Lights will glow in Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend along with special events this Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Port Angeles and Sequim both will mark the Saturday after Thanksgiving with tree-lighting ceremonies to coincide with Small Business Saturday, while the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center will offer an alternative to Black Friday shopping on Friday.
Port Townsend and Forks tree-lighting ceremonies will be the first weekend in December.
Port Angeles
Santa Claus will arrive at the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at Laurel and First streets at 4:45 p.m. after a full afternoon of local performers and musicians.
The 30-foot-tall Douglas fir donated by the Port of Port Angeles will be lit up for the holidays at 5 p.m.
Children will be able to get photos and visit with Santa until 8 p.m.
Port Angeles’ annual Hometown Holidays and tree-lighting ceremony, organized by the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Promotions Committee, will begin at noon with festival music at the fountain.
Tim Tucker returns as the Master of Ceremonies. Scheduled performances are noon, IBC Student Ministry Band; 1 p.m., Cherrywood; 2 p.m., Parking Lot Pipers; 2:30 p.m., Robbin Eaves; 3 p.m., PA Panto; and 4 p.m., Studio 360.
A new addition of food carts to this year’s festival will provide treats while customers shop at downtown merchants on Small Business Saturday. Slices of wood-fired pizza will be offered at Porter’s Pies while Great Northern Coffee Bar’s booth will offer hot coffee or cocoa; both will be open from noon to 8 p.m.
Holiday lights have been installed by the Port Angeles Kiwanis Club. The City of Port Angeles and Parks and Recreation provided labor to install holiday ornaments on light poles as well as lights on the fountain.
For more information, see www.portangeles.org.
Sequim
Sequim’s Hometown Holidays returns this Saturday with musical and seasonal appearances by local musicians and alleged North Pole residents along with continuing traditions of the downtown tree lighting and tractor cruise.
Events are slated to go from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Centennial Place on the northeast corner of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street to coincide with Small Business Saturday.
Santa Claus will ride into Sequim for photos from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with the Sequim Irrigation Festival royalty.
The tree-lighting ceremony is set for 4:45 p.m. The tree was donated by Gail Sumpter and installed and decorated by City of Sequim staff.
The Sequim City Band, Juan de Fuca Harmony and Peninsula Singers will perform.
The Sequim Museum’s ninth annual Tractor Cruise will begin at 5 p.m. and go from Sequim High School south on Sequim Avenue and turn west on Washington Street to Mariner Cafe.
Tractors covered in lights will begin to line up starting at 4 p.m. in the parking lot north of the Sequim High School’s FFA building, at 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Each tractor requires a rear orange safety triangle and fire extinguisher.
Sequim FFA also will have food and coffee stands available.
Organizers said the Sequim Police Department will close a portion of the Sequim Avenue/Washington Street intersection during the tractor cruise but not all of it, so visitors are encouraged to avoid driving at this intersection at 5 p.m.
Clallam County Fire District 3’s antique fire truck will lead the tractor cruise with police vehicles capping both ends of the parade for safety reasons, organizers said.
For more about Hometown Holidays, call the Chamber of Commerce at 360-683-6197 or visit sequimchamber.com.
For more about the tractor cruise, call 360-681-2257 or visit sequimmuseum.com.
Port Townsend
The Port Townsend Main Street Program is lighting up the city with sparkling white lights decorating the trees in the historic districts for the holiday season, including on Small Business Saturday.
Illuminated snowflakes are planned in Uptown as the Port Townsend Main Street Program winter lights program runs November through February, thanks to the City of Port Townsend Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.
A festival tent will be erected around Thanksgiving at Tyler Street Plaza to provide a heated outdoor space for shoppers to enjoy a meal to go or a hot drink.
On Small Business Saturday, free swag-making is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the tent.
Caroling in the streets is planned with the Wild Rose Chorale.
Selfies can be taken with holiday cartoon cutouts.
For more information, see ptmainstreet.org or enjoypt.com.
Makers Market
The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, at 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., will kick off its Wintertide programming with the opening of the Makers Market and Light Art Experience on Friday.
The Makers Market will be set in the historic Esther Webster Gallery, and the Light Art installations will be spread throughout the 5 acres of Webster’s Woods.
The Makers Market runs from Friday through Dec. 17.
It is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, with extended hours until 8 p.m. every Friday night.
The Light Art Experience is free and open to the public from Friday through Dec. 28. The artworks will be lit up nightly from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Makers Market highlights the work of local artists and artisans as the gallery transforms into a holiday market.
Shoppers will find art prints, home decor, jewelry, body care, kitchenware, cards and stickers from 31 Clallam County artists and artisans.
During opening night, visitors can shop into the evening and stroll through the forested park to see 16 new or returning Light Art installations as part of the biannual installation of outdoor exhibitions into Webster’s Woods Sculpture Park.
From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., visitors will find warm beverages and heated seating in the courtyard with live music from Port Townsend alternative-folk singer-songwriter Jack Tierney.
The Light Art Exhibition theme is “Nature After Dark”, and the opening marks the first time the installations will be lit for the public. New artists are Jennifer Kapnek, Nicole Johnson, Maya Rovelstad and Justin Kittell.
Returning artists include Heather Dawn Sparks, Brock Wilmer, Dustin Fosnot, Nathan Shields, Loreen Matsushima, Tracy Beals, Kim Wennerberg, Marcell Marias and Andy Rovelstad.
Other activities are planned through the holiday season.
For more information, see pafac.org.
