Holidays at the Mall

“Holidays at the Mall” is a three-week long celebration of music and culture in our community, involving elementary, middle school, and high school choirs, orchestras, bands, and mariachi on school days between Thanksgiving and Winter Break. Two hours of music are planned to coincide with the lunch hour in the food court at the local shopping mall during the busiest season of the year. Teachers are encouraged to pair their trip to perform at the mall with a stop at a local assisted living/retirement home. Additionally, teachers are encouraged to explore music and traditions from various cultures to share with the community.

The goal is to increase visibility and interactions with our community, as well as to bring joy to our community during a particularly stressful time of year.

Community Members – So many of our existing events are aimed at families, teacher/student growth, and administrative support. Our events are often held in schools and are not easy to get to for people who rely on public transportation or walkability. This event is held in one of the most central locations in town, free of charge, with no adjudicating/clinics, or any other motives for participation. It is important for our community to see the investment they have put into the music programs in our schools, and that our students learn what it means to be a part of a community.

August-October: Teachers sign up to participate in Holidays at the Mall

October: Teachers receive schedules and submit sound/space needs

November: Field Trip Requests, Transportation Requests and Scheduling, Parent Communication, Community Communication

December: Continued Community Communication & Event!

Program Associate for Music and Drama – worked with teachers to create a schedule; created promotional materials; created a partnership with Mall ownership; worked with district transportation to ensure students had access; attended every performance, setting up and cleaning up the stage and sound for the day, providing audio equipment, piano, sound, and other on-site support

Music Teachers – student and parent communication; field trip coordination

• Partnered with mall ownership and management to get access to a space and support with promotion
• Partnered with a local music store to access a keyboard and sound equipment
• Canva to create digital and printed promotional materials
• Facebook to share digital promotional materials
• Printed promotional materials hung in businesses and schools

• Created Digital and Printable Flyers to promote the event
• Created Digital and Printable Flyers with ensemble schedules
• Created Digital Program accessible on site via QR code and online via link
• Partnered with the Social Media team at the Mall to promote as a team

The event itself was free – I have been able to work out a mutually beneficial partnership with the mall, so they don’t charge us. We bring additional people into the mall to shop, and we get to share our music with new community members each year. Other expenses incurred:

• School Transportation (covered by our office upon request)
• Incidentals that would have happened anyway: ensemble t-shirts, student lunches

• We would love to extend performance times, but we can’t start until the mall opens (11 am), and school buses need to return for afternoon transportation routes by 1:30 pm
• I would like to apply for a grant this coming year to pay for mall lunches for all students. It would be a boost to the economy and something special for our students. It would also help teachers recruit for their ensembles, particularly at the elementary level, to help build a strong foundation at an early age.
• In its first year, very few ensembles participated as there was some doubt over the value of the event. Providing a great experience to those schools that did participate has been paramount in increasing ensemble participation.
• Without the partnership with a local music store (Willamette Valley Music Company), we would not have had access to a piano for choirs to sing with, nor a sound system for amplifying recordings and mic’d students.

Yes. This year, we had multiple community members who came to the mall daily just to hear the ensembles. One community member, Fred, is an adult who lives in a Special Needs home here in Salem. He took the bus each day to the mall only to hear the students perform. He especially likes the String Orchestras, but is just happy to hear our students perform live music of any kind. The mall was so impressed with community engagement that they asked for additional performances in the Spring (we’re hoping to initiate that in the 2025-2026 school year). The number of participating ensembles has more than doubled, starting with just a few elementary choirs in its first year, and now including choir, band, orchestra, and mariachi ensembles from elementary, middle school, and high schools. Additionally, this year we had several choirs that performed on the stage and then continued their performance by caroling throughout the mall. Public response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Thanks to “Holidays at the Mall,” our programs have seen a lot of positive press. Our local newspaper came out and interviewed students, families, and community members, and printed the story in their paper and online. Our district communications department also did a feature on this event, sharing it in multiple areas (website, Facebook, digital weekly newsletter). As schools are currently struggling with funding sources and determining what to keep and what to cut, our community has spoken: “Keep music in our schools!”

Find a location that has:

• Adequate Community Parking and Bus Pick-Up/Drop-Off
• Seating, Stage, Decent Acoustics
• Free Wifi (for digital music options)

If the location doesn’t provide a piano, sound system, mics, etc., build a partnership with your local music store(s).