You can get into a festive spirit in Door County, all while not skipping any holidays this week.

Jacksonport starts the holiday celebrations with its Thanksgiving Parade and Benefit. The Jacksonport Thanksgiving Parade and Benefit steps off at 10:30 a.m. from the Jacksonport Town Hall and does two laps along State Highway 57 before calling it a morning. It gives you two chances to see some of the exciting floats that adorn the route and offers a pair of opportunities to give back to a family in need. This year’s parade will benefit the Lasnoski family.

Instead of standing in line at a big box store in Green Bay, Egg Harbor and Sister Bay resume the county’s Christmas celebrations with activities scheduled for Friday and Saturday. In Egg Harbor, activities are being hosted by local businesses throughout the village, including an elf hunt, cookie decorating, and ornament making. Santa Claus will arrive by fire truck at 4:30 p.m. before Egg Harbor residents and visitors light the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols beginning at 5 p.m.

Santa will make the quick jaunt north to Sister Bay for the opening of its Capture the Spirit event on Friday. Preceding his visit to turn on the village’s holiday lights and host storytime at the Sister Bay Library,  you can meet his elves and reindeer at 3:30 p.m. and check out the Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair at Village Hall at 10 a.m. The fair will continue on Saturday while the Sister Bay Library transforms into Santa’s workshop with holiday craft projects for kids from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Just a few miles away, the Door County Christkindlmarkt will host its opening weekend. Also open December 1st-3rd and December 8th-10th, the Christkindlmarkt will feature traditional Nordic foods and fine artisan goods, among other activities. 

For those venturing outside of Door County for Thanksgiving weekend, Santa will return to the area on December 2nd for Ephraim’s Christmas in the Village event that features not just his arrival at the Village Hall via a fire truck at 3 p.m. but also concerts by Colin Welford and the lighting of the Christmas tree by Fyr Bal Chieftain G.G. Paschke at 5 p.m. The Door County Maritime Museum will remain decked out for the holidays until December 31st for its Merry Time Festival of Trees, which includes its Jingle Mixer on December 12th.

Photo courtesy of Ephraim Tourism Council and Luke Collins