Formerly the “Girls on the Town” event, “Swing into Spring” will be on Thursday, May 4 and provide an opportunity for residents to shop, dine, enjoy specials and more!
For more than a decade, the Downtown Palatine Business Association (DPBA) has hosted the “Girls on the Town” event as a kickoff to spring, and a chance for area residents to experience (or re-experience) the unique small businesses that make up Palatine’s historic downtown. This year, the DPBA has reimagined the event with a new name, “Swing into Spring”, a new date, Thursday, May 4 from 5-8 p.m., and new offerings, including a Social Media Scavenger Hunt and automatic entry into a major gift basket drawing with the purchase of a passport.
“We’ve taken a fresh new look at this event and moved it to a Thursday night, but it will continue as in years part to highlight downtown Palatine’s established DPBA businesses, as well as new businesses area residents may not be aware of yet,” said DPBA President Jason Goike, owner of the Craft Collective (CC), a gift shop and creative marketplace, featuring more than 30 local vendors, that opened in December and Is located at 19 N. Brockway Street.
Branded as a Shop and Dine event, Swing into Spring will provide product and service demonstrations, special offers, sales and giveaways at participating businesses – and wine tastings, hors d’oeuvres and sweet treats at select locations.
The purchase of a $10 passport not only provides entry into the event, but also helps support the DPBA’s mission to grow the downtown Palatine Business District and support the event charity partner. Pre-event passport purchases can be made online through Venmo by searching @Downtown-Palatine. This year, passports will automatically enter each participant into a drawing to win the Swing into Spring gift basket, full of gift certificates from the downtown merchants and restaurants and valued at more than $600.
Another new event feature will be a Social Media Scavenger Hunt. Guests are encouraged to visit participating business, find scavenger hunt items, take a picture with them, and upload them to the DPBA Facebook or Instagram pages (tagging @downtownpalatine and hash tagging, #SISPalatine) which enters them into a separate drawing for an additional basket full of gift certificates from downtown Palatine merchants and restaurants, also valued at more than $600.
In addition to the DPBA members, businesses located in the greater Palatine area are invited to participate in this event and can be provided with a table and inclusion in the event promotion. Sponsors are also being sought. Sponsor opportunities can be found at downtownpalatine.org.
“We invite everyone to save this date to celebrate and support our local businesses, while enjoying a night out of fun in downtown Palatine!” Goike said.
