Rye City and the Rye Chamber of Commerce announced on the morning of Monday, November 10, that they have cancelled the Mistletoe Magic holiday festival, previously held annually on purchase street during the holiday season, for 2025. In a message, the Chamber Board cited rising costs, changes in shopping trends, and a lack of donor support as the main reasons for the decision.
“It is with a disappointed and heavy heart that we must announce that we will not be able to hold Mistletoe Magic this year,” the The Rye Chamber of Commerce Executive Board said in their message. “We have held out for the hope that the situation would improve or there might be a benevolent soul to help rescue the cause, but that has not come to pass.”
According to the Chamber, the cost of running Mistletoe Magic has essentially doubled in the past three years. Combined with a lack of donor support and a nudge from Purchase Street storeowners that closing the main road through town and all surrounding roads was hurting holiday shopping business, the Chamber felt as though the decision to cancel the event and shift focus to revamping it and bringing it back in 2026 was the best way forward.
The event is multi-purposed, both bringing holiday cheer to the city of Rye and raising money for college scholarships. “The domino effect of not being able to host this year’s event makes it unlikely that we will be able to provide that support to the 2025 graduating class,” the Chamber admitted in their message on Monday morning.
