If everything comes together on Dec. 9, Apponaug will be transformed into a winter wonderland.

The centerpiece of the event, titled “The Strolling Rolling Apponaug Winter Festival,” is a parade starting at 10 a.m., with a route taking it in a circle from Greenwich Avenue to Veterans Memorial Drive to its ending point on Post Road near City Hall.

Should there be rain or other inclement weather, the festival will be rescheduled for Dec. 10, although the parade would not be able to be held due to church services on the roads that would otherwise be shut down.

According to Business Development Planner Sue Baker, planning for the event started last December following the city receiving an $86,000 grant from Rhode Island Commerce.

The money will be used for equipment such as portable heaters, port-a-johns and sound systems, and advertising as well as for the event’s entertainment and giveaways.

“It’s not just another outdoor market,” Baker said. “It’s family-oriented- to have some food and for the kids to do things with their parents and just bring everybody together.”

Baker, who grew up in Warwick, said she hopes the festival will be similar to other past community events in Apponaug, such as the Fall Festival. Getting to walk along Apponaug’s streets without cars along them helps create a different view of the village, she said.

Baker estimates that aside from staff working the event, the city will need more than 60 volunteers, with two-hour shifts so that volunteers can enjoy the festival as well.

Along the parade route, Baker and Acting Director of Tourism, Culture and Development Elizabeth Dunton have worked with multiple local vendors, businesses and city services to set up the day’s festivities. A building across from City Hall will be turned into a “Santa station” for children to visit Santa and have their photos taken. Other sites along the parade route will accommodate vendors, other businesses and Nativity scenes.

Dunton sees the festival as showcasing the village’s developments and history.

“Apponaug has so many good historical buildings, and little shops,” she said. “We’re seeing more people interested in moving here partly because of the revitalization and the improvements that are taking place.”

Additionally, Baker and Dunton  believe that should the event become annual, the completion of the Greenwood Credit Union outdoor skating rink, planned behind City Hall at the former site of the City Hall annex will add to the wintry atmosphere and create a special day for skating as well.

Spectators can expect to see bands, dancers, floats and special characters in the parade.

Baker said two major giveaways will also occur during the festival- one for a two-night stay at a Warwick hotel with dinner included and another for art from the Warwick Center for the Arts. According to Dunton, there will also be a surprise in the works for attendees.

“What’s been really fantastic is the enthusiasm from the communities and businesses,” Dunton said. “People come up, say we heard about your event, we can’t wait to go- everybody’s just coming together.”

Two separate events scheduled are also planned for Dec. 9, We Be Jammin’s Holiday Magic Marketplace and the For the Kids Toy Drive’s live collection event, hosted by Jacob Belt of Anthony Jacobs Financial, LLC.

We Be Jammin’s Debbie Wood said the Crowne Plaza events are not intended to take away from the city’s Christmas event, saying the events could both coexist and thrive.

“Ours is a shopping event, theirs is not,” she said. “They’re two different things. But they’re both family friendly events, and I think they’re both going to do really well. I hope everyone comes out and has an amazing day and I hope the weather holds out.”

The Holiday Magic Marketplace will include vendors, pictures with Santa, and family activities, according to Wood.

The Toy Drive, in partnership with the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots Program, is going on for the 27th consecutive year. It will feature vendors and pictures with Santa as well, according to the event’s flyer.

Both Wood and Baker said that they did not have any trouble getting vendors to come to their event.

Additional parking for the festival will be held at Toll Gate High School, with handicap-accessible vans to shuttle visitors to Apponaug.

Baker and Dunton hope to make the festival an annual one, with ongoing community support for the event being a critical factor in that decision.

What they consider most important for this first parade, though, is making sure those in Apponaug on Dec. 9 enjoy the festivities.

“I’d want to see happy faces, a good crowd, people just walking around and enjoying it,” Dunton said. “To have a community-oriented, fun event where people don’t have to worry about spending a ton of money.”

Anyone interested in volunteering for the festival can email tourism@warwickri.gov.