Shop Small: Ankeny

Despite the challenges we are facing this holiday season, Ankeny still believes it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Ankeny has so many incredible organizations who work hard year-round to provide community cheer and that is only intensified during the holidays! Check out what’s going on in our city:

Celebrate the Season This Year in Uptown Ankeny

Experience locally owned businesses that love to dial it up for the holidays. Included in the festivities this year is a Neighborhood Light Fight for our residential neighbors and a dazzling drive-through light experience spanning the streets of Uptown and the Ankeny Market Pavilion. While you are in the neighborhood, park your car and explore. You’ll find the shops open on Thursday evenings and other special shopping opportunities planned by Uptown businesses. Read below for more details!

Mistletoe Mingle Nights

Uptown business owners are keeping the doors open late on Thursday evenings for Mistletoe Mingle Nights to give you more time to sip, shop, dine and explore. Admire the decorated windows while you stroll the streets and be on the lookout for a few special surprises! Business hours will vary. Thank you for respecting each business’ individual safety and distancing guidelines.

Hometown Holidays Aglow

Enjoy a drive-through light experience with the City of Ankeny that will bring animated LED displays to the AMP and the streets of Uptown. Twenty-five whimsical light displays will be spread out in prominent spots throughout the neighborhood. In addition to these displays, you’ll find twinkling tree trunks, glowing light-lined rooftops, eye catching window displays, snowflakes galore and loads of lit trees. The light displays will appear Friday, November 20 and remain through Friday, January 1.

At Home for the Holidays

AR Workshop Ankeny

Is your family planning on staying inside this holiday season? Are you running out of ideas to keep your kids entertained? Then you’ll want to Deck the Halls (and Trees!) with ornament kits from AR Workshop Ankeny!

Bring the festivities home with a Holi-DIY To-Go Ornament Kit! Choose from a set of six wood slice ornaments or a set of six classic wood ornaments! Choose multiple collections to make your tree extra festive this year. Kits include all materials including stencils, wood, a PrimARy Paint Essentials Kit, brushes and instructions.

Ankeny Service Center Assistance Program

Finally, it wouldn’t be Christmas in Ankeny without the Ankeny Service Center. The Ankeny Service Center coordinates services and referrals for residents of Ankeny and northern Polk County. They exist to serve the underserved in our community by meeting immediate needs, as well as providing a path to success. Through partnerships with local service organizations, businesses and community members, they change lives every day!

The Ankeny Service Center is gearing up for their annual Holiday Assistance Program. In 2019, over 230 families and 650 children received gift certificates, toys, clothes and other items thanks to the generosity of Ankeny residents, businesses and churches in our community. If you would like to help sponsor a family in Ankeny, or if you know a family in need, fill out a form on the Service Center website. Gift cards, monetary donations, personal care and household items and individual gifts like clothes or stocking stuffers are also always accepted instead of sponsoring a family. Because of your generosity, the Ankeny Service Center is able to bring the holiday spirit to many homes in our community.

As you can see, nothing can stop Ankeny’s holiday cheer! Ankeny’s organizations and businesses are proud to provide fun opportunities for residents to enjoy the holidays while keeping our community safe and healthy. We encourage you to shop small, support local and stay safe not just this season, but year-round.

As always, we recommend you Mask Up DSM to shop and explore the city in a safe manner. Help small businesses stay open by keeping others safe, too.

You can count on The Partnership to continue to share accurate and fact-based updates. See more on COVID-19 here.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership calendar of events is a one-stop resource for activities taking place throughout the region. Find networking information for Greater Des Moines (DSM) businesses or events specific to Downtown DSM.