Great Bend is one week away from its 20th annual Home for the Holidays Festival. At Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting, Public Relations Director Addison Crites reported on some of the details.

“It’s going to be another jam-packed day with Small Business Saturday happening, in addition to Rosewood hosting their Cookie Contest, Dilly and Docs’ pop-up market and the Christmas Craft Mall,” Crites said. “Advance America is going to host a raffle at Jack Kilby Square. The Golden Belt Model Railroad is going to be open during the morning and early afternoon, and then at 5:30 we’ll start our parade. We have close to 40 entries.”

This year’s parade theme is Holiday Movie Madness.

After the parade, the Mayor’s Christmas Tree will be lit and then there will be free hot dogs and hot chocolate provided by Mark Bitter. Free carriage rides, wagon rides and Dolly Trolley rides will be provided by Rosewood. Train rides will be provided by the City of Great Bend. A Christmas Petting Zoo will be provided by Busy Buzzer 4-H Club. The artificial ice skating rink will open with free skate rental, and people can drive through the Trail of Lights. As of Monday, volunteers were still needed for the Trail of Lights greeter booth at the entrance to Brit Spaugh Park. There were openings for Dec. 7, 9 and 16; shifts run from 6-8 p.m. during that time, volunteers hand out candy canes and greeter bags.

“I want to give a little thank you to Marissa Woodmansee and the Youth Crew, who will spend the duration of this week stuffing those greeter bags. There’s about 1,000 of them,” Crites said.

People can also light a luminary in honor of a furry friend for the Pawsitive Luminaries, Saturday from 5-8 p.m. in Jack Kilby Square. Donate a minimum of $5 for a luminary. Proceeds go to Pawn and Claws/Adopt A Pet. Contact Cathy Vonfeldt at 620-639-6921.