The Festival of Trees returns with a dazzling display
The Summit Charter School Foundation’s 2025 Cashiers Festival of Trees will open on Friday, Nov. 28, at 370 Mitten Lane in Cashiers, North Carolina. The festive fundraiser—accessible both in person and online—will run through Saturday, Nov. 29, with doors open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
With attendance and participation growing each year, the festival has outgrown the Summit Center alone and will now extend across the high school campus, bringing even more holiday magic for visitors to enjoy.
The festival is a family-friendly event on the Cashiers-Highlands plateau during Thanksgiving weekend. Guests can get in the holiday spirit by viewing and bidding on decorated Christmas trees and décor with accompanying gifts and experiences; reveling in a variety of holiday activities; creating free personalized children’s crafts; celebrating literacy in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Storytime Nook; enjoying a pop-up O.P. Taylor’s Workshop and a holiday scavenger hunt; watching rivalry weekend football games in the Gameday Lounge; shopping one-of-a-kind gifts in the Gift Zone and Vendor Village; and sampling delicious offerings from food trucks. Cashiers Valley Real Estate serves as presenting sponsor and Ingles Markets as the media sponsor.
While raising funds for Summit remains the primary focus of the festival, the event also spreads the holiday spirit of giving. Participating nonprofits that provide an auction item receive 80% of the sale of their items, creating a collaborative initiative that supports their worthy causes.
2025 participating charities include: Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC, Cashiers Historical Society, Merrie-Woode Foundation, Albert Carlton–Cashiers Community Library, The Gordon Center for Children, Cashiers Highlands Humane Society, Cashiers Valley Preschool, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Cashiers Friends of the Library, Mountain Theatre Company, The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts, Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau, Pisgah Legal Services, Cashiers Valley Garden Club, HIGHTS, Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce, Hudson Library of Highlands Foundation, Highlands Performing Arts Center, WALK Ramble and Vision Cashiers, International Friendship Center, and Hawthorn Heights of Bryson City, NC.
“As we celebrate the fifth year of the Cashiers Festival of Trees, we are filled with gratitude for how this tradition has brought our community together,” said 2025 co-chairs Denice Dunn and Celeste Pratt. “Each year, the generosity, creativity, and spirit of giving continue to grow—reminding us all what this season is truly about.”
Businesses, nonprofits, and individuals have created traditional and themed trees, wreaths, gift baskets, artwork, unique displays, and more to be enjoyed during the event. A full list of supporters can be found at summitschool.org.
An additional sampling of this year’s 170 submissions includes The Designer’s Market, Spruce Interiors, Cashiers Kitchen Company, Anthropologie, Brookings Anglers, Mattel Toys, Nerf, Wit’s End, AGA Cooktops, and designs by all 13 grades from Summit Charter School.
Cashiers Firewood’s submission—a highly anticipated feature each year—showcases an intricately designed Takeuchi excavator and skid steer made out of firewood. Bennett Equipment and Takeuchi serve as the firewood display sponsors this year. The winning bidder will receive two cords of seasoned or kiln-dried firewood, delivered and stacked.
“The community’s continued support in our fifth year has been truly remarkable,” said Melissa Hudson, Festival of Trees Director. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the talented designers, generous benefactors, corporate sponsors, and devoted volunteers who bring the Festival to life. As we open the day after Thanksgiving, we look forward to celebrating the spirit of giving and the joy the holiday season brings. We invite everyone to experience the magic at the Festival—where trees, festive décor, and family fun fill every corner.”
- Staff Reports