By Janette Turner

Photo courtesy The Loft’s Facebook page.

Downtown Edmonds galleries and shops are packed with sparkle and prepped for your holiday business. On Black Friday grab a latte at your favorite café and hit the stores, then stay for happy hour starting at naptime, 3 p.m. Enjoy drink and food specials, such as Seared Ahi Tuna for $7 and a Kobe Slider for $8 at The Loft, or head to Giardi’s for Tortellini in a Smoked Paprika Cream Sauce for $4. But don’t go to sleep just yet. Read on for more holiday attractions and specials in town.

Friday: ECA eliminates service fees

Want to give the gift of entertainment? On Friday, Edmonds Center for the Arts makes events cheaper by eliminating the service fee for tickets purchased. That’s a savings of a few bucks a show. See ECA for a schedule of events.

Friday: ARTpARTy at ARTspot

Forget the Black Friday frenzy by crafting your own festive cards with Easy-Cut blocks at ARTspot from 6 to 9 p.m. ARTspot Co-owner Tracy Felix Fraker provided details about the Friday night event: “Have a blast making colorful cards while enjoying good company and festive snacks! Learn how to design and carve your own unique creations. Friends and family will love receiving a handmade card from you!”  More info at ARTspot.

Friday-Sunday: Driftwood Players’ “Music Man” selling out

The Driftwood Players perform the American classic, “The Music Man,” at Wade James Theatre starting Friday at 8 p.m. Will Professor Harold Hill and the bleat of 76 trombones cheat the good folks of River City out of their money, or will love prevail? One note: you may want to get your tickets soon because three performances of “The Music Man” are nearly sold out: Nov. 30, Dec. 2, and Dec. 9. To check ticket availability and show times, see Driftwood Players.

Saturday: Small Business Saturday

Scene around town: Gift-wrapping paper at the bookshop and photos by John Manuwal at Gallery North Loft.

Every business day, the Edmonds Bookshop offers free gift-wrapping, while galleries around town feature local artists. By purchasing from your neighbors, you get great gifts and the benefit of seeing your money re-circulate, which is a sweet present you receive later. So do yourself a favor and Shop Small Business Saturday.

Saturday: ECA presents “Sing-A-Long Sound of Music”

See the hills come alive in glorious Technicolor with on-screen lyrics for all the songs you love in “The Sound of Music.” Tickets are here for the event that starts at noon and ends just in time to see the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce tree lighting.

Saturday: Christmas stroll and tree lighting

At 3 p.m., head to City Hall to join the Christmas Stroll to visit merchants and sample cider. At 4:30, festivities will center around the tree on 5th in anticipation of the annual lighting. Listen to the Maplewood Jazz Band and North Sound Church choirs, and see Santa arrive via fire truck for the tree lighting. Afterward walk with Santa, Mrs. Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Santa’s Elf and the Gingerbread Man to the nearby Edmonds Conference Center, where North Sound Church will lead a sing-a-long and Magic Photo will take photos of Santa with the children, while guests warm up with  coffee, hot cocoa and cookies. The tree lighting is a free community event and parking is available after 4 p.m. at the Edmonds Center for the Arts.

Monday: Go Cyber with ECA gift certificates

Buy $50 worth of gift certificates at Edmonds Center for the Arts and get $5 off. To view the calendar, see ECA, or skip the cyber and call 425 275 9595.

Wednesday: EdCC Foundation Holiday Craft Village

Hand-crafted gifts will be for sale from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Edmonds Community College Woodway 202 to benefit the EdCC Foundation. For more information, call 425 640 1029, and if you want to do good and support EdCC scholarships, give online.

Wednesday: EdCC Black Box Theatre hosts jazz

Jazz students from Edmonds Community College, Mariner High School and Arlington High School will hold a free concert on Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m., in the EdCC Black Box Theatre.

Advance notice: Phoenix Theatre’s “Dashing Through the Snow”

Running Dec. 7-23, Phoenix Theatre will perform “Dashing Through the Snow.” Here’s the promo they provided for the comedy: “It’s four days before Christmas in Tinsel, Texas, and a colorful parade of guests including down-and-out actors from a touring company of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ two feuding 80-year-olds, and a couple dressed like Mrs. Clause and an elf arrive at the Snowflake Inn. When you add to this the Futrelle sisters, you have a laugh until your sides ache climax. From the authors (Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten) of last year’s hit, ‘Christmas Belles’.” Tickets here.

Arts reporter Janette Turner is your guide to local culture. In addition to covering visual, performing and literary events for My Edmonds News, Janette is President of EPIC Writers Group, a writing teacher, and a member of the Swedish Hospital Art Committee. (Photo by Jennifer McKinney).