Hometown Holidays (aka the Festival of Lights) in Chelsea

Chelsea's Hometown Holidays celebrations (formerly known as the Festival of Lights) begins today and runs through the weekend. My personal focus leans toward the family activities, but there really is something for every one. And nearly everything is FREE. Our own "must see" highlights of the Hometown Holidays weekend will be:

1. On Friday night, the Tree Lighting Ceremony at Pierce Park and a visit with Santa at the depot.
2. A craft class for families called "Home for the Holidays" at the Chelsea Center for the Arts on Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to seeing what treasures the kids will make for their grandparents. Maybe I can even cajole them into making Mommy something.
   
3. Decorate a gingerbread house workshop for families. We went last year, and had a lot of fun! The best part (for me) is that there is no frosting or sprinkles for me to clean up at home!
   
4. And the holiday Light Parade Saturday evening-- which marks the second day of the year where our house is premium property in Chelsea. ;-)

Other events that we love are all the make and take crafts at stores around town, such as a birdseed ornaments at Gigi's Flowers and sculpey ornaments at Cranesbill Books. There will also be carols and live music performances throughout the weekend, including the annual holiday performance by the Chelsea Chamber Players.

See the full schedule on the Event Itinerary on the Hometown Holidays website.