Homewood’s holiday celebration will offer a pair of opportunities for the community to come together and celebrate the season.
Holiday Lights festivities will run from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, and Miracle on Martin Avenue will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15.
dancers in the window of
The American Dance Center
on Ridge Road, a popular
feature of Holiday Lights
each year. (Chronicle file
photos)
Homewood’s holiday celebration will offer a pair of opportunities for the community to come together and celebrate the season.
Holiday Lights festivities will run from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, and Miracle on Martin Avenue will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15.
The fun will begin even before the two events, however. Whimsical “I Spy” windows will were unveiled on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 24, with window decorations featuring a look at Homewood’s history in recognition of the village’s 125th anniversary.
Holiday Lights will roll a variety of holiday traditions into one evening.
Vanoffelen, both of
Homewood, examine a
recently completed ice
sculpture at the 2017
Holiday Lights festival.
At 5 p.m., the Martin Avenue Outdoor Market opens, hosting food vendors, a live reindeer petting zoo, music by the Southwest Community Brass Ensemble and ice sculpting demonstrations by Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.
An antique car parade precedes the tree lighting ceremony at 7 p.m. at Irwin Park, 1900 Ridge Road. Santa and his friends will be escorted to the park by the Homewood Fire Department, and Santa will then flip the switch for the grand tree lighting.
Santa greets children on Ridge Road from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Ridge Road will be closed to traffic so visitors can enjoy Holiday Lights in Homewood on foot, and a new free trolley route will transport festival goers around the event.
For the shoppers, area shops and boutiques will open with holiday specials.
Building on the success of the first Artisan Street Fair in June, the winter festival will include an Artisan Street Fair, with a number of unique artists showing and selling their work during a two-day market on Dec. 7 from 4 to 9 p.m. and Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Artisan Street Fair Market will be in storefronts along Martin Avenue between Ridge Road and Kroner Lane.
On Saturday, Dec. 8, there will be food trucks on Martin Square.
The Cancer Support Center is back selling premium-grade Fraser Firs and garland from Michigan with easy pick-up and loading assistance. Pre-sales are available at www.cancersupportcenter.org.
The Homewood-Flossmoor High School Choir students will host a cookie decorating fundraiser to raise money for their performance tour in the spring to Italy.
The Homewood Science Center, 18022 Dixie Highway, will host a Home Alone Holiday Party from 5 to 9 p.m. featuring a free screening of Home Alone at 5 p.m. in the Michael Wexler Theater. Visitors can also make holiday ornaments in Santa’s Workshop, and browse the PopUp SCIENCE Shop.
The evening will also include an art show from 5 to 9 p.m. at St. Paul Community Church, 18200 Dixie Highway.
Miracle on Martin
The community gathers again to enjoy a bonfire with s’mores and beverages that take the chill away.
Santa will be at the Homewood Science Center from 3 to 6 p.m. The Science Center will have a sensory-friendly holiday scene that sets the perfect backdrop for a quiet visit with the big guy himself.
Horse-drawn carriage rides are available through the downtown area from 3 to 6 p.m. Holiday characters will stroll Martin Ave along with holiday carolers.
The special “I Spy” display windows downtown become the subject of a community game with maps of the windows and lists of items to seek. Kids of all ages can fill out an “I Spy” treasure hunt brochure and receive a holiday treat.
