STEUBENVILLE, OHIO (WTRF) — A festival that has been a part of the Ohio Valley for a while now began its preparation for another year of festive fun Sunday.

The special holiday tradition was started by the Nelson Family from Steubenville who partners every year with the Steubenville Cultural Trust that organizes and puts on the event.

The Nutcracker Village made its debut in 2015 with 37 handmade nutcrackers lining the streets of Downtown Steubenville.  Now, just years later, the Nelson family and many volunteers began setting up this year’s village which will feature 205 nutcrackers lining roughly four blocks of the downtown area.  

”In a way, it’s exhausting. I do all the designing and painting of the nutcrackers in addition to the event coordination. But it’s also just so beautiful to see something that Steubenville has gotten behind, and that is a draw for people from all 50 states.”

Therese Fedoryka – Event Coordinator, Steubenville Nutcracker Village

Being able to draw people from all over the country is something that Fedoryka says adds to the unique holiday spirit in the Ohio Valley. 

”I think Christmas and the holiday season in general is always a time for sharing and community and it’s next level to be able to bring in people that you never would have thought you would encounter from all over the country that want to spend Christmas with you and want to make their traditions your traditions.”

Therese Fedoryka – Event Coordinator, Steubenville Nutcracker Village

Although the tradition was started by the Nelson Family, Fedoryka says one of their goals was to allow anyone in the community to contribute and add to such an eye-opening experience.

”We like to give people the opportunity to also take ownership of a project that we started. We didn’t want it to be just our family out here and making Steubenville better. We want Steubenville to be better, and we want everyone here to have the opportunity to help with that.”

Therese Fedoryka – Event Coordinator, Steubenville Nutcracker Village

After set-up is complete, the Village will officially open for visitors on Tuesday, November 21 and the nutcrackers will remain on display through January 7.

WTRF is proud to be the media sponsor for this year’s Nutcracker Village.