! All you have to do is spend $10 to receive your tickets into the draw to win from the prize pool, with the prizes being drawn throughout December.
The first draw of the promotion will take place during this year’s Christmas Festival, which will be held on Saturday 5 December. The Christmas Festival will run from 9am until 2pm and there will be plenty of great activities and amusements for the whole family this year, including live entertainment by Cath Adams, a local singer and previous contestant on The Voice. The fun doesn’t stop there! Enjoy dance performances by local dancers as well as a visit from Santa, fun rides for the kids, plenty of amazing market stalls and of course the traditional wheelbarrow races that are always a crowd favourite. This year, the races are being sponsored by Acheson’s Home Timber and Hardware.
The heats for the wheelbarrow races will kick off at 9:30am. If you need sign up forms, you can find them at Bown’s Sportspower or Anytime Fitness in Forbes. The winner in first place for the wheelbarrow races will win $500 worth of Why Leave Town Gift Cards, with the winner of second place receiving a $100 Bunnings gift card.
The first round of prizes will also be drawn starting at 10:15am. The prizes drawn on the Saturday will include two nights of accommodation at Greentrees Guest House in Orange for two people. This fantastic prize also includes a full buffet breakfast to enjoy, as well as a Woolerina scarf valued at a total of $650! The other prizes to be drawn are two $500 Why Leave Town Gift Cards, which can be used at any of the participating business.
The prize giving doesn’t stop there! More prize draws will take place on Saturday 12 December and Saturday 19 December. On December 12, entrants in the competition could be the lucky winner of a Smeg FAB10 bar fridge valued at $3190 from Greenhomes Australia! Two more $500 Why Leave Town Gift Cards are also up for
grabs.
On the following weekend of December 19, the lucky prize winners could receive a three month membership at Anytime Fitness in Forbes, which is valued at $269. This is also one of the last chances to win one of two $500 Why Leave Town Gift Cards. This year, the 2015 Major Prize Draw will be taking place on Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December. Starting at 2pm, one lucky winner in this draw will be taking home a whopping $10,000 worth of Why Leave Town Gift Cards, and if you aren’t going to be in Forbes at that time, don’t stress because the winner does not have to be present for the draw.
The Find It In Forbes promotion has been running for a number of years and began as a way to encourage shoppers to spend in Forbes. “The cards reward people for coming to Forbes and encourages them to come back,” says Jess Dawes, Admin Marketing and Events Coordinator at Forbes Business Chamber. “The idea is that the money from the
cards enhances businesses because they keep the money in the community.”
The Forbes Business Chamber would like to thank all of the generous sponsors of this year’s promotion, especially their major sponsors who are Greenhomes Australia, John Davis Mazda, The Forbes Phoenix, Forbes Shire Council, Knights Cranes and the Forbes Advocate. When you head out to do your Christmas shopping in the coming weeks, remember to shop locally in Forbes to support our local businesses and to be in the running to win some of these incredible prizes.
Encourage local prosperity, invest in the community, buy local first and Find it in Forbes this Christmas!