CALENDAR: City to hold 2 more holiday market weekends; Free parking

Staff reports  | The city of Charleston will hold its holiday market in Marion Square on the next two Saturdays (Dec. 12, 19) and Sundays (Dec. 13, 20) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

COVID-19 protocols will be in place including additional spacing between vendors, hand washing and sanitizing stations. All vendors and patrons will be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing. The markets will feature 36 vendors on Saturdays and 24 vendors on Sundays including farm products, packaged food vendors, artisans and crafters.

Also on the city’s holiday calendar:

• Chanukah in the Square:  4 p.m., Dec. 13.  Normally held in Marion Square, the event will take place in a drive-in format at The Bend on Azalea Drive in North Charleston.  Free, including some free food and drinks. There also will be live music, entertainment and a Menorah lighting.
• Holiday greeting: 6 p.m., Dec. 18.  There will be a virtual holiday greeting from the City of Charleston and Mayor John Tecklenburg via the City of Charleston Facebook Page.
• Free parking.  From now until Jan. 1, 2021, the city is providing two hours of free parking downtown with this year’s Holiday Magic in Historic Charleston parking voucher. Download the voucher. 

Also on the calendar:

Grisham and Conroy via Zoom hybrid: 6 p.m. Dec. 8.  The Charleston Library Society will present writer John Grisham in a conversation with author Cassandra King Conroy as they discuss the dynamic process of writing best-selling novels in addition to covering Grisham’s new book, A Time For Mercy. Grisham will join on Zoom, but King King will join an in-house audience to enjoy the evening in person.  Buy tickets. 

Virtual HoLiDaY: Noon to 3 p.m., Dec. 20.  Holy City Vintage Market will offer a virtual holiday market on Instagram @holycityvintagemarket.  Shop vintage galore and more from a dozen vendors, safely from the warmth of your home. How it works: We’ll repost items for sale in our IG story from noon until 3 p.m. Customers can click through to the original seller to purchase items and set up contact-free pickup or postage. (The HCVM does not sell anything; we are merely facilitating the market.) Questions: holycityvtg@gmail.com

Two exhibits in one: Through Dec. 31, City of North Charleston’s Park Circle Gallery.  North Charleston photographer Dawnita Hall’s exhibit, Signs of Life, is a series of nine metallic print photographs of found signs and lettering. More: DawnitaHall.com. Painter Susan Irish of Charleston offers a series of abstract impressionist, mixed-media paintings with color palettes and compositions inspired by nature In her exhibit, I See You in My Garden. Free.  More: SusanIrishArtist.com. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays to Fridays, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Holiday Festival of Lights: Through Dec. 31, 2020.  The annual event, now in its 31st year, opens Nov. 13 and will offer a dazzling array of displays and about 2 million lights at James Island County Park.  The festival will be open every evening nightly from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.   You can take a heartwarming cruise along the three-mile display of glimmering lights with your closest companions. The driving tour features over 700 light displays, most of which were created in-house by park staff. For details, visit HolidayFestivalofLights.com.

• If you have any online events, drop us a line (editor@charlestoncurrents.com) and make sure to put “Online event” in the subject line.  Similarly, if you’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do while in isolation at home, send them our way.

NEW BOOK

• ORDER NOW:  Copies are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.