Capitol Hill Happy Holidays Card 2023

Santa is coming in for a landing and Broadway is ready to receive the happy elf. No matter what type of magick you have planned over the next few days, CHS hopes you find the balance of wonder and rest your body needs. We will be wonderfully resting, too — but not far away. Call or text (206) 399-5959 or say hey on Twitter @jseattle if there’s something we should know about. You can also check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group. Happy Holidays and thanks for reading CHS.

 

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2023 Capitol Hill holiday highlights include 65th annual Julfest, Holiday in the Park, Guilty Holiday Pleasures Party

While you’re recovering from the Thanksgiving holiday, brace yourself — Capitol Hill is going to be a festive place for the next few weeks. Here are a few Capitol Hill holiday highlights from the CHS Calendar. You can find more events and gatherings here — or add your own.

Sunday, December 3rd brings the 65th annual Julfest to E Pike’s First Covenant Church:

Thursday, December 7th is the date for the annual return of the Holiday in the Park celebration with hundreds of glowing luminaria, music, crafts and games, and treats in Volunteer Park:

Chabad of Capitol Hill & The Central District will also hold its Grand Menorah Lighting and Celebration in Volunteer Park on the 7th:


The Guilty Holiday Pleasures Party returns to Chophouse Row on Thursday, December 14th:

The Local Brilliance market and art exhibition takes place at 19th Ave E’s Ritual House on Saturday, December 16th:

Plus, lots more coming up soon around the Hill:

 

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For the holiday party season, Capitol Hill is getting a Christmas Dive Bar

(Image: CHS)

The neighbors have their Christmas decorations up already.

The Christmas Dive Bar will be popping up in Pike/Pine through New Year’s starting Thursday — a week before Thanksgiving.

“Hanging from the ceiling of the main area of CDB, there’s kitschy decorations, overscale ornaments, and enough colored light strings wrapped in tinselly-garland to make Mrs. Claus happy,” Murf Hall of the Burgess/Hall family of Capitol Hill businesses — and “huge Christmas buff,” according to the press release — says about the new project temporarily replacing 11th Ave’s The Woods dance club.

“We’ll be shaking up Christmas cocktails like Cranberry Collins and Eggnog Espresso Martinis and serving up snacks such as Crockpot Little Smokies and Cherry’s Xmas Chex Mix,” Hall’s business partner, husband, and presumed favorite secret Santa Joey Burgess says in the release. “We’re a dive bar with a festive twist ready to make the holiday season a little brighter, one drink at a time.”

The new setup in the club on 11th Ave between Pike and Pine includes “jingle bells, classic blow molds, and vintage décor” where elves will be mixing “festive cocktails” below “vintage chandeliers hung with ornaments and dozens of rolls of wrapping paper covering the walls create the perfect vibe for the holiday season.”

The pop-up announced this week hasn’t been a secret to anybody walking 11th Ave where small town shopping district-worthy window painting has advertised the changeover. It comes in a time when venues giving themselves over to temporary and seasonal pop-ups has become an alternative source of revenue for bars and restaurants but the twist here is a local business taking the reindeer reins and running the show themselves. Continue reading

Capitol Hill holiday fun this week includes December Art Walk, annual Holiday in the Park, and maybe a little more snow

The holiday season began over the weekend with snow on Capitol Hill and Christmas trees at Stevens Elementary. More Hill holiday good times are ahead.

The school’s parent teacher association held its annual tree and holiday wreath sale Friday night and Saturday morning, living on as Capitol Hill’s only charity tree lot on a cold and icy first weekend in December.

The cooler weather will continue but we’ll see mostly rain until Friday night and through the weekend when the National Weather Service says we should see a mix of rain… and snow.

Holiday things to do will continue, too, including Thursday night’s December Capitol Hill Art Walk and the annual Holiday in the Park event in Volunteer Park.

Check the CHS Calendar for Hill area holiday events and more. You can also check out Shop the Hill for holiday gift and shopping ideas.

 

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Capitol Hill Community Post | 2022 Stevens Elementary School PTA Holiday Tree and Greenery Sale — Plus, the return of the community pancake breakfast

From the Stevens Elementary School PTA

We’re gearing up for the 2022 Stevens Elementary Holiday Tree and Greenery Sale. This year also includes the triumphant post-pandemic return of the community pancake breakfast and holiday concert. Other than a pandemic year off the Stevens holiday tree sale fundraiser has been running since the mid-80s! Continue reading

Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom to again decorate Cal Anderson with gifts of scarves, hats, and socks

(Image: Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom)

A Capitol Hill knitting group is growing a new neighborhood tradition “decorating” the hedges near 11th and Denny in Cal Anderson Park with scarves, hats, socks, and other items to keep people warm.

The Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom tell CHS this year’s gifts will be hung with care in the park this Friday, November 18th.

The items, most handmade, will be in plastic bags labelled with the type of item, size, and fiber. The decorating will start around 1 PM and took about a half hour to complete last year. Last year, all the items were claimed by the end of the weekend. Continue reading

In Seattle, Indigenous Peoples’ Day finally gets full recognition

For the first time since proclaiming the remembrance eight years ago and pushing aside Columbus Day, Seattle City Hall is honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day with closed offices and an official holiday.

City leaders and workers have the day off and, yes, parking is free on Seattle’s streets. Transit is on standard schedules and the public schools are open but the libraries are closed. The U.S. Postal Service and most other federal offices along with institutions like banks are also closed though many regions across the country will mark the date as both Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day. Continue reading

CHS Pics | Holiday in the Park returns

The Dickens Carolers sing Christmas carols outside an illuminated SAAM

The craft tent was a busy place

Masks can provide some unexpected comforts like keeping your face warm on a damp and chilly Seattle December night. With new ways of life becoming the norm, 2021’s holiday season in the city is a reopening, of sorts, with traditions returning. Thursday night in Volunteer Park wasn’t too far from years past as Holiday in the Park returned with its hundreds of glowing lanterns and even more seasonal cheer. The annual Volunteer Park Trust event on the stairs of the Seattle Asian Art Museum was one of many cancellations in December 2020 as the pandemic wore on. That crisis is still with us in 2021, of course, but, more and more, we’re learning to live — and sing carols — with the virus. Continue reading

CHS Pics | A holiday visit to the Capitol Hill farmers market — Revival Holiday Market set for December 12th

The Capitol Hill farmers market stretched across its new home at The AMP Plaza Sunday with signs of the holiday season popping up along with the usual bounty of the weekly showcase of seasonal produce and craft foods. For those shopping locally, the market is a weekly connection to farms and vendors from around the region. This Sunday, it was a also a day for a few Seattle holiday delights. Continue reading