NEWPORT, Ky. — The holiday season is in full swing at Newport on the Levee, with some long-established traditions returning along with some new sights to be seen.
Visitors will recognize some of the typical decorations they've seen in holiday seasons past -- including lights and the signature giant Christmas tree (although in a new location) -- but new to the Levee this year are the Bridgeview Box Park and the Exchange Market.
The Exchange Market, opened earlier this month, is an artisan market featuring 12 local shops and vendors in the 11,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Barnes and Noble Booksellers.
On its west-facing side, looking toward the Newport Aquarium, the market opens out to the Bridgeview Box Park, opened in early summer.
An open-air drinking and dining concept, the box park houses food and drink vendors in repurposed shipping containers. As temperatures begin to approach wintry levels in earnest this week, Bridgeview staff have erected tents and small-party seating igloos to provide shelter and warmth to visitors.
The park was a welcome addition to the Levee's offerings amid pandemic-related restrictions that brought a large part of the industry to a halt in the spring and early summer, despite being planned and developed months before COVID-19 arrived in the region.
The Levee-adjacent Purple People Bridge has been decorated with a lighting display, as well.
