This week’s 3rd Friday in Downtown Salisbury will feature a Holiday Lights theme, complete with the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony and lots of holiday cheer.

It is also the last 3rd Friday held outdoors until spring, so it’s the perfect time to stock up on locally made arts and crafts from 3rd Friday’s outdoor vendors for the gift-giving season.

November’s 3rd Friday will coincide with the annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony to be held on North Division Street, beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the tree lit at 6 p.m.

The ceremony will be kicked off with Christmas carols and will be followed by dance performances by Feet of Fire Dance Company and instrumental holiday music from the Bay Brass Orchestra.

Join Mayor Jake Day and Santa as the Holiday Tree is lit at 6 p.m., along with a menorah and kinara in anticipation of the upcoming Hanukkah and Kwanzaa seasons.

Kids can have fun with 3-D holiday specs, or drop off their very own letter to Santa in the Letters to Santa mailbox right outside the Downtown Salisbury Visitor Center. 

Shoppers will find tons of amazing shopping options at November’s 3rd Friday.

Artists and crafters will fill the streets with locally handmade treasures and the Downtown Salisbury shops and restaurants will all be open with special sales.

Check out St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Annual Holiday Marketplace & Bazaar just up St. Peters Street off West Main Street, that will be full of home baked goods, wreaths and unique gifts available for purchase, 38 amazing gift baskets available for bid, plus hot King Boys Oyster Fritters, hamburgers and hot dogs in the café.

Lilac Clothing Co. will be celebrating Pink Friday -– a new national initiative to encourage shoppers to shop local first, the week before Black Friday -– with all new apparel and gift items, refreshment and up to 50 percent off your purchase with holiday coupon scratch offs.

Salisbury Art Space will be open with even more local handmade gift options in the gift shop and three amazing exhibitions on display.  In the main gallery, the open-call exhibition Contemporary Abstraction is on display, with a wide range of works submitted by local artists, celebrating the many forms of abstraction; from distortion and exaggeration, to truly non-objective works with no recognizable subject.

A solo exhibition by Erika L. Forsythe of ELF Moments of Zen Photography is also on display, as well as, a highlight on UMES student work in the foyer.

3rd Friday will no longer require facemasks for outdoor activities, but please remember masks could still be required inside.  The 3rd Friday’s virtual event on Facebook will continue to share event and community highlights for those who choose to continue to social distance.

3rd Friday is a Downtown economic development initiative and a project of the Salisbury Arts & Entertainment District, in partnership with the city of Salisbury. For More Information:  3rdFridaySby.com.