Residents and area visitors gathered last Saturday for this year’s Christmas in Kalona. Despite another round of snow being predicted for later in the evening, attendance for this year’s celebration was high. Kalona Area Chamber of Commerce Director Tonia Poole says she heard from several visitors that had to park several streets away from downtown.

Poole says she heard positive feedback on this year’s Christmas vendors and area businesses, offering a wide variety of items to purchase that remained open into the evening. Children enjoyed meeting Santa Claus and seeing the life-sized snow globe.

With the event behind them, the Chamber will now reflect on what went well this year to plan for 2026. Poole says, “We’re constantly evaluating. We want to meet the needs of our attendees, what would they like to see, what were they excited about. The Grinch was back, and again, that’s due to the response of people saying how much they love it. So we’re always eager to hear what the public has to say.”

Much of what was new in this year’s event will return for next year. Looking ahead at the rest of December, Poole says the Holiday Shopping Passes continue through the rest of the month, encouraging residents to shop at local businesses.