Here’s the My MI 2015 guide to festive holiday events happening around Mercer Island:
Holiday Shopping Boutique
Tuesday, December 1, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Mercer Island Beach Club, 8326 Avalon Drive
Unique vendors, artists, and crafters will be featuring a wide variety of beautiful items for this shopping event. A portion of sales will be donated to Mercer Island Youth & Family Services.
“Soup and Sound” Advent Concert Series
Three Fridays – December 4, 11, 18
Soup served at 11:30 am; Performance begins at 12:15 pm
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 4400 86th Ave
Emmanuel Episcopal Church invites you to their “Soup and Sound” Advent Concert series with Advent and Christmas music. The event begins with a lunch of homemade soup and bread at 11:30 am followed by music in the church from 12:15 to 1 pm.
Youth Theatre Northwest Presents: “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Dinner Theatre Performance – Friday, December 4, 6 pm
Mercer Island Beach Club, 8326 Avalon Drive
Regular Performances – Saturday, December 5, 2 pm & 7 pm
Sunday, December 6, 2 pm
YTN Blackbox, 4400 86th Ave SE
It’s a Wonderful Life follows the saga of George Bailey, beloved husband, father, and quintessential everyman living in the small town of Bedford Falls. Though beloved by the entire community, George’s dreams of escape and adventure have been quashed by family obligation and civic duty. When desperation pushes him to the edge, George’s guardian angel descends on Christmas Eve to save him from despair and to show him what the world would be like had he never been born.
Learn more >>
St. Monica’s Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration
Friday, December 4, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
St. Monica School, 4320 87th Ave SE
Join us for Christmas caroling, hot cocoa and the lighting of the Christmas Tree at the main school entrance, on December 4, beginning at 5:30 pm and ending at 8:30 pm. Walk down Candy Cane Lane to the school gymnasium for dinner ($5 per person), Gingerbread house making, Christmas cookie decorating, and taking pictures with Santa!
Learn more >>
Holiday Tree Lighting and Firehouse Munch
Friday, December 4, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Mercerdale Park & North Fire Station, 77th Avenue SE and SE 32nd Street
Gather your friends and family for the community tree lighting ceremony and caroling followed by treats, Santa photos, and other festive activities at the Firehouse. Bring an unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots drive to help a child in need have a better holiday season. This is a FREE event.
Chocolate Holiday Gift Making for Teens
Saturday, December 5, 12:30 – 2 pm
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
Join pastry chef Laurie Pfalzer to learn how to make chocolate gifts for the holiday season. Make dark chocolate ganache and turn it into beautiful hand-rolled truffles. Learn to temper chocolate and make dark chocolate and peppermint bark, white chocolate popcorn, and caramel corn with dark chocolate drizzle. At the end of class, you can package your gifts to give away, or take them home to enjoy! For middle and high school students. Ingredients and cooking supplies provided. Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library.
The Dickens Carolers
Saturday, December 5, 1 – 1:45 pm & Sunday, December 6, 1:30 – 2:15 pm
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
For over 35 years, The Dickens Carolers has been a local holiday tradition. Your holiday favorites, both traditional and contemporary, are sung in beautiful four-part harmony. There will be two caroling events this weekend – one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Don’t miss it! Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library.
Island Choral Experience Annual Holiday Performances
Mercer Island High School, 9100 SE 42nd St
Island Girls & Prep Choir presents “Christmas Town!”
Saturday December 5, 7 pm | Sunday, December 6, 2 pm and 7 pm
Island Sound presents “Calendar Girls”
Saturday, December 12, 7 pm | Sunday, December 13, 2 pm and 7 pm
Mercer Island girls’ choirs, Prep (2nd through 4th graders), Island Girls (4th through 6th graders), and Island Sound (7th through 12th gradesr) will delight audiences with these festive performances.
Learn more >>
Island Youth Ballet presents: “Excerpts from the Nutcracker”
Saturday, December 12, 1 pm | Sunday December 13, 1 pm & 5 pm
Saturday, December 19, 2 pm | Sunday, December 20, 1 pm & 5 pm
Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Mercer Way
Island Youth’s Ballet “Excerpts from the Nutcracker” has become a cherished Mercer Island tradition and must-see for all who wish to experience the holiday magic of one of ballet’s most cherished classics. Whether this is a family tradition or you are experiencing it for the first time, this holiday offering will delight your spirit and imagination. Beautiful costumes, theatrical lighting and sets, and spirited dancing transport you to magical places where Mice and soldiers battle, Snowflakes dance, and a beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy reigns.
Hanukkah Under the Stars
Saturday, December 12, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Mercer Way
A festive and fun Hanukkah party, you’ll be entertained by an acrobatics celebration from SANCA Circus, a musical performance by Shul of Rock, and science experiment demonstrations from Pacific Science Center. Plus we’ll have games, crafts, and face painting for the younger kids, and The Museum of Flight will host a planetarium experience for older kids. Buy dinner from food trucks on site, participate in a community service project, and join us for a community candle lighting to celebrate the seventh night of Hanukkah.
“Bells of the Sound” Holiday Concert at MIPC
Saturday, December 12, 7 – 9 pm
Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, 3605 84th Ave SE
Join Bells of the Sound this Holiday Season for a magical program filled with the delightful klingelingeling of handbells. Bells little and large joyfully sounding traditional favorites and contemporary expressions will have you ringing with Christmas spirit in no time!
MIPC website >>
Gingerbread House Contest
Sunday, December 13
Evergreen Covenant Church, 3200 78th Ave SE
Evergreen Covenant Church is having a Gingerbread House Contest this Christmas. Pick up your Gingerbread Box for $15 in the church lobby during the next two weeks and go to town creating your very own gingerbread house. All houses will be on display December 13th for everyone to judge. The three contest categories include: Most Creative, Most Colorful, and ALL KIDS (no adults)! There are great prizes and lots of fun for all. Pick up a box and the rules on Sunday, November 29th or December 6th.
Learn more >>
MIVAL Holiday Show
November 2 – December 18
Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th ST
The MIVAL Holiday Show is presented by the Mercer Island Arts Council in conjunction with Mercer Island Parks and Recreation and the Mercer Island Visual Arts League (MIVAL). Featured art includes the painting, sculpture, jewelry, fabric art, cards and other work of the talented MIVAL artists and is a wonderful place to shop for quality artwork and holiday gifts.
Lions’ Christmas Tree Sale
Currently on sale through Sunday, December 20 (Saturdays, 10 am – 7 pm, Sundays, 1 – 7 pm)
Farmers Insurance Parking Lot, 3003 77th Ave SE
Pick out the perfect Christmas Tree at the annual Lions’ Christmas Tree Sale. Proceeds support Mercer Island Youth & Family Services, Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club, and other Mercer Island causes and charities.
