BAY MINETTE — More than 60 arts and crafts and food booths, entertainment and Santa will be on hand Friday and Saturday for Bay Minette’s 30th annual Christmas Fest in and around Blackburn Park and Hoyle Avenue, according to Ashley Jones, executive assistant director of the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.

The festival will kick off on Friday, at 9 a.m. and will run through Saturday till 5 p.m.

The opening ceremonies, Christmas tree lighting and Santa’s arrival will be at 6 p.m. Friday. Following the ceremonies, the North Baldwin Chamber will present their first ever Snowflake Princess, Miss Emily Rider (daughter of Lane and Jennifer Rider). Emily is a senior at Baldwin County High School and is a member of the National Honor Society.

In addition to the traditional tree lighting ceremony, Santa will be available in his village on Candy Cane Lane for photos before heading off to the Bay Minette Public Library for Bedtime Stories with Santa at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, the North Baldwin Infirmary Fitness Center will kick off the morning with a 5k and Fun Run beginning at 8 a.m. at the Bay Minette Kid’s Park. After running up an appetite, you have the opportunity to join Santa for Pancakes at the Family Life Center of the First United Methodist Church from 8 a.m.to 10 a.m., hosted by the Bay Minette Kiwanis Club.

At noon on Saturday the Bay Minette Christmas parade will roll from the Bay Minette Elementary School, down Hand Ave, through the festival on First Street and follow Hoyle Avenue back to the elementary school.

This year’s festival will host entertainment for everyone. That mighty rumble you will hear coming out of Blackburn Park will be none other than Bay Minette’s own Kristy Lee. Kristy Lee will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

“Her voice, like thunder, rolling in before a sweet southern rain, instantly washes the world away,” said the Chamber's Ashley Jones. “Kristy Lee's unique rhythms are absolutely nourishing, clean, pure, and unapologetic. This woman means it when she takes her voice out to play. This Alabama girl can pack a house in any state. Tough luck sticking her in a category, because when it comes to writing songs, she has no limits.”

On Saturday at 3 p.m. the soulful, jazz musician Eirinn Abu will take the stage to close out the festival.

There will also be entertainment throughout the festival by the Oakwood Hand Bell Choir, Baldwin County High School (BCHS) Jazz Band, Faulkner State Sun Chief Sound, BCHS Drama Class, BCHS Choir, Ashley Ryan & the Unknown Bluegrass Band, Gabriel Willis & Andre Bevier, North Baldwin Tae Kwon Do, and the Rising Stars Dance team.

For more information, contact the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce at 251-937-5665, or Like us on Facebook.