It's Festive Friday and Alonso is here to help review another Christmas movie we missed from 2024, Festival of Trees.

Jacquie's future as a designer could rest on winning the annual "Festival of Trees" competition, but coming up with the perfect design means she needs to remember what Christmas is really all about.

November 24, 2024 | UpTV

• Kate Miner as Jacquie Miller
• Greg Perrow as Brandon Holliday
• Josie Davis as Alice Stewart
• Sarah Hayter as Heather

The movie kicks off with a local morning show doing a story about the Festival of Trees. They bring on designer Alice Stewart, who has won the festival for the past few years. Jacquie is at home watching it, rolling her eyes.

Jacquie wants to compete in the Festival of Trees this year. First, she needs a sponsor, so she goes to pitch Lowery & Lowe. He says he needs to run it by his other teammates and asks to keep her portfolio—which happens to be the only one she has.

At the opening ceremony for the Festival of Trees, it becomes clear that Alice and Jacquie know each other—and they definitely don’t like each other.

While she hasn’t officially been accepted into the competition, Jacquie gets to work. She bumps into Alice’s assistant, who shames her at every turn, then informs her that Lowery & Lowe is sponsoring Alice this year. That means they won’t be going with Jacquie.

While processing that news, a guy comes up and asks her for advice. She’s not in the mood and just hands him her entire basket.

She’s feeling really down, and it only gets worse—she gets a call from the committee with bad news. They cannot accept her design due to plagiarism. Jacquie is shocked—she worked so hard on it. Apparently, someone else submitted the exact same design before she did. She has until noon tomorrow to submit a new design.

So Jacquie and her assistant Heather go searching for inspiration and end up at a Christmas tree farm, where they bump into the guy from the shop. His name is Brandon, and he owns the place. He encourages her to make a tree that speaks to the everyman, not just the uppity elite.

To spark ideas, Jacquie visits the children’s hospital that the Festival of Trees benefits. There, she meets a little girl named Rachel. Rachel shares what she loves about Christmas, which inspires Jacquie to create a tree completely inspired by the children. Each kid will get their own ornament based on their likes and interests. Jacquie and Heather head down to the hospital to interview the kids.

Later, Jacquie goes to pick out her own tree to get into the Christmas spirit. Brandon delivers it, and they spend some time together—the sparks are flying—until he takes a call and says, “I’ll be there in 15 minutes, honey.” Assuming he’s already in a relationship, she decides to call it a night.

The next day, when Jacquie goes to show Rachel her ornament, she’s surprised when Brandon walks in. Turns out, Brandon is Rachel’s dad—and “honey” was who he was talking to the night before!

Festival time arrives, and Jacquie’s tree is a masterpiece. She notices Alice has stolen her old design, but she doesn’t care—she likes hers more.

Brandon and Jacquie admire the tree together when she realizes it will be auctioned off, meaning the kids won’t get their ornaments. Heather tells her to let it go—they’ve already done something amazing.

To her surprise, Jacquie ends up winning! She and Brandon celebrate with a kiss. Her business takes off. They head to the hospital to give the kids the drawings of their ornaments, only to be shocked when they see the actual tree there. And the good news keeps coming—Rachel has been given the all-clear!

The movie ends with snow falling and another kiss.

It's finally happened. Jonathan Bennett joins the boys to talk all things Mean Girls, Hallmark and The Groomsmen trilogy!

Jonathan Bennett is an American actor, television host, and producer best known for his breakout role as Aaron Samuels in the hit film Mean Girls. Over the years, he has built a wide-ranging career that spans film, television, and reality programming, including appearances on Dancing with the Stars, hosting duties on Cake Wars and Halloween Wars, and roles in numerous independent projects.

Beyond acting, Bennett is also a bestselling author, fitness enthusiast, and advocate for LGBTQ+ representation in entertainment. In recent years, he has become a fan favorite on the Hallmark Channel, starring in several romantic comedies and holiday films that highlight his charm, humor, and heart, cementing his place as one of the network’s most beloved leading men.

Jack's joins the boys to chat about The Chicken Sisters Season 2, Episode 5: No Trespassing, Y'all

Amanda and Frankie join forces to oust a pesky weasel who snuck into their house; Amanda tries to teach her daughter that she can handle anything.

August 31, 2025 | Hallmark Channel

• Schuyler Fisk as Amanda
• Genevieve Angelson as Mae
• Lea Thompson as Nancy
• Wendie Malick as Gus
• Margo Martindale as Narrator
• Rukiya Bernard as Sabrina
• Caitlin Howden as Shawna

The episode kicks off like a horror movie, with Amanda waking up.
Mae and Shawnee walk into the restaurant to find Clayton helping out. He asks Gus to get dinner with him, and Gus agrees—but only if they split the bill.

Duddy asks Frankie to prom and she says “sure.” What every boy wants to hear.

Clayton spends time getting to know Mae and Amanda. They’re blown away by the life he’s lived, but he admits he’s jealous of Amanda’s life because she got to spend it with her girl.

You’d think Frankie would be happy about her prom plans with Duddy, but she’s not. She can only think about her dad—how they went to prom together and that was it. Does she really want to end up like her mom?

Frank Jr. is pumped when someone tries his new chicken, and it’s a big hit! Word is bound to spread.

Gus shows up to dinner with Clayton all dressed up. The night is going great—until he stands up and basically professes his love for her in front of everyone.

In an effort to prove to her daughter that they don’t need a man, they catch a weasel together.

Clayton and Mae grow closer, and he asks if he can walk her down the aisle. She says yes.

Amanda, with her newfound confidence, walks into the shop. Sergio takes notice, but it quickly leads to an argument when he sees her flirting with the mechanic.

Mae asks Clayton why he never came to see her. His answer makes her believe he never came for her—only for Gus.

Frankie breaks up with Duddy after talking to Nancy about not feeling any butterflies. Nancy realizes she feels the same way about Clayton.

Clayton and Gus have another dinner together… which ends in a kisssss.

Sergio and Amanda talk again, and it turns out the texts never sent. Sparks are flyinggggg.

The episode ends with Gus having an MS episode, and Clayton catching her with no idea what’s going on.