Taste of Home brings big gingerbread house to NYC
Culinary platform Taste of Home is bringing its Gingerbread Boulevard installation to New York City’s Madison Square Park for the fourth consecutive holiday season today (December 7). The free event features the return of its life-size, interactive Gingerbread House – now with a ‘4D’ immersive storytelling experience.
Taste of Home's Gingerbread Boulevard in NYC's Madison Park
This year, the gingerbread house invites visitors to go on a sight, sound and motion journey through Gingerbread Boulevard. Upon entering the house, people will be able to look out across a candy land universe by means of a synchronized video experience. In the house, visitors will meet the Gingerbread Man and follow him on a journey, becoming a part of the story through immersive elements such as smelling the gingerbread, feeling the chill of a snowstorm and meeting special guests along the way.
As families arrive at the Gingerbread House they will engage with Taste of Home’s “social stops” where they can interact with the Gingerbread Boulevard story on Snapchat and Instagram.
Folgers Coffee returns for its third consecutive year as a presenting partner and will be joined by Domino Sugar, a first-time partner of the family-favorite holiday activation.
“Partnering with Taste of Home on Gingerbread Boulevard provides a very organic consumer connection for our brand,” said Brian O’Malley, president and chief executive officer at Domino Foods, Inc. “Taste of Home’s innovation with its annual holiday activation was especially attractive as we seek new ways to bring our brand to life around the holidays.”
As part of its partnership with Taste of Home, Folgers will share DIY gingerbread ideas to consumers nationwide through a custom digital content program. Through a high-impact billboard ad unit, consumers will be able to customize their own gingerbread house by selecting unique options for windows and doors. Additionally, Taste of Home will broadcast its first Gingerbread Boulevard Facebook Live video on Friday, December 8 at 3:00pm ET. The video will feature Taste of Home’s culinary specialists, demonstrating how fans can recreate elements of the gingerbread house at home.
“Building holiday traditions is a valuable family dynamic that we are excited to be a part of year over year through our Gingerbread Boulevard event,” said Donna Lindskog, publisher at Taste of Home. “As the media industry evolves and consumer expectations increase, we strive to create more personalized experiences.”
Since its inception in 2014, Gingerbread Boulevard has hosted thousands of visitors. In 2016 alone, Taste of Home and Folgers along with Madison Square Park welcomed 325,000 visitors over 10 days.
The live experience kicks off today (December 7) at 3:30pm ahead of the Madison Square Park tree-lighting ceremony. Visitors will have until December 20 to join in the holiday spirit at Gingerbread Boulevard. Organizers expect up to 350,000 visitors during the two-week-long installation, along with millions of users via social media.