Keep your ears open for bells and an eye out for Santa as holiday festivities come to Whitefish on Friday, Dec. 13. The annual Christmas Stroll is a nearly four-decade-old tradition in Whitefish.

Pre-stroll at 5 p.m., Alpine Ringers handbell choir and the North Valley Music School will have Christmas recitals at First Presbyterian Church.  

The stroll officially begins at 5:30 p.m., and will be full of holiday carols and dances, photos with Santa, tree lighting, artisans and food vendors.  

At 6 p.m., the Flathead Valley Community College will have vocal ensembles outside of the O'Shaughnessy Center, jazzing up the town in anticipation of the tree lighting ceremony at 6:15 p.m. in Depot Park.  

Santa will trade his sleigh for a Bar W Guest Ranch Wagon and ride along Central Avenue towards Huck’s Place before stopping for photos at about 6:30 p.m.  

Other special visitors include Whitefish Winter Carnival royalty, Buddy the Elf, at Blackstar, dog sledders and a gentle giant from Clydesdale Outpost. 

Dancers from Whitefish and Bigfork will take to Central Avenue, between First and Second Streets, for a performance at 6:40 p.m. The Feat x Feet youth tap dancing ensemble will perform outside of the Bulldog Saloon and Dance Element will perform outside of Sappari.  

The Vocal Flathead Valley Community College Ensemble and the Winter Wonderland show atop the Whitefish Winter Carnival Float will feature Ross Bridgemand, Halladay Quist and Meredith Patterson will perform. 

Other attractions include the Great Whitefish Gingerbread Contest, wagon rides, fire pits, ornament making at Stumptown Art Studio, s’more roasting with Compass Chiropractic and a ‘bat cave’ from SnowBike Nation.  

Whitefish Theatre Company will have a showing of “The Game’s Afoot: Holmes For The Holidays” at 7:30 p.m. with $25 tickets for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for students.  

Shoppers can enter receipts from local businesses, dating back to Nov. 30, in a drawing for one of 12 gift baskets donated by Whitefish Chamber of Commerce members. Receipts can be dropped off in advance to the Chamber of Commerce office, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m to 4 p.m this week, or dropped off during the stroll to the Chamber’s tent, with the first drawing taking place around 7:45 p.m. 

The stroll is sponsored this year by Stockman Bank and the Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call 862-3501, or visit whitefishchamber.org.