For the second year in a row, the Art School of Peterborough at 174A Charlotte Street has won the downtown Peterborough holiday window contest.
Lavender Moon at 181 Charlotte Street and Hi Ho Silver at 392 George Street North came in second and third.
The top three winners will receive $1,000, $500, and $300 for their winning window displays.
The annual contest, sponsored by the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), ran online from November 20 to December 31 with the winners selected based on the number of votes received.
This year’s theme for the holiday window contest was the aurora borealis, with a record-breaking 3,897 votes cast online this year for 27 window displays at downtown businesses and organizations.
“Every year the downtown shop owners put so much love and creativity into the holiday window contest,” says DBIA vibrancy manager Hillary Flood in a media release. “It really sets the tone for the shopping season and enhances the downtown experience with colour, whimsy, and charm.”
The Art School of Peterborough’s winning window display featured pine trees and hand-painted polar bears under an illuminated arctic sky.
“The Art School of Peterborough is overjoyed and so grateful to receive first place for this year’s window contest,” says the school’s receptionist Raine Knudsen. “Thanks so much to our community, our students and instructors, coworkers, and neighbours for sharing the love and support.”
As part of its celebration of the holiday season and to give back to the community, the Art School of Peterborough also distributed for free or by donation ceramic crescent moon ornaments made by staff and students.
You can see all this year’s window display entries at theboro.wishpondpages.com/auroraborealis/.
