It’s beginning to look a lot like the Holidays in Ballard. Show your favorite downtown businesses some love by shopping local and supporting small businesses this holiday season! Discover something new while experiencing all the hygge our neighborhood has to offer. Check out our list of holiday happenings below. It’s a flurry of festive fun for the rest of the year.
💡 Holiday Lights: All Season Long
It’s beginning to look a lot like the Holidays in Ballard with holiday lights making the tree canopies along NW Market Street and Ballard Avenue NW merry and bright!
Enjoy the twinkling lights every evening until shortly after Valentine’s Day in February 2023. The program is made possible each year through the Ballard Alliance and Ballard Improvement Area (BIA). The program’s goal is to add festive cheer to the shopping and dining district and enhance safety for pedestrians strolling the neighborhood.
👣 TOMTE TRAIL: November 1st – December 3rd
Explore Ballard to find the sneaky little tomten hidden in 26 businesses throughout the neighborhood. To get your Tomte Trail passport, visit one of the 26 participating locations, or download it below. To help you find your way around, we’ve created an online map for your convenience.
Then bring your stamped passport to Ballard HolidayFest on Saturday, December 3rd, from 3 – 6 p.m. at Marvin’s Garden Park to win a prize, regardless of how many stamps you have collected. Those who collect at least ten stamps will be entered into a drawing for a Family Membership to the National Nordic (Be sure to fill out contact info inside so we can let Museum know if you won!)
🥫 Harvest Food Drive: November 1 – November 30th
Consider giving back when shopping, dining and doing business in Ballard this holiday season. Drop off non-perishable food items for the Ballard Food Bank at nearly 30 Ballard businesses. Click here for a list of participating locations and an online map.
THE BALLARD FOOD BANK’S MOST-NEEDED ITEMS RIGHT NOW:
-Soups and chili (including low-sodium options)
-Peanut Butter
-Mac and Cheese
-Canned Tuna, Chicken, or Salmon
-Individual Oatmeal
-Single-serving and full-box cereals
-Pasta and rice (brown, white, basmati, grain-free, gluten-free)
-Shelf-stable juice boxes and milk/alternative kinds of milk
-Coffee (instant and regular)
-Boxed side dishes (Rice-A-Roni, etc)
Or if you would prefer to give a cash donation you can make one directly at ballardfoodbank.org/donate
🛍 Ballard Gives Back: Friday, November 25th
Ballard Gives Back is Ballard’s version of Black Friday. More than a dozen Ballard businesses are putting a generous spin on Black Friday shopping by participating in Ballard Gives Back on Friday, November 25, 2022. Ballard Gives Back is a program created by local merchants to encourage socially conscious holiday shopping in Ballard by donating a portion of their proceeds to a selected charity. Match up your favorite stores in Ballard with your favorite charity and shop small this holiday season.
🛍 Small Business Saturday: Saturday, November 26th
Speaking of shopping small, the day after Black Friday is Small Business Saturday. Skip the malls and scrolling Amazon on Saturday, November 26th, and do your holiday shopping in Ballard. Discover one-of-a-kind finds while enjoying the charm of the neighborhood. Put your money where your house is and keep your hard-earned dollars in the community you love to call home!
🎄 Ballard HolidayFest: Saturday, December 3rd from 3-6 PM
The Alliance Elves are hard at work preparing for the 2022 Ballard HolidayFest! Bring your family and friends to Marvin’s Garden Park on Saturday, December 3rd from 3 – 6 PM and enjoy free photos with Santa, hot cocoa and cider, holiday treats and popcorn from the Pop’s Popcorn, tree lighting, Tomte Trail prize giveaways, live music, merriment, and more!
Ballard HolidayFest is a free community event made possible through support from the Seattle Office of Economic Development, Ballard Alliance, and volunteers from the Ballard business community.
🍸 Ballard Cocktail Trail: Friday, December 9 from 6-9 PM
We are thrilled to announce our newest event, the Ballard Cocktail Trail! This ticketed cocktail crawl gives attendees the opportunity to sample different cocktails from neighborhood bars and restaurants at participating boutiques while shopping for gifts and discovering the true meaning of hygge. Tickets are selling fast, so get yours before they’re gone!
THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
🖼 Mygration at the National Nordic Museum: December ’22 – March ’23
From December 2022 until March 2023, the National Nordic Museum will present Mygration, an exhibition of works by Tomas Colbengtson and Stina Folkebrant.
For this show, the artists selected an episode at the intersection of Sámi and American history as their inspiration source, creating a collaborative, immersive installation in response to it. In 1894 and 1898, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, the General Agent of Education in Alaska, recommended that the United States Government invite Sámi herders to Alaska for the purpose of teaching reindeer husbandry to Alaska Native Peoples. The herders and reindeer traveled to Alaska by way of Seattle. Upon the expiration of their contract in 1900, some participants remained and joined the Gold Rush, while others returned to Sápmi.
The work of Sámi artist Colbengtson and Swedish artist Folkebrant reflects on this narrative, exploring issues of migration, herd mentality, time, and the forgotten past. For the Mygration exhibition, Colbengtson selected and printed archival photos of Sámi immigrants, which are paired with Folkebrant’s large-scale paintings of the eight seasons of the mountain world, illustrating the Sámi concept of time and the life of the reindeer. The paintings are hung in a circle with the photographs at the center, inviting the visitor to become immersed in a panoramic image. Additionally, the Museum has commissioned Folkebrant, a muralist, to create a piece related to the exhibition’s theme on the façade of a building on its campus.