WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Carols, cookies and canines will help lift holiday spirits this weekend in the Village Beautiful.

 

The Williamstown Chamber of Commerce's annual Holiday Walk gets under way at 9 a.m. Saturday morning with the Run with the Reindeer 5-kilometer run and offers up a full day of family-friendly activities.

 

The signature event, the Reindog Parade steps off from the Paresky Lawn at Williams College and heads down Spring Street starting at 3 p.m. Any dog owners are welcome to deck the hounds and join the fun starting at 2:30 outside Chapin Hall.

 

Although your dog need not be dressed as a reindog like the Grinch's Max, all the dogs and humans in the parade will help "pull" the fire truck that delivers Santa Claus to Where'd You Get That at the bottom of Spring Street, where he will visit with children starting at about 3:45.

 

In addition to the parade and many other familiar offerings, organizers this year added a couple of new events: a cookie exchange at Tasha Yoga and a "German Holiday Market" from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

 

The latter will be held in the Paresky Lot off Bank Street, where local vendors will offer treats ranging from pastries from the A-Frame Bakery to craft beer from Bright Ideas Brewing in North Adams.

 

Participants in the cookie exchange are asked to bring two to three dozen of their favorite holiday treat at noon, along with a suggested $5 to $20 donation to benefit the Williamstown Youth Center. Cookies will be mixed and boxed for pickup between 2 and 4 p.m.

 

"We've tried to connect most of our events with some kind of non-profit donation," explained Chamber of Commerce President Jason Dohaney said this week.

 

Non-profits are at the core of one of Holiday Walk's largest and most popular events, the Penny Social and Non-Profit Fair sponsored by the Williamstown Community Chest in Williams College's Lasell Gymnasium.

 

Dozens of non-profit groups will be on hand to spread information about their organization while visitors take their chance to win valuable prizes in an extensive Chinese auction-style raffle to benefit the Community Chest.

 

That event runs from 3 to 6 p.m., which is really prime time at Holiday Walk, when most of the events will take place.

 

After the 9 a.m. 5K fun run, the downtown area eases into the festivities with a children's crafts offered by the Pine Cobble School from noon to 4 (adjacent to the Greylock Gallery) and a 1 p.m. free showing of "Elf" at Images Cinema.

 

At 2 p.m., things really start to hum when several events kick off up and down Spring Street and across Main Street at the First Congregational Church, where the ABC and Congregational Church Community Tag Sale will be held in conjunction with the Habitat for Humanity Tree Showcase.

 

For a second straight year, the Souperbowl cook-off runs from 2 to 4 in the Papa Charlie's Plaza, where, for a $5 donation, you can sample soups from 11 different area restaurants and help pick the "People's Choice" champion. That event benefits the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Fund, which helps give emergency support to area residents in need.

 

As visitors move about the various venues, they will be serenaded by a number of musical acts, including a capella groups from Williams College and the Salvation Army Band.

 

While many of the events run until 6 p.m., Holiday Walk Saturday's climax for many people is the 5 p.m. tree lighting at the municipal parking lot at the south end of Spring Street.

 

That said, even more holiday excitement awaits on Sunday, when Williamstown Elementary School holds its annual craft fair. Fifty craftspeople from the tri-state area will offer works including ceramics, jewelry, dolls and handmade soap from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the school's gym. From 9 to noon, the annual pancake breakfast will benefit the school's sixth-grade class; light lunch will be available starting at noon.

 

"It's important to hold things like Holiday Walk to give the community character and make a place like North Berkshire County a fun place to live," Dohaney said. "We're reaching a number of people throughout the area. We want people to come here and enjoy the various events we put on.

 

"In addition, of course, our No. 1 constituents, our member businesses, benefit from this sort of thing, and tourists do benefit. It creates a destination for us, I guess I could say."