The Winter Festival of Lights is set to brighten up various spots along Lee Highway with 10,000 lights on Saturday (Dec. 1).
From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., locals can check out the free festival’s four different venues, which will have holiday music, shopping, performances, art, food and photos with Santa.
The first stop at the Lee Arts Center (5722 Lee Highway) includes a kid-friendly crafting area in the artists’ studios where families can make buttons, watch local artists make ceramic bowls for the AFAC Empty Bowls fundraiser and learn how to make a holiday card with the printing press.
Kids can sing holiday favorites with “Sing Books with Emily” from noon to 2 p.m. Pizza from Joe’s Place Pizza & Pasta and a tasting by LaMoo Creamery will be available.
The second spot along the corridor, next to the Petco at 5400 Lee Highway, features magic and puppies. Attendees can meet Marymount University’s Pattern Makers and Fashion Club, chat with Arlington County library staff and learn from Arlington planners about the upcoming Lee Highway Planning Study while munching on food from Peter Chang and Harris Teeter.
The schedule includes:
- Christmas trees and wreaths available at the All Seasons Farm Market
- Performance by magician Steve Kish from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Performance by Jack Russell terriers Mario and Bella, who will show off a variety of tricks during the Jacks are Wild Dog Show
- A donation box for pet food from the Arlington Animal Welfare League
- How-to workshop for “cloved oranges” and Mt. Vernon-style natural wreaths with Melanie Welles Creamer from Mt. Vernon’s Greenhouse
Holiday enthusiasts can also head to the Langston-Brown Community Center (2121 N. Culpeper Street) to learn about local history and take photos with Santa and firefighters. Food from the Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe and Joe’s Place Pizza & Pasta will be available.
Other activities there include:
- Face-painting
- Compete for prizes in the Amazing Passport Race
- Book signing by local author Wilma Jones for “My Halls Hill Family, More Than a Neighborhood”
- Exhibition from the winners of a biennial program that recognizes excellence in architecture, historic preservation, landscape architecture and public art
- Toy charitable dropbox from the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH)
- Music from the Celestial Voices, The Arlington Chorale and Clarinestique Clarinet Choir
Finally, the “Shop Like a Local Holiday Market” at the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire House (3900 Lee Highway) tops off the festivities.
Photo via Lee Highway Alliance