With live caroling, twinkling lights and a visit from Santa Claus, the Christmas spirit was alive and well Sunday night in the Forest Hill neighborhood.
Holiday cheer was spread across 16 houses as the neighborhood hosted Jefferson City's inaugural Porchfestmas, complete with live music, visual artists and holiday activities.
The outdoor event is similar to the classic Porchfest, a cultural arts fair hosted in a different neighborhood each spring and fall. The Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department has hosted Porchfest for the past five years, most recently in October.
The parks department decided this year to host a third, smaller Porchfest with a holiday twist, JC Parks Cultural Arts Specialist Leann Porrello said.
"It's really just Christmas spirit," Porrello said. "It's just another thing to do to get out with your family."
There were 15 total acts stretched along Forest Hill Avenue, along with a couple more down the street at Shop Girl and West Main Pizza.
A majority of the acts were musical artists. A couple visual artists were also thrown into the mix. Vendors selling baked holiday goods, apple cider and hot cocoa -- which could be customized with mints, sprinkles and whipped cream -- were spread out along the street.
Though distinguished in their approach, all 13 musical artists at Porchfestmas sang Christmas music. Some were soloists, others duets. Some were first-timers, others Porchfest veterans. All were local to Jefferson City or Columbia, Porrello said.
Zak Skinner has performed at every Porchfest that Jefferson City has hosted, and didn't let that streak die Sunday.
"But this is the first time I've ever performed any Christmas music," he said.
Skinner performs as a solo act as well as with his band, Love-Seats. He performed Sunday at 111 Forest Hill Ave. with Angel Wekamp.
Skinner said Porchfestmas and its warmer counterparts are good exposure.
"It's all about just having fun," he said. "I enjoy the atmosphere and the family friendly aspect of it because there's not a lot of places that you can see live music. Most venues are 21 and over or 18 and over."
Skinner, whose band is releasing an album in the spring, said he was expecting Santa and the Christmas lights to bring a good number of families out to hear live music.
Porrello said she was expecting a "quite a few hundred" to stop by the inaugural Porchfestmas. Nearly 800 marked they were interested on Facebook.
Folks came and went during the course of the event's three-hour run time, which Porrello said was by design.
"We want people to drive around and look at the Christmas lights, come to our event, see some music, meet the musicians, see some Christmas lights and then continue on your journey and continue going out throughout the community looking at lights," she said on the News Tribune podcast Nov. 30.
Visual artists were stationed throughout the neighborhood to paint the scenes unfolding before them.
Lina Forrester was making intuitive art with ink and paper as folks arrived.
"It's a way for me to visualize certain moments, certain events," she said. "I'm better at visuals, so certain emotions, certain things that are going on in my life, it's easier for me to visualize it using intuitive art."
Forrester, who has been showcased at eight other Porchfests, said her pieces are usually abstract.
"It might look like it makes sense to me but everybody else is going to have their own interpretation, which is exactly what I want," she said. "I want everybody to have their own idea."
The process can take anywhere from two hours to 10 minutes, Forrester said. Doing it live gives her the opportunity to teach others about intuitive art.
Forrester, an art teacher at Capital Arts, said intuitive art can help people process their thoughts and emotions.
"It's kind of like using your subconscious to paint instead of your conscious," she said. "And your subconscious knows more about you than you do."
Nikki Will strolled the neighborhood with her 3-year-old son and a friend.
"They did all the Christmas stuff so early in December that we missed it and I wanted to make sure we did some Christmas stuff," she said. "I was kind of disappointed everything was on (December) 2nd or 3rd."
Will said she liked the open atmosphere of Porchfestmas, the picturesque backdrop of the Forest Hill neighborhood and how her son was able to roam about.
"He's hard to contain," she explained.
Will said she was looking forward to seeing lights and eating cookies with her son.
Rita Glavin, Will's friend, said the neighborhood looked like a "Hallmark movie."
Porrello said businesses nearby Forest Hill were interested in spreading the Christmas spirit, which is how Shop Girl and West Main Pizza ended up with performers Sunday night. She said the parks department was encouraging folks to check out the local shops to warm up and do some Christmas shopping.
After hosting the most recent Porchfest at Forest Hill, Porrello said the parks department returned to the neighborhood for Porchfestmas because it's familiar and that part of town has embraced the event.
"Going forward, we really hope that we can do it in other neighborhoods as well as do it in multiple neighborhoods at the same time," she said. "You'll see this Porchfestmas has kind of grow on its own to be, yes, the same vibe and feel as the normal Porchfest, but really just holiday spirit that's going to travel around."
In the future, she said Porchfestmas artists could be stationed at houses competing in the department's Christmas lights competition.
"So not only could the community go check out the lights, they would be greeted with some happy Christmas music when they go by, too," Porrello said. "That's us dreaming into the future so this is really fun and exciting for us to kick off the first one."
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: Samuel Starr, 6, left, and Gemma Starr, 4, right, visit with Santa Claus Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, at Porchfestmas in the Forest Hill neighborhood. Samuel said he wants Legos and Gemma said she wants Barbies or baby dolls for Christmas this year.
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: Samuel Starr, 6, makes a Christmas ornament Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, at the city's first Porchfestmas in the Forest Hill neighborhood. The holiday-themed event featured live music, lights, crafts and hot cocoa.
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: Zak Skinner (left) and Angel Wekamp (right) perform holiday classics Sunday night, Dec. 11, 2022, at the inaugural Porchfestmas. Skinner has performed at every Porchfest held in Jefferson City but said Sunday was his first time performing Christmas music.
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: Zak Skinner (left) and Angel Wekamp (right) perform holiday classics Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, at the inaugural Porchfestmas. Skinner has performed at every Porchfest held in Jefferson City but said Sunday was his first time performing Christmas music.
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: Lina Forrester makes intuitive art as "Those Guys" perform Christmas classics in the background. The artists were among 15 local acts to perform at the city's first Porchfestmas Sunday night, Dec. 11, 2022, in the Forest Hill neighborhood.
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: Ryan Shiner performs Sunday evening, Dec. 11, 2022, at 106 Forest Hill Avenue. Shiner was one of 13 musicians performing live Christmas music for the first Porchfestmas.
Ryan Pivoney/ News Tribune photo: "Those Guys," a musical duo, perform "Jingle Bells" in front of 123 Forest Hill Avenue Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, at the city's first Porchfestmas.