Events downtown Saturday, holiday home tour Sunday

Cue up the Christmas music, get ready for holiday treats and check your shopping lists: It’s time for Country Christmas in downtown Powell.

The annual celebration kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 with the Christmas Gift Expo at The Commons. The expo will stay open through 7 p.m. and features 33 vendors.

Live entertainment also begins at 10 a.m. and goes until 5 p.m. This year’s line-up includes The Travelers, In Light of Eternity, the Sunlight String Quartet, Parkside Elementary Honor Choir, Absaroka Mountain Thunder Cloggers, Stomp & Co. and the Clark Community Choir.

“As an added treat, international students from Northwest College will sing ‘Silent Night’ in a variety of languages,” said Jaime Schmeiser, executive director of the Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce.

NWC music students also will perform in downtown Powell throughout the day.

Santa Claus visits The Commons from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Christy Muecke, the “Chick with a Chainsaw,” will do ice sculpting.

A crowd favorite, the lighted parade begins at 5:30 p.m. along Bent Street. This year’s theme is “A Storybook Christmas.”

Schmeiser said the chamber still is accepting entries for the parade and will continue through Saturday.

“I want it to be the biggest ever,” Schmeiser said.

Before the parade gets rolling, radio personality Mike “Moose” Ahlstrand will read a holiday story for kids at Plaza Diane. He then will announce entries throughout the parade.

The Powell High School Marching Band returns to the lighted parade this year, and their instruments will be lit with battery-powered lights.

Country Christmas festivities continue Sunday, Dec. 2 with the 26th Annual Christmas Tour of Homes. The holiday tour from 1-5 p.m. features eight homes in and around Powell. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce, 111 South Day St.

Powell merchants also will offer specials during Country Christmas.

The holiday weekend offers events for the whole family, Schmeiser said.

“I really love Christmas — I’m looking forward to it,” she said.

The weekend’s forecast looks good so far for the holiday festivities. Saturday calls for a high near 52 degrees and mostly sunny skies, with the evening temperature expected to be a low of around 31, according to the National Weather Service. Sunday’s forecast calls for partly sunny and a high near 53.

For more information about the weekend’s festivities, contact the Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce at 754-3494.