Holiday events kick off the Christmas celebration in Kitsap County this weekend. While some are back in effect after being suspended in 2020, others are being changed or reduced due to health concerns related to the ongoing pandemic.
City celebrations
The 67th Annual Silverdale Tree Lighting kicks off the festivities Saturday at Silverdale Antique on Silverdale Way. Visitors can spend time shopping at the Vendor Fair from noon to 5:30 p.m. and take photos with Santa at 4:00 p.m. the event page.
Bainbridge Island also hosts its community light tree at 6 p.m. on Saturdays. There will be music and dancing as the community tree is lit Winslow Green and Santa arrives in the fire truck.
the port orchard Festival of chimes and lights will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 4 this year. But instead of the traditional parade, the festival will feature a slow drive-thru downtown Port Orchard, where there will be 55 decorated trees along Bay Street and various light shows. The town hall Christmas tree will be lit up on the day of the festival, according to the town’s website.
Starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 4, the Poulsbo Sons of Norway will host the Julefest Christmas. The event features Norwegian street food and Scandinavian vendors. At dusk, the Sons of Norway Vikings will escort Bride Lucia by boat to shore, where she will light the bonfire, followed by the Viking King reading the Winter Solstice Proclamation, according to the organization.
Kingston will also have its light tree on Saturday, December 4th. There will be live music and a visit from Santa Claus to Mike Wallace Park in Kingston Harbor. The illuminated display will run every evening until the beginning of January.
Port Gamble will celebrate Christmas with holiday activities on December 11 and 12. A community tree-lighting ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on December 11 in the post office building. People will be able to admire over 100,000 Christmas lights in the city. The fireworks will be presented the same day by Seabeck-based Halo Fireworks. Visitors can also enjoy crafts for children at Santa’s Workshop and horse-drawn hay rides on weekends, according to the website from Port Gamble.
Santa visits
The fire services will take Santa Claus for a tour of the Kitsap neighborhoods in the coming weeks.
Santa Claus, transported by Poulsbo firefighters, will distribute candy canes and collect non-perishable food donations for North Kitsap Fishline starting this weekend. For the first time, people can follow Santa’s location live on Glympse, a real-time location sharing app. The fire department will post a Glympse link on Facebook before each evening outing starting at 5:30 p.m. Santa’s last outing is scheduled for December 18, according to the Poulsbo fire brigade site.
Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue will host its annual Santa Runs. The fire agency has scheduled trips for the evening of Dec. 10-19 to Meadowdale, Kariotis, North Perry, Silverdale, Lake Symington, Lake Tahuya and Chico, according to the CKFR site. Unlike Poulsbo, CKFR’s Santa Run is contactless. The agency will not accept food donations and no candy cane will be distributed.
Those who will visit Poulsbo can also meet Santa Claus and take photos with him at his house on Front Street in downtown Poulsbo. The event starts on Friday, continues every weekend until Christmas Eve, according to Poulsbo Historic Town Center Association.
Parades of illuminated boats
In keeping with tradition, the yacht clubs of Bremerton, Poulsbo and Port Orchard will launch Parades of illuminated boats along the shore of the Kitsap Peninsula the second weekend in December.
On Friday, December 10, the Bremerton Yacht Club will begin its parade at Ruby Point at 6:10 pm and will pass through Phinney Bay, Port Washington Narrows and Sinclair Inlet. On Saturday December 11, the BYC boat will cross Oyster Bay and Dyes Inlet.
Also on Saturday December 11, members of the Poulsbo Yacht Club their boats will sail around Liberty Bay and Agate Passage from 5:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. At South Kitsap, members of the Port Orchard Yacht Club will begin their parade at the Southworth Ferry Terminal at 4:15 p.m. and continue along the shore through Rich Passage and Port Orchard Harbor. The South Kitsap parade is scheduled to end at 9 p.m., according to yacht clubs.
Arts and culture
Dance Art Theater and Peninsula Dance Theater will host performances of The Nutcracker at the Bremerton High School Performing Arts Center this weekend (November 27-28) and next weekend (December 4-5) respectively. Dance Art Theater performances take place Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Peninsula performances are December 4 (2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) and December 5 (3 p.m.)
Two cinemas in Bremerton will screen holiday movies to celebrate the season. The Admiral Theater will screen “The Polar Express“on December 21st, and The Historic Roxy Theater will perform” A White Christmas “and” It’s a Wonderful Life “on December 18th. as part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the theater.
Contact the breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.
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