There is no place like Home for the Holidays –Especially if that ‘Home’ happens to be Provincetown
Don we now our gay apparel and get ye to Provincetown’s Holly Folly celebration December 1-3, for what has to be the gayest holiday strolls in the country.
The tone is set with the early morning Jingle Bell Run down Commercial Street when “undie” or mini- bathing suit clad runners brave the elements and make their way down the center of Provincetown. This is not weather permitting, rather this is a, run in any kind of weather, ending in a cozy warm-up at a local restaurant featuring a champagne brunch. Everyone is welcome to meet and congratulate the runners and maybe offer a warming backrub to the intrepid, brief wearing, souls.
Another fun event which should be sub-titled “pace yourself!” is the Inn Stroll. A dozen plus inns open their doors to show off their holiday finery, introduce guests to their accommodations and offer a repast and a libation. This is a fun, free event giving you a chance to peek behind the curtains, but keep in mind, in order to appreciate all of the inns, sipping the refreshments may be a good idea or you will never make it thru to the Stroll’s finish.
Holidays means shopping and if you ‘jones’ for bargains the Shop Hop-Great Things Come in Provincetown Baskets, is a sales bonanza. Provincetown’s eclectic retailers offer steep discounts on a number of one-of-a-kind gifts and many of the stores are happy to ship your purchases home so no need to tote those bags. Your first step should be registering at the Holly Folly headquarters located in the center of town. In addition to a list of participating retailers you can sign up to compete for a number of special prizes.
Save your appetite for one of the most popular events of the week-end – Souper Saturday. Just follow the scent to a downtown restaurant for a sampling of soups from many of the town’s most popular eateries. Drinks are also available for what swiftly turns into a “If you taste mine, I’ll taste yours,” party. This is great fun and the perfect opportunity to mix and mingle with both locals and visitors. As night falls the town literally glows with thousands of sparkling lights bathed in the warming glow of the Pilgrim Monument, the all-granite monolith, lit for the season, stands tall as the town’s unofficial sentry.
No end to the entertainment including the Gay Men’s Chorus at the Town Hall and also happening is the Ugly Sweater/Hard Candy Party, some rather unconventional holiday caroling and a production of A Christmas Carol bearing little resemblance to what Mr. Dickens had in mind. You can finish off the week-end by wearing your best pajamas to the Sunday morning, “I woke up like this,” Drag Brunch.
Nowhere else will you find a holiday celebration like this one and so as not to miss a thing find a complete schedule at PTown.org.
When you need it bad- P’town has it good
Say goodbye to what was and welcome what will be in 2018 with Provincetown’s First Light Celebration & Fireworks December 29 – January 2. This is, party like it’s July, throughout the town with a wide variety of entertainment from drag to headliners to something for Von Trapp wanna be’ s- A Sound of Music sing-a-thon.
Fittingly enough the party ends with a gigantic fireworks display over Provincetown Harbor at dusk.
