Submitted by: Downtown Bellingham Partnership
The Downtown Bellingham Partnership and the City of Bellingham are offering a series of holiday events and activities as part of their ongoing work to foster a healthy, vital and vibrant downtown.
The 2016 holiday season will kick off on November 26 with Shop Small Saturday, a one-day event highlighting downtown’s shopping scene while celebrating local businesses. Shoppers will have the opportunity to pick up a Shop Small Passport at participating businesses and will receive stamps with purchases at local retailers. Completed passports can then be entered to win local gift packages. Participating businesses include The Allery – Fine Art, Backcountry Essentials, Downtown Emporium, Fringe, Greenhouse, Heroine, Hilton’s Shoes, Ideal, Kids Northwest, Lisa Crosier Skincare, Mi Shoes, ModSock, Otion: The Soap Bar, Seifert & Jones Wine Merchants, Spruce, State Street Thrift & Vintage, The Atomic Kitten, The Bureau, Third Planet and Wise Buys.
The holiday fun continues with Art Walk on Friday, December 2 from 6:00- 10:00 p.m. The festive Art Walk features almost 50 venues including holiday bazaars and popup craft shows.
A downtown staple, the Depot Market Square will host a special Tree Lighting Ceremony on Saturday, December 3. The tree lighting will feature a meet-n-greet with Santa, free hot cocoa and cookies provided by Woods Coffee, seasonal popsicle flavors from West Coast Pops, ornament making activities, carolers, live music and a performance of The Nutcracker. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with the official tree lighting at 6:00 p.m.
This year’s holiday events will culminate in the final Commercial Street Night Market of 2016 on Friday, December 9 from 6:00- 10:00 p.m. Taking place in the Commercial Street alleyway, vendors and activities can be found throughout the courtyard and space. The carefully curated event features artisan vendors, local food, live entertainment and a 21+ beverage garden.
To support downtown’s holiday festivities, parking on the bottom and top floors of the Commercial Street Parking Garage is free for the entire month of December, courtesy of the City of Bellingham. The free Holiday Parking program is designed to make it easier for locals and tourists alike to visit and stay in the downtown area.
In addition, new decorative snowflakes are being installed downtown on the city’s main streets. The new snowflakes, which replace aging ones last used in 2014, come as a welcome addition as the decorations are widely considered iconic of the downtown holiday season.
The Downtown Bellingham Partnership worked in tandem with the City of Bellingham to create this year’s theme of “Light Up the Holidays,” a play on the many improvements and developments in the city’s downtown.
“We’re glad to partner with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership to support our downtown businesses and our arts and civic organizations,” said Bellingham Mayor, Kelli Linville. “We look forward to this holiday season of fun, family-oriented events, unique shopping and dining, and everything else our vibrant downtown has to offer.”
For more information on this year’s holiday events, visit the Downtown
Bellingham Partnership’s website.
