Holiday activities fill weekend calendar

Springfield on Display will be held 6:30–8 tonight, featuring carolers, jugglers, bell ringers and models in the windows of downtown businesses. Maria’s Mexican Restaurant will provide free hot chocolate.

The First Friday Artwalk also is tonight, beginning earlier than usual at 6 p.m. Exhibits will be displayed at 13 downtown galleries.

The annual WinterFest celebration at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts kicks off this weekend, running 5–10 tonight, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Saturday and noon–5 p.m. Sunday. Art will be exhibited and for sale, and the event includes a performance by Winter Solstice at 8 p.m. Saturday and a free holiday concert at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Downtown horse-drawn-carriage rides will be available tonight and Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Gillioz Theatre on Park Central East. The cost is $5 per person, and riders are encouraged to bring blankets.

Free public skating sessions will take place 6:30–7:30 tonight and 6–7 p.m. Saturday at Jordan Valley Ice Park. Skate rental is $2.50.

For parents who need a night out or have shopping to do, child care is provided 5–10 tonight at the Discovery Center of Springfield. The cost for members is $25 for the first child and $10 for each additional child, and for nonmembers $30 for the first child and $10 for each additional child.

The Midtown Victorian Christmas Homes Tour also is offered 5–9 tonight and noon–5 p.m. Saturday, sponsored by the Midtown Neighborhood Association.

Tickets for the tour are $10 in advance at Maschino’s Home Express, Enterprise Lanes, Holiday Lanes, Sunshine Lanes, The Medicine Shoppe pharmacy at 811 E. Division and at the Urban Neighborhoods Alliance office, 304 W. McDaniel. Tickets are $12 on tour days and are available at the Drury University Diversity Center in the historic Washington Avenue Baptist Church.