Embassy Theatre Announces Record Attendance at 40th Annual Festival of Trees

By Embassy Theatre

Tree awards and raffle winners announced

Fort Wayne, Ind. (Dec 12, 2024) – The Embassy completed another year of the Festival of Trees last week, bringing holiday cheer to patrons, performers and community partners. This year, the Embassy welcomed a record-breaking 25,117 attendees as it celebrated 40 years of the festival, the largest fundraising event for the nonprofit arts and cultural organization.

A wide array of creativity and ingenuity was demonstrated amongst the dozens of trees on display during the 8-day event. The 2024 Festival of Trees judges award winners are:

Best DIY Craftmanship: Season Of Sustainability, sponsored by Fort Wayne Metals and decorated by Karen Bulmahn & Troy Shady

Best Original Design: It's A Wicked Christmas, sponsored by Poorman's Heating & Air and decorated by Cindy Friend Design

Best Traditional: Sweet Excite-mint, sponsored by Sweetwater and decorated by Kristi Helvie

Best Whimsicality: Small Business Is Blooming, sponsored by Rhinestones & Roses Floral & Boutique and decorated by Jentri, Josi & Jirni

Best Wow Factor: Addams Family Christmas, sponsored by Titan Heating and Air and decorated by Heather Zehr

Best Theme: A Groovy Kind Of Christmas, sponsored by Howard Bailey Financial and decorated by Kim Milentis & Robin Mack

The Embassy would like to thank this year’s community judges: Alex Hall, artist and public art expert; Scott Hermance, past Festival of Tress decorator and designer; and Laura O’Daniel, interior designer.

Each year, festival attendees can vote for their favorite festival trees. The votes have been tallied, and the 2024 People’s Choice Award winners are:

First Place People’s Choice: It's A Wicked Christmas, sponsored by Poorman's Heating & Air and decorated by Cindy Friend Design

Second Place People’s Choice: Addams Family Christmas, sponsored by Titan Heating and Air and decorated by Heather Zehr

Third Place People’s Choice: Sweet Excite-mint, sponsored by Sweetwater and decorated by Kristi Helvie

In addition, eight patrons were winners of various raffles taking place throughout the festival. The Embassy is a qualified organization with an exempt gaming license #015875. 2024 Festival of Trees raffle winners are:

• STAR Bank money tree, winning the correctly guessed amount of money on the decorated tree:

Tony Hoch

• Nederlander National Markets and Embassy Theatre offering two tickets to Hadestown (part of the Broadway at the Embassy series) on February 18, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.: Tiffany Schortgen

• Peg Perego in Santa Land, winning a Peg Perego toy vehicle (2 vehicles total): Rhonda Ladig and Cassy Wallace

• Vera Bradley gift set: Holly Fry

• A $500 VISA gift card courtesy of HMH Custom Remodeling: Latefa Abdel-Khaleq

• Cookie Cottage gift set: Jennifer Moreno

Ambassador Enterprises was the title sponsor in 2024. The festival was made possible with additional support from AEP Foundation, Fort Wayne Metals, In10sity Dance, Steel Dynamics, Chateau Rehabilitation & Healthcare/University Park Rehabilitation & Healthcare, STAR Financial Bank, First Merchants Bank, PHP, Kingston Healthcare, Parrish Leasing, NiSource Charitable Foundation/NIPSCO, Dan’s Porch & Patio and Mike’s Car Wash.

Media sponsors were WPTA–21ALIVE, Fort Wayne Newspapers, Adams Radio Group-96.3XKE, Glo Magazine and Senior Life Newspaper.

If you have interest in being contacted about sponsorship opportunities for the 2025 Festival of Trees, contact Stephanie Carlson, grants and sponsorships director, at stephanie@fwembassytheatre.org or at 260.247.6076.