LANSING, Mich. — The Kringle Holiday Market is back at Reutter Park for its second year.
“For people visiting the Kringle Holiday Market, you’ll find not only a full load of local vendors selling items, but you’ll also find free activities like ice skating, caroling and more,” said Cathleen Edgerly with Downtown Lansing Inc.
While the market serves as a way to kick off the holidays in the city, it has faced some controversy for where its located.
“It really stems from Reutter park being a safe space for the unhoused pollution in Lansing and they’ve been using the park for years, so then to come and to come in and build these sheds, that’s stomping on this safe place,”” said Jerry Norris with the Fledge Foundation.
Norris was one of the people voicing concerns about the market and it seems like some of those concerns may have been heard.
This year the Fledge and Punks with Lunch Lansing are sharing a booth at the market, collecting donations, and pushing to make the unhoused population feel included.
“Each time I’ve manned the booth, I’ve gone out to grab some unhoused people, ask them if they wanna get warm in my booth and also give them snacks , hot chocolate and just getting their perspectives on everything,” Norris said.
The market will also have donation boxes for other organizations. Norris knows there’s a lot more work to be done, but he thinks this is a step in the right direction to help those less fortunate.
“There’s a lot of us out there fighting for them and who care about them,” Norris said.
Find out more about the Kringle Holiday Market here.
