On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, vendor tables will fill Hotel Indigo at 1028 13th Street on the Port of Everett waterfront from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. The first 50 people through the door get an Everett-themed tote bag. The next afternoon, an Argosy Christmas Ship leaves the marina with a choir on board. It's the first time the Christmas Ship Festival has ever come to Everett.
The Port's big holiday festival, Holiday on the Bay, is still a week later, on Saturday, Dec. 5. This year it has no holiday market. If you've treated that Saturday as your day to shop local makers by the water, the shopping now happens on Nov. 28, and most of the new events this season land on Thanksgiving weekend.
The Market Left the Festival
For the past two years, Holiday on the Bay included a pop-up market of local vendors that ran alongside the crafts and the tree lighting. In 2024 it was open noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 7. In 2025 it ran the same hours on Dec. 6.
The 2026 Holiday on the Bay page explains the change in one note:
"After much consideration, we have decided not to host a holiday market at this event. Hotel Indigo hosts a holiday market the weekend of Thanksgiving and can be contacted for more information regarding becoming a vendor or attending the event."
The Port is sending shoppers to an event one week earlier at the hotel beside Pacific Rim Plaza, the same plaza where Holiday on the Bay takes place. You'll be shopping on the same block, just on a different Saturday.
Saturday, Nov. 28: Hotel Indigo's Holiday Craft Bazaar
Hotel Indigo calls this its annual Holiday Craft Bazaar, which means it was already on the waterfront calendar before the Port's note pointed festival shoppers toward it. The hotel describes a day of shopping local and finding handmade gifts. It's open to all ages and costs nothing to get in. The Eventbrite listing lets you RSVP and notes paid parking on site.
If you make things to sell, booths cost $125, plus $25 if you need power. The hotel asks vendors to email the events contact on its upcoming events page to reserve a spot and describe what they'll sell.
The bazaar caps a full holiday week at the hotel. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, Hotel Indigo serves a buffet from noon to 9 p.m. It's $85 for adults and $25 for children 12 and under, and children 3 and under eat free. If you have out-of-town family staying through the weekend, you could do Thursday dinner, Saturday shopping and a Sunday Christmas Ship sailing without leaving the waterfront.
Sunday, Nov. 29: The Christmas Ship Makes Its First Everett Stop
The Port calls Argosy's Christmas Ship Festival a Pacific Northwest holiday favorite, and this is the first time it has come to Everett. Both sailings leave from Port of Everett Marina South Dock 1, near Anthony's Homeport. The Cloud Nine Singers are the choir on board.
| Sailing | Departs | Shoreline performance |
|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. | Boxcar Park, 4:10 to 4:30 p.m. |
| Evening | 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. | Mukilteo Lighthouse, 7:35 to 7:55 p.m. |
You can watch without a ticket. The afternoon boat stops off the Port's Boxcar Park for a caroling show at 4:10 p.m. The evening boat performs at Mukilteo Lighthouse, so for the later show you'll need to drive down the shore. Tickets for both sailings are on Argosy's Christmas Ship Festival schedule.
Saturday, Dec. 5: Holiday on the Bay Without Booths
The 19th annual Holiday on the Bay runs noon to 6 p.m., rain or shine, in and around Pacific Rim Plaza. With the market gone, the day is mostly free family activities that build toward the evening on the water:
- Noon to 6 p.m.: Winter crafts with Imagine Children's Museum, kids' activities with Everett Sail & Power Squadron and Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington, touch-a-truck with the Everett Police Department, Everett Fire Department, Snohomish County PUD and Birch Equipment, s'mores at fire pits, face painting and balloons by Giggles Entertainment, and holiday steel drums from Panessence
- Noon to 4 p.m.: Photos with a "Frozen"-inspired Ice Queen and Ice Princess from Enchanting Events
- 5 p.m.: Tree lighting at the Port's "frozen fountain" tree, with Santa arriving by boat
- 5:30 p.m.: The Mukilteo Yacht Club's lighted boat parade leaves Guest Dock 5 at Pacific Rim Plaza and circles the marina
You'll still find food. Food trucks are scheduled throughout the afternoon, and select waterfront restaurants will run holiday specials. For the boat parade, the Port points people to the waterfront trails and some of the restaurants as viewing spots. The timing gives you a clear plan for the evening: watch the tree lighting at 5, then walk to the water before the boats leave at 5:30.
The festival is also the last day of the Port's giving drives. Through Dec. 5, the Port is collecting new, unwrapped toys for Marine Toys for Tots and nonperishable food for the Everett Community Food Bank through Volunteers of America Western Washington. Donation boxes are in the Waterfront Center lobby near the Scuttlebutt Family Pub entrance, or you can bring donations to the festival. The lobby boxes take donations any day through Dec. 5, so you don't have to bring them on festival day.
The Waterfront Keeps Going for Three More Weeks
Thanksgiving weekend starts the season, and Dec. 5 is the middle of it. The waterfront schedule continues almost every day until Christmas Eve.
Holiday on the Bay 5K, Sunday, Dec. 6. The fourth annual race, put on by the Port and Snohomish Running Company, is a chip-timed 5K on a flat route with views of the marina, Port Gardner Bay and the Olympics. The Kids Dash starts at 8:40 a.m., and the 5K at 9 a.m. Entry is $50 for adults, $35 for active military and veterans, and $15 for the Kids Dash. Registration includes a shirt and a finisher medal. You're guaranteed your shirt size only if you register by Tuesday, Nov. 17. Sign up through the Port's 5K page.
Holiday Hooves: 12 Days of Reindeer, Dec. 13 to 24. Live reindeer visit Pacific Rim Plaza on a set schedule. The visits are free.
- Dec. 13, 19 and 20: noon to 3 p.m.
- Dec. 14 to 18 and Dec. 21 to 23: 1 to 4 p.m.
- Dec. 24: noon to 3 p.m.
The Christmas Eve visit ends at 3 p.m. The full schedule is at portofeverett.com/holidayhooves.
Sip & Sleigh drink bingo, Dec. 1 to 31. Ask for a bingo card at any participating Waterfront Place restaurant and get a stamp for each bingo drink you order. The drinks range from coffee to mocktails to cocktails. Drop finished cards in the blue "Letters to the North Pole" box at Pacific Rim Plaza by Jan. 10, 2027, for a chance to win a waterfront restaurant gift card. Details are on the Sip & Sleigh page.
Winter lights, mid-November through Feb. 15, 2027. The Port's lighting displays at Pacific Rim Plaza and along the esplanade stay up well past the holidays.
Hotel Indigo's calendar continues too, with a Christmas Day buffet from noon to 8:30 p.m. and a New Year's Eve "Disco by the Bay" party from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Parking for the Busy Days
Port waterfront lots usually give visitors two free hours in designated spaces. During select special events, parking can cost $5 to $25. Hotel Indigo has paid parking on site for the bazaar. Look at the Port's parking page before Nov. 28, Nov. 29 and Dec. 5. All three events are on the same stretch of waterfront. If you're joining the boat parade crowd, plan on more than two hours.
Holiday plans at the waterfront are a good reminder of how much the area around your home affects what it's worth. If you live near the Port and want to know where your home stands before the new year, the team at AMP Properties Group NW can get you an Instant Home Valuation. If you'd like to sell quickly, ask us about a cash offer that can close in 7 to 14 days, so you know your timeline before the holidays end.
