The Downtown Taunton Foundation and Taunton Business Improvement District have launched Bingo & Beyond: A Downtown Holiday Adventure, a seven-week celebration running through Nov. 30.
The event encourages residents and visitors to explore, shop and celebrate downtown Taunton’s small businesses, according to a community announcement.
More than 20 local businesses are participating. Shoppers can pick up a Bingo card and complete tasks by visiting shops, galleries, restaurants and service providers. Each completed row, column or full card earns entries for weekly prizes of gift cards.
A grand prize raffle winner will be selected Dec. 3. The grand prize is a $400 Downtown Prize Pack featuring goods and gift cards from the downtown business community. The prize pack will be on display at Trescott Street Gallery starting Oct. 22.
“Every purchase made downtown helps strengthen our local economy and keeps our community vibrant,” Colleen Simmons, Downtown Taunton Foundation & BID executive director, said in the announcement. “Bingo & Beyond makes it fun and rewarding for people to discover new businesses and support the ones they already love.”
The event kicked off Oct. 11. Weekly winners will be drawn on Thursdays, Oct. 23, 30, Nov. 6, 13, 20 and 27. A video post revealing the weekly winner will be posted on the Downtown Taunton Foundation’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
A Sip, Shop & Stroll event is planned for Oct. 23. Businesses will offer special promotions, refreshments and surprises throughout the night.
Small Business Saturday is Nov. 29. The day will feature live music, a fire pit and s’mores station, strolling carolers, a downtown scavenger hunt and hourly raffle prize drawings.
The last day for Bingo is Nov. 30. Completed cards must be turned in by the end of the day to be eligible for the grand prize drawing.
“Bingo & Beyond adds a little friendly competition and a lot of fun to holiday shopping,” Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said in the announcement. “It’s a great way for people to get out, enjoy our downtown and make memories while supporting local businesses.”
Bingo & Beyond is an expansion of Downtown Taunton’s annual Small Business Saturday Celebration, leading up to the City of Taunton’s Lights On Festival in early December.
For Bingo card details, participating business listings and event updates, visit the www.DowntownTaunton.org event page or follow on Facebook and Instagram.
This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott, bmcdermott1@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.