Friday, June 2 kicks off the first “First Friday” of the summer. Join all of your favorite local shops, galleries and venues on the first Friday of each month from 5-9pm for a community art walk!
INFO ABOUT FRI. JUN 2 ART WALK
All venues below will have artwork on display and some may even provide snacks and drinks!
On Friday, May 5, 2017 neighbors, artists and those who love Highlandtown celebrated the clean-up and transformation of our alley–including new waterway themed murals–on the 400 block of S. Conkling Street. We celebrated our waterways and communities from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Mexico with food, music, dancing, art and even a live crab!
Click below for photos from the event.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Friday, May 5, 2017
Outside 418 S. Conkling Street
Event festivities included:
– Celebration of new murals by Adam Stab and community led art by Leanna Wetmore of Healthy Harbor & Amanda Smit-Peters of Southeast CDC
– Live Mariachi Band
– Piñata demos by Artesanas Mexicanas
– Visit with a live crab and create a wall-art habitat
– Hop in a kayak and dress up with props in the “Waterways Selfie Station”
– Play “Alley-Pong” with giant recycling cans and “Healthy Harbor Cornhole”
– Food & drink specials from Filippo’s Restaurant & Lounge and Carlos O’ Charlies
-Dancing, facepainting and more!
Thank you to all our events organizers, partners and volunteers!
EVENT ORGANIZERS
EVENT PARTNERS
Filippo’s Restaurant & Lounge
Carlos O’ Charlies
Creative Alliance and the Artesanas Mexicanas
City College
Face Painting by Maria Arce
MURAL ARTISTS
Adam Stab
Leanna Wetmore
Misael Garcia
If the cool weather holds, we may soon see the initial skirmishes of southeast Baltimore’s annual “chair wars” – a series of verbal battles fought over whether row house dwellers have the social right (if not a legal one) to use lawn chairs to claim the on-street parking spots they have shoveled out.
The scene makes it into the Highlandtown Train Garden this year, recreated in miniature for a new panel dedicated to the “Great Blizzard of 2016,” which also includes a snowball fight, a dog creating yellow snow, a car futilely spinning its tires, and more.
The life-like Train Garden, set up inside the firehouse at 520 S. Conkling St., opens Nov. 26, the same day as the start of Holidays in Highlandtown, an annual trifecta of holiday events dedicated to merriment and community, presented by Highlandtown Main Street, a program of the Southeast Community Development Corp. The program is part of the larger city-wide “Miracle on Main Streets” event series sponsored by Baltimore Main Streets. Highlandtown’s events are also sponsored by the Highlandtown Business Association.
Below learn more about Highlandtown’s signature events throughout the holiday season.
SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY BREAKFAST
SAT. NOV. 26, 8am-noon
With multiple spots to purchase fine arts, locally made goods, vintage items and more, the area surrounding Eastern Avenue and Conkling Street has been a known shopping destination for several years now.
The Small Business Saturday Breakfast, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26, from 8 a.m. to noon at Hoehn’s Bakery (400 S. Conkling St.) makes it even easier and more fun to get holiday shopping done early….
For event details and Shop Small Challenge CLICK HERE.
HIGHLANDTOWN HOLIDAY KICK-OFF CELEBRATION
FRI. DEC. 2, 5pm-7pm
The festivities begin in front of the Southeast Anchor Library (Eastern Ave. and Conkling St.), with tunes from Rufus Roundtree and Da B’more Brass Factory, followed by the tree-lighting at 6 p.m. and free pictures with Santa, portrayed, by crowd favorite State Delegate Luke Clippinger.
Following the tree-lighting, the Highlandtown Train Garden crew will start their engines at 6:30 p.m., sending two trains through a miniature Southeast Baltimore, complete with relatively new businesses (the Highlandtown Gallery) and old ones (Little Tavern, where you bought them “by the bag”)….
For event details CLICK HERE.
SUNDAY SHOPPING SPECTACULAR
SUN. DEC. 4, 11am-5pm
Return to the neighborhood on Sunday, Dec. 4, for the annual Sunday Shopping Spectacular, featuring gifts, treats, jewelry and more from local artisans. Events include:
There are other shops selling a wide variety of products along Eastern Ave. and up and down Conkling St.; they seem to increase in number every month….
For more information and a full list of participating businesses CLICK HERE.
SUN. DEC. 4, 11am-5pm ǀ
Gifts, treats, art, jewelry and more from artisans and craftsmen throughout Highlandtown.
FRI. DEC. 2, 5pm-7pm ǀ Conkling St & Eastern Ave
On Fri. Dec 2, 2016, business owners, residents and visitors gathered at Eastern Ave & Conkling St to mingle with hot chocolate & Hoehn’s cookies, get a photo with Santa, dance along with Rufus Roundtree & da Bmore Brass Facorty, light the grand tree AND open the beloved Highlandtown Train Garden!
Following the event, folks celebrated at the Merry Mixer hosted by RoofTop Hot & the Venice Tavern. Others gathered at Peak Performance and Fillipo’s Restaurant & Lounge for festivities.
For pictures from the event click below:
For your digital photos with Santa click below:
What makes the holiday season special in Highlandtown is the same thing that makes it special pretty muchanywhere else, according to Keith Gibson, a resident who grew up in the neighborhood and returned to buy his grandparents’ house at Fagley and Gough streets.
“It’s a time of year when we get to bridge some gaps,” he said as he attached lights to a tree on Conkling Street during a Nov. 12 community decorating session. “The community comes together across a lot of diverse borders.”
Part of that he said, comes naturally from involving families and children, who always show up for the Highlandtown Holiday Kick-off Celebration, this year scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m.
The festivities begin in front of the Southeast Anchor Library (Eastern Ave. and Conkling St.), with tunes from Rufus Roundtree and Da B’more Brass Factory, followed by the tree-lighting at 6 p.m. and free pictures with Santa, portrayed, as always, by State Delegate Luke Clippinger.
Following the tree-lighting, the Highlandtown Train Garden crew will start their engines at 6:30 p.m., sending two trains through a miniature Southeast Baltimore, complete with relatively new businesses (the Highlandtown Gallery) and old ones (Little Tavern, where you bought them “by the bag”).
“The train garden brings people back to another time,” said Doug Campbell, one of the crew who starts working on it in the spring. “It makes them forget all their problems and puts them in a miniature world.”
Not that the train garden omits all the warts – viewers may notice a rat emerging from under a manhole cover. Some of the streets feature tiny pieces of litter.
After the train garden, adults are invited to head over to RoofTop HoT and the historic Venice Tavern, both at 339 S. Conkling St. The former is owned by farmers and features their own produce, the best selections of local provisions in the city, and yummy eats for sale provided by Chef Dan. The latter offers, very possibly, the most inexpensive craft beer in the state.
“The beginning of the evening is geared more toward families,” said Smit-Peters. “The after-party is more for adults.”
Keep scrolling below to see flyers for our holiday events in both English and Spanish.
