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The city of Franklin is continuing its annual tradition of hosting a window-decorating contest that downtown businesses have the opportunity to compete in. 

Franklin Tourism Manager A’Risha Jones noted that in the contest, businesses decorate their storefront in the theme of the Franklin Christmas Parade. 

This year’s theme is “Winter Wonderland: A Character’s Christmas.” 

“Hosting the downtown business window decoration contest in Franklin is a fantastic way to engage the community and boost local business visibility, especially around the holiday season,” Jones stated.

A flyer previously released by the city noted that the contest began Nov. 1. To enter the contest, businesses emailed a picture of their decorated storefronts to Jones at ajones@FranklinVA.com.

Votes are cast by members of the public on the “City of Franklin – Municipality” Facebook page. People simply need to scroll down on the page to find a Nov. 18 post with a “2024 Window Contest” graphic and five accompanying photos, one each of the participating businesses’ storefronts. People can vote for their favorite decorated storefront window by selecting it so it fills the screen on Facebook and then clicking “Like” on the photo. Voting ends on Friday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m.

Jones explained that the store with the most likes/shares wins, and the 2024 winner will be announced on Dec. 6, which is the day of the Franklin Christmas Parade. 

“We present the winning storefront with a certificate for bragging rights,” Jones said.

This year, the participating businesses include StoreHouse Coffee, Faded Cottage, Eye Care 108, Franklin Flea Market, and Manry Rawls. The submitted picture of each businesses’ decorated storefront accompanies this story.