Georgia Festival of Trees shines light on human trafficking

Angie Ulibarri has a big heart for helping people in need.

She also throws a terrific party.

Ulibarri is the face behind the Georgia Festival of Trees, a multiday, family-friendly holiday event that starts Nov. 22 at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth.

Festival goers can soak in the sights, sounds and joy of the holiday season beginning Nov. 22 at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth. (Courtesy of Georgia Festival of Trees)

Families can create memories among the forest of fully decorated Christmas trees and enjoy live entertainment, holiday shopping and kids’ activities while supporting a meaningful cause.

Proceeds benefit Street Grace, a faith-based organization on a mission to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

“We want to build the festival to be a wonderful community event that makes memories and traditions, and makes people happy and brings joy, but at the same time feeds organizations doing the important work that saves lives,” said Ulibarri, founder and executive director of the festival, now in its fifth year.

“Our goal is to make enough money to spread around to other organizations doing this work in Georgia,” she added.

Angie Ulibarri grew up in Salt Lake City, where she said she always enjoyed its famed Festival of Trees, now in its 53rd year. (Courtesy of Georgia Festival of Trees)

Ulibarri started the event to support organizations working on the front lines to stop human trafficking, care for survivors, and prevent child sex abuse and domestic violence.

In addition to providing financial assistance, Georgia Festival volunteers work year-round to support the charity partner with publicity and speaking engagements.

“We’re just throwing a party. They’re doing the hard work,” Ulibarri said.

Street Grace has used past festival proceeds to develop an AI program that makes it more difficult for predators to use the internet to purchase children for sex.

“As a human trafficking organization, we don’t have a lot of joyful experiences for the people we are educating,” said Brooke Ruffin, Street Grace vice president and executive director. “Being paired with such a positive initiative has been wonderful.”

Trafficking can be a tough subject to talk about, but Ruffin said she believes it needs to be a table conversation.

“We’ve always operated with a mission to shine a light on it,” she said.

Information about trafficking will be presented in a low-key manner at the festival, Ulibarri said.

“We’re so passionate about the cause, but don’t want people to come to our festival and have to explain human trafficking or sex exploitation to their children,” she said.

The idea of starting a Festival of Trees and fighting human trafficking came almost simultaneously.

The eight-day festival is expected to draw thousands, with 1,400 volunteers helping to pull it together. (Courtesy of Georgia Festival of Trees)

Ulibarri had always been enamored with this type of holiday family event. She grew up in Salt Lake City, where she always enjoyed its famed Festival of Trees, now in its 53rd year.

Atlanta didn’t have a Festival of Trees when she and her family moved to the metro area from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2021, so Ulibarri decided to start one herself.

“I would tell people, if it feels like I got up one morning and said, let’s start a Christmas festival, that’s exactly what happened,” she said.

Around the same time, Ulibarri heard disturbing news about friends who had their 3-year-old taken while they were visiting Haiti. The child has never been found.

“It was my first exposure to trafficking, and it sent me on a journey to find out more, because I was shocked,” she said.

The information she gathered tormented her and kept her awake at night. She told her husband she needed to do something to help and believed, “God will show me the way.”

Within months, she had the festival idea and knew the event could help raise awareness and funds to stop human trafficking.

The eight-day festival is expected to draw thousands, with 1,400 volunteers helping to pull it together. Nobody at the nonprofit festival earns a paycheck, including Ulibarri.

Riding the Pink Pig is a favorite festival adventure. Georgia Festival of Trees starts Nov. 22 at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth. (Courtesy of Georgia Festival of Trees)

Ulibarri said she started the festival with three goals: to raise awareness and money for organizations fighting human trafficking; to create a beautiful experience for people to come together and enjoy the season; and to provide an avenue for people to make an impact on the cause.

“We’ve hit the mark on all three goals every year,” she said.

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