Corporate sponsors are stepping up to help put on holiday festivals across North Texas.
"We get to really celebrate those people out there who are doing great things in the community," said Brian Murnahan, with Chesapeake Energy.
The company is the title sponsor of Friday's Chesapeake Energy Parade of Lights in downtown Fort Worth.
"It helps push the parade over the top, it helps make it that much nicer when you have somebody, Chesapeake or another large company, come in and provide some of the upfront capital to make it all happen," said Murnahan.
Energy rival XTO Energy sponsored the "Holiday Fun Zone" in Sundance Square featuring local entertainers before the big parade.
"I can only tell you that doing something of this magnitude without a supporting sponsor like Chesapeake would be close to impossible," said Jay Downie, with event organizer Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. "They want the community to know that they support what they do in these activities and these festivals."
Across North Texas, many holiday celebrations are supported by corporate sponsors.
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"A lot of the other festivals will work on product samplings and to be able to put products with people who are at these festivals and that's a business," said Downie. "I mean, it's an advertising medium that really is very much a niche medium."
Chesapeake Energy alone will sponsor seven holiday events this year, including Cleburne Whistle Stop Christmas, Grapevine's North Pole Express, and North Richland Hills' Night of Holiday Magic.
