Christmas Season Gets Underway in Historic Bethlehem

Things get under way at the annual lighting ceremony for the city’s Christmas tree, which will take place at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Payrow Plaza, between City Hall and the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Before—or after, stop by Christmas City Village, a traditional German-style open-air holiday market of 35 wooden huts that will occupy the Sun Inn Courtyard and spaces near the Historic Hotel Bethlehem and the Central Moravian Church.

The Weihnachtsmarkt huts, which open for the season Friday, are filled with unique Christmas gift ideas. As you shop, enjoy bratwurst with sauerkraut and warm up with a hot beverage including the popular hot mulled wine from Germany called Gluhwein.

The Historic Hotel Bethlehem will host an open house from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. Enjoy complimentary hot apple cider with Christmas pastries and cookies during which guests can take in the hotel’s classically festive decorations while on a self-guided tour. 

Then popular cover band Philadelphia Funk Authority will perform in the Hotel Bethlehem’s Mural Ballroom, a.k.a. Club Mural, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Admission to the concert is $5 or the donation of a new, unwrapped toy for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program.

Work off all that turkey and stuffing Saturday morning in the 11th Annual Historic Turkey Trot 5K and walk through the streets of the Central Historic District. The race benefits the Historic Bethlehem Partnership. Register online or call 610-882-0450 ext. 10 for more information. Race pack and t-shirt pickup is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday at the Luckenbach Mill (459 Old York Road) and after the race.

The seventh annual Bethlehem Live Advent Calendar debuts Sunday in front of the 1810 Goundie House at 505 Main St. From Sunday through Dec. 23—at 5:30 p.m. sharp—a merchant from the Downtown Bethlehem Association will present a special treat to the visitors who gather around that front door. In years past, those treats have included special performances, holiday sweets and other gifts. As many as 300 people have attended these unique door openings, so if you go, go early.