Santa Ana opens a winter wonderland, complete with ice rink
It’s beginning to look a lot like the holidays in Santa Ana, thanks to the first ever Santa Ana Winter Village.
“The Winter Village will provide a fun, healthy outdoor activity that our community greatly deserves after the past two years,” said Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento.
The Winter Village opens on Dec. 8, with a grand opening event planned for Dec. 9, and will remain open until Jan. 2.
The main attraction of this monthlong celebration is an outdoor ice-skating rink, located near Santa Ana City Hall at the Civic Center Plaza, with parking located at 601 N. Flower St. Additional parking can be found in the parking structures surrounding 4th Street.
Visitors to the Winter Village can rent ice skates and participate in a very atypical Southern California winter activity.
Tickets for a 90-minute ice-skating session are available for guests ages 3 and up, with general admission $12 for adults and $8 for kids (ages 3 through 12). Tickets can be purchased in advance for a reserved day or time at santa-ana.org/winter-village, but a limited number of tickets will also be available to walk-up guests each session, with discounted admission offered to Santa Ana residents on Mondays ($10 for adults, $5 for kids.)
Santa Ana Winter Village will also feature other family-friendly activities, like a festive trackless train ride, story time with Mrs. Claus and an opportunity to meet Santa Claus on select days.
A stage is set up for live performances and the village also plans to offer holiday shopping and merchandise from specialty vendors and local community groups, as well as treats from local food trucks. The village is also set with mock buildings reflecting some of Santa Ana’s landmarks, like the train depot.
The community event is part of the Revive Santa Ana pandemic recovery initiative, funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act that hopes to “deliver both short-term and long-term health, financial, educational and other support to the Santa Ana community” according to the initiative’s website.
Programs range from direct assistance programs to mental health recovery and critical infrastructure. In October, Revive Santa Ana hosted a 5k run and in November distributed $6 million in prepaid Visa debit cards to households in the most impoverished areas of the city, through the Revive Santa Ana Resident Stimulus Program.
The Winter Village aims to stimulate the Downtown Santa Ana economy by bringing visitors to the city, while also providing a safe outdoor activity for the community to connect to this holiday season.
An official tree-lighting ceremony hosted by Sarmiento along with other Santa Ana City Council members along with Anaheim Ducks Street Team and mascot Wild Wing will take place on Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m.
“I invite all of our residents and neighbors to join us at the Winter Village, step out onto the ice and discover the many joys of downtown Santa Ana,” said Sarmiento.
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