The Historic Downtown Chatham BIA is abuzz after hearing the announcement that Rogers Hometown Hockey will stop in the area.
The weekend-long event will take place on December 15 and 16 and bring thousands of people to the downtown center.
"The Chatham Downtown BIA is very excited to welcome Rogers Hometown Hockey into our downtown core," said BIA spokesperson Nancy Labadie. "It's an amazing event that has travelled throughout the country and for us to have it here and coincide with the holiday season, we're really excited."
Labadie said residents are encouraged to show up to the festival wearing jerseys and stores BIA merchants will be decorating their storefronts for the occasion.
"When we get to invite thousands of people into our downtown area, we're able to showcase the best of what we have. We're able to remind them of the cute, quaint stores we have in our area, the lovely shops, the restaurants and all the things that make our community unique and exciting to visit," Labadie said.
Chatham-Kent was announced in August as one of 25 host towns for the touring hockey festival. Labadie says when they BIA found out Chatham would be one of the stops, they were thrilled and eager for the chance to showcase the area and to remind people how important downtown hubs are to the community.