NEWS
Find Waldo in Davidson!
Local Businesses Join Forces in Beloved Annual Event Celebrating “Shop Local”
Where’s Waldo? In Davidson, of course! Celebrating its twelfth anniversary in July 2024, Find Waldo Local has become a beloved summertime event in communities nationwide. This year, Candlewick Press and the American Booksellers Association are again teaming up with 310 independent bookstores nationwide, including Main Street Books, for some hide-and-seek fun designed to encourage residents to patronize their local businesses. There is no charge to participate, and the hunt lasts from Monday, July 1 – Saturday, July 27, 2024.
Families love joining the scavenger hunt to find the iconic children’s book character, with his red-and-white-striped shirt and black glasses, hidden in over twenty-five local businesses, including Summit Coffee, The Rumor Mill Market, & the Davidson branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Find Waldo Local is a wonderful way to support the Shop Local movement by increasing foot traffic to a variety of stores.
Kids will be spending countless hours in the month of July looking for Waldo around Davidson businesses. Join the fun.
“Hosting Find Waldo in Davidson is the highlight of our summer. Thousands of searchers have explored our quaint town as they’ve searched for Waldo, generously supporting our establishments while having a blast with their families as they introduce a favorite book character to the next generation,” says Adah Fitzgerald, owner of Main Street Books and host of Find Waldo in Davidson since July 2016.
To join in the fun, people can simply pick up a “Find Waldo Local in Davidson!” stamp card at any of the participating stores. With each miniature Waldo they spot, searchers get their card stamped or signed by the participating shop. Eagle-eyed hunters can also look for Waldo’s special 2024 gold medal hidden in Main Street Books! Collecting store stamps or signatures at twenty or more businesses will entitle diligent seekers entry into a grand-prize drawing for Waldo books and dozens of other prizes, including certificates for a dozen Milkbread donuts, an AR Workshop session, and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cake. All participants are welcome to attend the Grand Finale celebration party at the Davidson Farmers Market on Saturday, July 27th at 10 a.m. for the live prize drawings, story time, and kids activities.
Martin Handford’s collections of crowd scenes took the world by storm in the late 1980s, and since then the books have held a cherished place on bookstore shelves, in family libraries, and in classrooms around the world. More than 80 million Waldo books have been sold worldwide, and they’ve been translated into over thirty languages.
For more information about hunting for Waldo in Davidson, contact Adah Fitzgerald, owner of Main Street Books, at her email or by phone.
MAIN STREET BOOKS
Local & independent since 1987.