Holiday music filled the air, and red and green were the colors of choice Saturday afternoon, Dec. 4 as Wiscasset celebrated Wiscasset Holiday Marketfest. The annual Yuletime event, a collaboration between Wiscasset Creative Alliance and Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce (WACC), was expanded to three days, ending Sunday, Dec. 5. This year’s event featured fireworks, horse-drawn wagon rides, live music and more.

Linda Belmont, who called Wiscasset home for 18 years, returned Saturday afternoon to do some shopping. “I recently moved to Brunswick and missed not being here for the holiday decorating this year. Wiscasset has a charming downtown; for me, it just feels like Christmas being here,” she said. Belmont had been gift shopping at BIRCH, where owner Francie Siegfried told Wiscasset Newspaper her decorative holiday gnomes were the hot item of the day.

Around the corner at 25 Water St., Eric McIntyre was celebrating his eighth day in business. He recently opened Village Handcraft, a small workshop where he makes handmade corn brooms. He also has wooden spoons and clothes hooks. “As far as people coming through the door, this has been my best day yet,” he said. Asked which he likes making more, brooms or spoons, McIntyre said he enjoys making both. “Its nice to alternate between the two.”

Wiscasset Newspaper caught up with Lucia Droby and Christine Hopf-Lovette at the pop-up gift shop in the barn behind the 1807 Nickels-Sortwell House museum. “We’ve had a winding line through the shop pretty much all day,” said Droby, adding that shoppers were making new friends and enjoying themselves.

Outside Treats on Main Street, Terry Heller was playing holiday favorites on her electric keyboard. “As far as people being out and about, it’s been much busier today than yesterday when it was much windier, but last night the fireworks on the waterfront were absolutely spectacular!”

WACC Chair Chip Davidson felt it had been a pretty successful event. “The weather is pretty nice today considering it’s the first week of December. I like to see people out enjoying themselves and I think they are.”

Highlights Saturday included Linda Verney of Woodfield Farm providing horse-drawn wagon rides, and the ice sculpture outside In the Clover. Jesse Bouchard of Raymond made the sculpture. The fireworks were donated by Central Maine Pyrotechnics, which also supplied a licensed pyrotechnician; Dunkin on Route 1, Wiscasset donated free hot chocolate. At Ames True Value Saturday, kids could see the man of the season, Santa Claus.