The Ararat Shriners' Festival of Trees opens Friday at Independence Center in Independence, Missouri, bringing a record 35 decorated Christmas trees to the mall for the group's seventh annual holiday fundraiser. One tree alone is decked out with 100 Hot Wheels cars, and visitors who buy raffle tickets can drop them into slots beneath their favorite trees for a shot at winning the tree and every gift tucked underneath it.
The 35-tree count tops the event's previous high of 32, according to KMBC, whose report also describes this year's display as up from 24 trees the year before. Either way, organizers are touting 2026 as the biggest edition yet.
A Winter Wonderland of Themed Trees
Among the roughly two dozen specifically themed trees on display, shoppers will find everything from a 50-50 raffle tree to the Hot Wheels-covered centerpiece, per the station's report. Each tree's winner doesn't just take home the tree itself — the gifts stacked beneath it go along with the prize, giving ticket buyers an incentive to scope out which trees carry the best hauls before committing their entries.
Beyond the trees themselves, organizers have stocked the raffle with standalone prizes. Festival co-chair Mick Owens told KMBC the giveaways include a refrigerator-freezer loaded with groceries, a 14-foot johnboat, and a freezer filled with gift cards to area meat markets.
Why the Shriners Call This Their Biggest Night
KMBC's 2026 report describes the Festival of Trees as the Shriners' biggest fundraiser of the year, a characterization that differs from the station's 2025 coverage, which called it the group's second-largest fundraiser. Owens told the outlet the event supports the Shriners' fraternal side and that the money raised stays in the Kansas City area, funding programs that help local children.
The festival's official site, kctreefestival.com, invites the public to enter its raffle for a chance to win a decorated tree along with its gifts, echoing the same draw that's pulled shoppers to Independence Center for years. Independence Center itself is listed at 18801 East 39th St. S., according to visitindependence.com.
Five Weekends to Browse the Trees
The display will stay open for the next five weekends, giving holiday shoppers and families plenty of chances to wander the rows of trees before the season wraps up. Last year's sixth annual festival featured 24 fully decorated trees stuffed with gifts valued between $500 and $2,500, and Owens said at the time that the event gives the Shriners a chance to explain their work while brightening up the holidays for families around the region. That earlier report also noted that money raised supports the work of nearly 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children nationwide.
