The Village of Saugerties celebrates the holidays in grand fashion this year on Sunday, December 5 from 1 to 6 p.m., with horsedrawn carriage rides (Ray Mayone will be bringing in two wagons this year), an ice sculpture demonstration, strolling costumed carolers and decorated shops open for holiday traffic. The Saugerties Village Businesses and the Saugerties Area Chamber of Commerce welcome one and all to a day of seasonal cheer and good will, and some great opportunities to shop locally for fashion and vintage apparel, homewares, hardware, chocolates and other goodies, wines, jewelry, antiques, books and gifts galore – all in a short walk that includes Market Street, Main Street and Partition Street. Select businesses will be decorating their windows for the holidays, some with live mannequins. Many of the stores will remain open until 8 p.m. that night. And don’t forget the many Zagat-rated restaurants in town for a great post-shopping meal.

The Dutch Colonial Kiersted House, home of the Historical Society, will be open from 1 until 3 p.m., when Santa will put in an appearance to say hi to the kids. There will be free craft stations to keep them all busy, too. Musical performances throughout the afternoon will include strolling carolers, the St. Mary of the Snow choir and the Raspberry Fiddlers, all performing at Saugerties Pro Musica. And at 1:30 p.m., the kids from Cahill and Grant D. Morse Elementary Schools will take the stage for a special holiday performance. World of Dance Studio will be kicking it up in the streets. Meanwhile, there will be demonstrations by the Catskill Mountain Woodcarvers and the Smokehouse of the Catskills at Smith Hardware.

The always-popular visual excitement of the firemen’s Parade of Lights will take place around 5:30 p.m. Visitors can follow the Parade to Seamon Park for the grand finale tree-lighting ceremony, where a reading of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” will close the event. Free bus service will be available to take folks from Main Street to Seamon Park for the Kiwanis tree/park lighting and then bring them back to the village.

Event organizers are really excited about a new development this year: Bob Siracusano of Sawyer Motors has initiated a giant toy giveaway. He has teamed up with his brother Larry from Sawyer Chevrolet and Tom Struzzieri from HITS to buy more than $5,000 worth of toys for kids ages 3 to 13, which will be given away in raffles that will take place at three specified times during the day. Raffle tickets are free, and kids need to be present to claim their prizes by 5 p.m. For further information visit www.welcometosaugerties.com.