Santa is coming to town in Port Angeles, Sequim and at Olympic National Parks’ Lake Crescent Lodge on Saturday.
Port Angeles
In Port Angeles, the tree lighting celebration will start at 3:30 p.m. at the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at Laurel and First streets.
Hot cocoa and cookies, music and stories will lead up to the arrival of Santa bearing goodie bags for children.
His arrival is sponsored by Clallam Transit.
Hamilton School Choir and soloists with the Peninsula College Vocal Jazz Ensemble will sing.
Alice Susong of the Story People of Clallam County will tell stories.
Santa will arrive from the west at about 4:55 p.m. and the tree lighting ceremony will begin at 5 p.m.
Refreshments will be sponsored by Necessities and Temptations gift shop and Brown’s Outdoor.
Santa will be available for photos.
The Port Angeles Downtown Association provides the 60,000 lights for the tree and the 30,000 lights for the downtown area.
Kiwanis members have decorated the trees and poles downtown and they will maintain the lights through February for the downtown association.
Port Angeles’ inaugural season of the Winter Ice Village, an ice skating rink at 121 W. Front St., opened today and will remain open though Jan. 6.
Hours are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, with approximately 30-minute closures about every 90 minutes to resurface the ice.
Tickets for the 3,200-square-foot seasonal ice skating rink will be $15 for adults.
A $10 daylong ice skating pass will be available to veterans, skaters 4 to 12 years old and seniors 62 and older.
Sequim
Sequim’s Hometown Holidays activities will begin at 1 p.m. when the Sequim City Band begins to play at the community tree at Centennial Place at the corner of Sequim Avenue and West Washington Street.
Santa is expected to arrive between 1:45 p.m. and 2 p.m., transported by the Clallam County Fire District 3 and accompanied by royalty.
Music is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. by a jazz band, the Dungeness Community Church Choir, the No Batteries Required Quartet and Jazzy Judy.
The tree lighting ceremony will be at 4:45 p.m.
A contest will award a prize to the person who comes closest to guessing the number of lights on the tree.
Special events for children — face painting and coloring contest — and giveaways are planned. Warm drinks will be available for purchase.
A Holiday Tractor Parade is set for 5 p.m.
It will start at the QFC parking lot, 990 E. Washington St. and end in the Sequim Village parking lot at Seventh Avenue.
Road closures
The city of Sequim will temporarily close north-south arterials beginning at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.
The road closures are to allow the Holiday Tractor Parade to travel along Washington Street without interruptions.
The parade is expected to last for about an hour.
Drivers can expect delays traveling west on Washington Street and on the arterial streets that cross it.
Saturday is also Small Business Saturday.
Merchants in both Sequim and Port Angeles will offer specials to entice shoppers.
Lighting of the lodge
Also on Saturday will be the lighting of Lake Crescent Lodge, off U.S. Highway 101 west of Port Angeles in Olympic National Park.
Carolers, festive drinks and holiday treats, as well as a visit from Santa are planned from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., with the lighting of the lodge set for dusk.
Those who attend are urged to bring toys for Toys for Tots or food donations for the Port Angeles Food Bank.
The Port Townsend holiday tree lighting and Santa visit will be Dec. 1.
Also on Dec. 1 will be the Forks Twinkle Light Parade, followed by a community tree lighting.
