Published: Friday, November 30, 2012 12:59 AM CST

The holiday season will be in full display this weekend throughout Yankton with a number of seasonal events taking place.

On Saturday, the annual Gurney Landing Parade of Lights will take place, which is accompanied by a vendor fair.

“We have been putting together a lot of the last-minute details,” said parade organizer Paul Lowrie. “The biggest difference this year is that the parade will be on Saturday to allow people a better day to prepare an entry. We are trying to get as many entrants as possible.”

Although registering to take place in the parade in advance is encouraged, no one will be turned away if they want to participate in the parade on Saturday afternoon. The parade will line up on Levee Street and Capitol around 5:30 p.m. and it starts the route at 6 p.m. It will move north on Capitol and turn west on Third Street through downtown Yankton. It will proceed along Third to the Yankton County Government Center.

Alison Brown, another parade organizer, is expecting a big turnout for the event.

“We have had more pre-registrations for the parade this year then we have in the past,” she said. “The more we do it, the more people will see what’s going on and want to come downtown to watch the parade and go to the vendor fair.”

Prizes will be awarded to parade participants in four different categories: Religious, commercial, organization and individual. Organizers are still hoping more businesses will register to be in the parade.

The vendor fair will take place from 2-8 p.m. on Saturday in the Gurney building at 110 Capitol Street. As of early this week, there were about 25 vendors registered.

“The parade is great family entertainment and is free,” Brown said. “You can also start, or finish, your holiday shopping at the vendor fair.”

Smooth Benediction, Mount Marty’s a capella group, will perform at the Christmas tree lighting which will take place around 7 p.m. at the plaza by the base of the Meridian Bridge.

Santa Claus will participate in the parade on board a historic firetruck, and organizers say once he passes your spot along the route, you should head towards the bridge for the tree lighting.

“We are encouraging people not to go home after the parade ends, just go to the bridge to see the tree lighting,” Lowrie said. “Dress warm and dress for the weather. The vendor fair will also have a lot of quality items and a good mix of goods people can buy.”

Another weekend event is the Mount Marty College Music Department’s annual Vespers performance which is set for Sunday, Dec. 2.

The free performances are at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Bishop Marty Chapel on the Mount Marty College campus. However, both performances are sold out.

Directing Vespers this year will be Kenneth Tice and he has some new performances planned for the concert.

“We are adding a Gregorian Chant to the concert, which was part of the first Vespers performance back in 1982,” he said. “All vocal ensembles will also be presented at the concert, including the a capella group that will also be playing at the Yankton Christmas tree lighting.”

Tice will also be adding some more carols for the audience to sing along with the students performing on stage. He said the college will consider adding more performances in the future because of the popularity of the event.

“This year, Vespers will be rebroadcast on a local radio station on Christmas,” Tice said. “This will help other people in the area who didn’t get to come out to the show hear it for themselves.”

There will be a number of other events this weekend as well including:

• The Corps of Discovery Welcome Center in South Yankton, Neb., will host “A Taste Of Christmas” on Saturday from 4-7 p.m. Area vendors will offer samples of their products and gift ideas for Christmas.

• The United Church of Christ in Yankton will hold its 19th annual Christmas coffee and bake sale starting at 1 p.m. Saturday. The church is located at 5th and Walnut.

• Yankton figure skaters will be teaming up with the Yankton Toys for Kids program to help Santa Claus make the holidays special for area children. The Toys for Kids Christmas Show will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Yankton Kiwanis Ice Arena, 709 Whiting Drive, Yankton. Admission to the event is a new unwrapped toy or goodwill donation.

• There will be a Hometown Christmas open house at the McVay-Gurney House, 503 Pine Street, Yankton on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. Music, refreshments and holiday decorating ideas will be part of the open house.

• The YankTON Challenge celebration will take place Saturday at The Landing Bar at 103 Capitol Street. Activities will begin at 4:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony at 5 p.m. After the ceremony, participants will walk in the parade and carry the banner and balloons with weights lost on them.

• The Yankton Goodwill Store, 2508 Fox Run Parkway, will hold its annual Shoe Party on Sunday from 3-6 p.m. Every year, Goodwill invites 50 children from the local community whose families may be struggling to provide gifts for Christmas. When the kids attend the shoe party they receive new shoes, socks, hats and mittens for Christmas.

• The Yankton Community Library and Recreation Department are sponsoring a Parents’ Night Out event on Saturday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. for kids ages 6-12 at the Summit Activities Center. Kids will make craft projects, eat pizza, swim and play games in the gym. Registration forms are available at the Summit Center.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal