5 Things to Do: Slate of Christmas markets come to the Illinois Valley

Here are five things to do this weekend:

1. Buffalo Nichols: Nichols will make his first appearance Friday at the Uptown Grill’s Playlist Theater, 601 First St., La Salle. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Nichols’ vision for the blues is of a form of music that’s intimately tied to everyday life. On his second album, “The Fatalist,” Nichols does things with the blues that might catch you off guard. There’s 808 programming, chopped up Charley Patton samples and washes of synth. Tickets are $25. Go to eventbrite.com to buy tickets.

2. Christmas Walk: Princeton’s Christmas Walk is scheduled this weekend, putting a spotlight on local downtown businesses and kicking off the holiday with seasonal activities. Stores will be open until 8 p.m. Friday and will have normal business hours Saturday and Sunday. Activities Saturday include the Christkindlmarkt at Open Prairie Church, the annual elf hunt on Main Street, carolers, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, free trolley rides on Main Street, reindeer food with the Bureau County Farm Bureau, horse-drawn carriages, a fresh greenery sale, pottery painting with The Knack, s’mores with the Bureau County Senior Center and Handmade for the Holidays at the Prairie Arts Gallery. Many of those activities will be centered on the Prouty building, 435 S. Main St. The Princeton Lions Club will be serving complimentary popcorn in exchange for a donation to the Bureau County Food Pantry. The Friends of Strays also will be conducting a bake sale.

3. “Forever Plaid-The Heavenly Four-Part Harmony Hit”: Illinois Valley Community College’s fall musical brings classic harmonies, pitch-perfect melodies, humor and nostalgia returning to the stage for a second weekend. The jukebox musical presented by the IVCC Theater Department features hits of the 1950s and 1960s, such as “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Crazy ‘Bout Ya Baby,” “Perfidia,” “Cry,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Shangri-La” and other tunes from the era. When four young singers are killed in a car crash on the way to their big break, they posthumously take the stage for one final gig in a goofy, 1950s nostalgia romp. Reserved tickets are on sale online at cur8.com/2091/project/127092. Adult admission costs $20, and tickets for children 18 years and younger cost $15. Admission is free for IVCC employees and students. The musical will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. Sundays. For information on IVCC theater, visit ivcc.edu/theatre.

4. Holiday Market: The Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center will host its holiday market at 10 a.m. Sunday. Support local vendors at the market. There will be a variety of vendors with items such as candles, wreaths, dried floral art, jewelry, baked goods, homemade mustards, photography prints, candy pickles and other hand-crafted items in the Great Hall West and Starved Rock Room.

5. Christkindlmarkt: The annual event at Open Prairie Church is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the church, 25 E. Marion St., behind the Apollo Theater, Princeton. Coffee, hot mulled cider, lebkuchen and other German sweets will be sold throughout the day. At 11 a.m., the Market’s Brathaus will begin serving a traditional German lunch, three varieties of soups and mac and cheese. At the Market’s International Cookie Bazaar, shoppers will be able to select from 25 kinds of cookies representing 20 countries. The Princeton High School German Club will sell German Advent calendars.

• Would you like your event highlighted in this weekly feature? The first step is submitting your events to the Illinois Valley’s community calendar at shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/local-events.