Also this weekend: North Meck Parade is Sunday, 1 p.m.

Face painting at Christmas in Davidson 2009 (DavidsonNews.net file photo)

Downtown Davidson and South Main Street will be bustling with activity Thursday through Saturday nights during Christmas in Davidson 2010. Main Street will be closed nightly with carolers and other live music, vendors, carriage rides, food booths and special events at local businesses.

Also, don’t forget the annual North Mecklenburg Christmas Parade on Sunday, which will sent floats, antique cars, school bands and other marchers south from Main Street in Davidson to Main Street in Cornelius.

Read on for more, including a schedule of events.

More than 20,000 people are expected for this year’s festival, which is scaled back somewhat from recent years. But it will be more Davidson-focused, according to interim downtown manager Kim Fleming. (See more background in our Nov. 30 report “2010 Christmas in Davidson puts focus on our town.” ^[1])

All events run 6-9 p.m. nightly. Here are a few of the events on tap:

• Santa Claus will visit with children each night in the Davidson library branch Community Room, and the Live Nativity scene will be on view nightly next to Davidson United Methodist Church chapel.
• Trolleys will shuttle visitors from Exit 30 area parking to downtown.
• A “Taste of South Main Square” on South Main Street will feature treats from Restaurant X, Campania Cafe, and Fuel Pizza, as well as performances, including musicians from All Strings Attached.
• Most of the festival’s favorite traditions will be back, from the Doggie Fashion Show (Friday at South Main Square) to the tent with artists and vendors on the Village Green. Under the big tent and along Main Street, all of the participating vendors, artists and businesses will be local.
• The music schedule includes a variety of performances on stages at the Davidson Library Branch, at the Davidson Village Inn, and on a stage at South Main Square. Musicians also will play at or outside local businesses. Rusty Knox Band plays Friday 6-9 at Wachovia Bank and Saturday 8-11 at Summit Coffee. Mike Orlando plays Friday and Saturday nights, 6-8, at Flatiron Kitchen +Taphouse. Davidson Express is at Summit Coffee Friday, 8-11. And the youth rock band Cynergy plays behind Summit Saturday afternoon, 3:30.


Garret Freymann-Weyr and Dorcas

• Businesses are planning their own special events, both large and small. Summit Coffee on Main Street, for example, will have its usual musical lineup this week, while serving hot chocolate out front. Main Street Books will have book signings by local authors and the annual visit and photos with Curious George (Fri.). Davidson Village Inn will have live music all three nights. The Pixie Chicks will be back at the Needlecraft Center doing face painting.
• Schools and other local performing groups will be on the stage at the Davidson public library branch nightly, while the Davidson Community Players’ Connie Co. youth theater will perform nightly at Town Hall, 216 S. Main St.

FUND-RAISERS

Students from Woodlawn School will conduct a “We CAN for Ada” canned food drive for the Loaves & Fishes pantry at Ada Jenkins Center. Bring your offerings to the booth next to Summit Coffee any time during the festival.

One of the booths along Main Street will be host to a Christmas challenge: The 340 children of Nyarweng, a tiny village in South Sudan, lack a school. They’ve challenged Davidson citizens to finance and build a LEGO school over the 3 nights of Christmas in Davidson. Sales of the tiny bricks are aimed at raising at least $5,000, for the “Raising Sudan” project of the nonprofit Mothering Across Continents. Nyarweng is the original home of one of Sudan’s lost boys, James “Lubo” Mijak, who now is a U.S. citizen living in Charlotte.

Meanwhile, the 3rd annual Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sale is schedule Thursday through Saturday nights at Lake Norman Realty, 310 S. Main St. It’s part of a national campaign to raise money for a non-profit organization for pediatric cancer research. (See our Real Estate & Home page story ^[2].)

BUY A TREE FROM LIONS

Every year during Christmas in Davidson, the Davidson Lions sell Christmas trees to help raise money for services for the sight impaired. Many people have pre-ordered trees for pickup. Additional trees will be available Dec. 2, 5-8 p.m., or Dec. 3 and 4, from 3-8 p.m. Deliveries also may be arranged for $10.

What’s available: 6-7 foot trees $49, 7-8 foot trees, $65, and 8-9 foot trees $89. More info from Lions Kevin Davis 704-453-4815 or Mickey Pettus 704-896-7963.

THEATER: ‘CHRISTMAS STORY

Davidson Community Players will open their production of a stage version of the classic holiday film “A Christmas Story” on Thursday. The show runs weekends through Dec. 19. For more info, see ourNov. 30 Theater Notes ^[3].

CHRISTMAS PARADE

Don’t forget the 28th annual North Mecklenburg Christmas Parade, which steps off Saturday at 1 p.m. on Main Street in Davidson. A collection of marching bands, performing groups, floats, antique cars, fire engines and other marchers will head south on Main Street to downtown Cornelius.

Plan ahead: N.C. 115 (Main Street) in Davidson and Cornelius will be closed from around noon until around 3 p.m. during the parade.

MORE INFORMATION

Parking – Where to park at Christmas in Davidson. ^[4]

Christmas in Davidson runs 6-9 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, along Main and South Main street in downtown Davidson. Details on the town website. ^[5]

More info on the North Meck Christmas Parade on the town website. ^[6]

DOWNLOAD a printable entertainment schedule and map, (PDF) CLICK HERE> ^[7]

Watch a 4-minute video interview with Kim Fleming, CLICK HERE> ^[8]