Submitted by Sylvia Mallory on behalf of the Bedford Cultural District Partnership
Draw a big circle around Saturday, Dec. 2 on your calendar. The day will be filled with fairs, frivolity, and fun as Bedford officially kicks off the town’s holiday season.
The Bedford Cultural District Partnership is announcing some special events that will brighten your day and provide great opportunities for holiday shopping. Join your friends and neighbors to celebrate Bedford at this festive time – and to support the community’s talented local artists, artisans, and musicians. Here are some of the highlights:
- A Holiday Artisans Market will be open to the public from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Common Room and second floor galleries at First Parish on the Common, 75 Great Rd., Bedford (entrance on Elm Street). More than 20 vendors will be selling an array of unique, handmade, giftable items – from jewelry, to ceramics, to mini-paintings, to stained glass suncatchers, to wooden bowls and plates, and much more – as the beautiful melodies of live seasonal music fill the air.
- A Children’s Fair downstairs at First Parish, run by Girl Scout Troop 72147, will offer free donated items with complimentary gift wrapping for kids to gift to others and materials for creative hands-on card making. Potty-trained children can be dropped off while their grownups shop at the Artisans Market. Optional cash donations will support the Bedford Food Pantry.
Through Thanksgiving, small giftable items, wrapping materials, and card making supplies to support the Children’s Fair can be dropped off in bins at the Bedford Recreation Department at 12 Mudge Way or the Minuteman Diner at 363 Great Rd. Please donate only items that are appropriate for small children to gift to the grownups in their life, such as books, jewelry, accessories, games, and small household items.
- An easily walkable Holiday Storybook Trail, ongoing from 2 to 6 p.m., will begin at the Bedford Free Public Library and will lead walkers to the brightly lit windows of shops and businesses along Great Road. Featuring the story Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, the trail will end at the Elm Street entrance to First Parish.
These events are part of a larger townwide Holiday Kickoff featuring:
- St. Paul’s Church Advent Fair at 100 Pine Hill Rd. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.;
- A Winter Walkabout with open houses hosted by area businesses and town organizations from 2 to 6 p.m.;
- Bedford Town Museum open house at Old Town Hall (16 South Rd.) hosted by the Bedford Historical Society;
- Holiday Book Sale at the Bedford Free Public Library;
- Annual Tree Lighting on the Common (with a visit by Santa) at 5 p.m. Hot chocolate will be available from the First Parish kitchen to help ensure against stung toes and bitten noses.*
For additional information, visit https://bedfordma.gov/437/Bedford-Cultural-District.
*“It stings and toes and bites the nose” is from “Over the River and Through the Wood.”
