Santa is coming to a town near you! Here's an at-a-glance guide to several holiday celebrations throughout the region.

TRAVERSE CITY
Santa arrives in TC on December 5, ready to preside over the Downtown Traverse City Annual Holiday Open House, during which you can shop at participating stores for sales, specials, and prizes until 9pm. Live entertainment at the corner of Cass and Front Streets, plus caroling and antique fire engine rides, will liven up the proceedings. And if that’s not enough shopping time for you, head back downtown on December 11 for Ladies’ Night, and December 18 for Men’s Night, to take advantage of specials, refreshments, gift-wrapping, and more festive fun. 

ELK RAPIDS
Saturday is the kickoff to the holidays, with a Holiday Open House complete with live reindeer, shopping (of course!), wine tasting, wreath sales, roaming elves, and a town crier. Saturday noon-2pm, see Santa at DRE Photography on Ames Street; bring a donation to the food pantry for a complimentary photo.

FRANKFORT
The fun begins on Saturday! 10am-4pm, visit the Holly Berry Arts & Crafts Fair at Frankfort High School, featuring 100+ exhibitors. 12-2pm, connect with Santa & Mrs. Claus at The Hotel Frankfort or take a free horse-drawn carriage ride through downtown. 7pm is the annual tree lighting at Rotary Park, followed by holiday sing-along.

GLEN ARBOR
Glen Arbor’s holiday shopping event, The Annual PJ Party today (November 28), is one of the few that you can acceptably attend in your pajamas - the catch is that you’ll have to wake early, as this shopping extravaganza runs from 5am to 8am. After you fill your shopping bags, go take a nap, and then return to town for the annual tree lighting ceremony and caroling at 6:30pm, and the Holiday Marketplace Preview Party in the Town Hall at 7pm for shopping and local artisan gifts.

KALKASKA
Christmas in Kalkaska is a two-day community celebration of the holidays that runs December 5-6 this year, with both indoor and outdoor activities. The Lighted Christmas Parade, which featured over 50 entries last year, takes place December 5 at 7pm. Santa will show up to join in the fun, including the community bonfire after the parade. On Saturday, there’s even more to do with the Pancake Breakfast and Indoor Holiday Craft Show.

LELAND
Celebrate the season at Leland’s Holiday Wonderland, Saturday December 13 from 10am - 5pm. Special events will be taking place around the entire village, including holiday caroling by LPS Comet Chorale, free coffee at Sisson’s, a food drive, holiday story hour, a gift wrapping by donation station at Hullabaloo, appearances by Santa, and sales at the shops. 

Check out more events in Beulah and Northport or local chambers of commerce web sites for more!