A weekend of activities begins Friday

Smithfield lights up with the Christmas spirit beginning Friday.

The Smithfield Woman’s Club is hosting its annual Christmas tree lighting on The Smithfield Times lawn at 5:30 p.m. The event includes music and refreshments. 

The Christmas tree lighting is followed by the illumination of Main Street, with shops open until 8 p.m. Event goers can vote on their favorite display at the Visitor’s Center at 319 Main St. until 8 p.m. 

Christmas in Smithfield, a two-day event highlighting the town’s history and holiday charm, is also this weekend.

The weekend of activities is a fundraising effort sponsored by the Courthouse of 1752 operations committee and aimed at providing the money necessary to keep the colonial courthouse on Main Street open to the public and providing an impressive schedule of educational and entertaining events.

This year’s Christmas in Smithfield will feature a tour of homes in the Cypress Creek community. Some of the town’s most impressive newer homes will be dressed in holiday finery for the tours, which will be conducted 2–8 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Fanciers of fine jewelry, decorative arts and Americana will find them all at the annual Holiday Antiques Show, which has been an anchor event for the Christmas in Smithfield weekends. The show, which has been described by vendors and customers as one of Virginia’s finest, will be staged Saturday and Sunday in The Smithfield Center.

Advance tickets for the weekend are available this week at the Smithfield Visitor Center (319 Main Street) or at The Smithfield Center during the event.

And stay tuned for more. The annual Smithfield Christmas Parade and the Kiwanis Breakfast with Santa is Saturday, Dec. 8.