STEUBENVILLE — Christmas magic is returning to downtown Steubenville.

This week, the Steubenville Nutcracker Village and Christmas at the Fort open, events that fill the streets with vendors, music and special activities, including the city’s Lights Up the Night activities and fireworks.

Even business owners who don’t see a big uptick in their foot traffic are excited at what it means.

“It doesn’t do anything for our business, but it’s nice to see people walking around downtown at that time of year,” said Spot Bar owner JoJo DiAlbert. “It’s a great thing. It doesn’t matter how cold or snowy it is, (people) still show up.”

The fun begins Tuesday with the Nutcracker Village’s kick-off party. There’ll be live music, traditional German dancing, a German beer garden, a story walk and crafts for kids, an Advent Market and, to mark its 10th anniversary, the unveiling of the 10 new nutcrackers in front of Drosselmeyer’s Nutcracker Shoppe. Activities start at 5 p.m. North Fourth Street will be closed to vehicular traffic that evening.

On Friday, Christmas at the Fort opens at 10 a.m. with the Visitor Center’s Kids Zone, followed by the barnyard petting zoo at noon and the fort’s Holiday Market at 3 p.m. There will be dancers and live music, along with a Santa Claus meet-and-greet from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; the blessing of the tree and then, around 6:25 p.m., the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s basketball team will lead the countdown to a fireworks display as part of Steubenville Lights Up the Night.

“We love seeing people walk downtown,” said Rikki Kamarados of Downtown Bakery, who doesn’t mind admitting the holiday sights and sounds take her back to when downtown streets were full of Christmas shoppers and holiday music was played from speakers at the intersection of Fourth and Market streets.

“They do come in — the nutcrackers being on Fourth Street actually enhances our foot traffic,” she said. “It’s nice to see a lot of people downtown — I remember the 1970s, the people walking around downtown — foot traffic was always big back then.”

Volunteers have been busy for months creating a Christmas wonderland.

“It’s an ‘all-hands-on deck’ experience,” the fort’s Judy Bratten said.

Preparation will kick into high gear this weekend, with Nelsons of Steubenville and the Steubenville Cultural Trust enlisting volunteers to do final touch-ups on the nutcrackers and the 75-pound concrete bases they’ll rest on, light Christmas trees, clean decorations, hang lights, set up temporary fencing and deliver the more than 210 nutcrackers to their seasonal posts. They’ll be setting up a Nativity and getting the beer garden ready.

“Visitors to this year’s Nutcracker Village should expect a level of excitement not seen since Archimedes discovered how to determine the purity of gold,” Brodie Stutzman said. “This year will welcome the introduction of 10 new nutcrackers as well as a dramatic re-enactment of St. Nicholas’ infamous boxing match with Arias. The 10 new nutcrackers are influenced by a wide range of source material from popular culture to niche local enthusiasm. Surprises are guaranteed.”

Volunteers also will be at the fort adding finishing touches.

Bratten said a committee spent the summer coming up with ideas to enhance the event and organized fundraising campaigns to (pay for) the new attractions. She said volunteers began setting things up in October.

“We wanted to do as much as we could while the weather was good — it was a lot of manhours,” she said.

Bratten added that again, M&M Hardware’s Scott Campbell and his crew spent hours at the park working on lighting, including the hoops that form the park’s Canopy of Lights over the walkway. Members of the Sycamore Center youth group tested lights, while students from Steubenville City Schools helped to program the fort’s electronic Christmas trees and other projects. Trinity Health System is the major sponsor.

New this year will be the fort’s Christmas Pavilion, a 30-foot-by-60-foot tent for entertainment in Fort Steuben Park and sponsored by Cedar One. In collaboration with the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, story time will be held every Saturday at 2 p.m. in the pavilion.

Bratten said kids can write letters to Santa and visitors of all ages can pen Christmas cards to military veterans.

There will be more chalets this year in the Holiday Market — 18 of them — and a special surprise will be unveiled Friday.

Inside the Visitor Center, artwork by members of the Steubenville Art Association will be for sale. There will be trolley rides, the Mouse Trap Puppet shows and holiday movies at the fort, along with live entertainment — including the all-school drumline at 4 p.m. Dec. 14.

Broadway star George Dvorsky’s collection of more than 400 creches will be on display each Friday, Saturday and Sunday and weekdays by appointment at 141 N. Fourth St. during Nutcracker Village season.

The St. Nicholas Lantern Parade is set for Dec. 6. The procession will start at the parking lot of First Westminster Presbyterian Church and travel along Fourth Street to St. Paul’s Church. There will be a Sacred Art Gallery: Nativity Scenes display on the second floor at Leonardo’s Coffeehouse.

Kid-friendly activities include the Hilltop Montessori School’s Children’s Corner Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Nov. 26-Jan. 5; letters to Santa at Drosselmeyer’s and the Nutcracker Story Walk. Walk maps are available at Drosselmeyer’s, and completed maps can be redeemed for a free nutcracker surprise Monday through Saturday at the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County or Sundays at Bookmarx Bookstore.

Bookmarx will host a Wintertime Tea as well as story hour. Free Polar Express hayrides will operate Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Nutcracker season. And, a Christmas tree decorating contest is being presented by Tri-State Financial Services.

Leonardo’s will host a free nutcracker tea party Dec. 14. Space is limited and tickets are required. The German Gluhwein Garden will operate Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

Other highlights:

• A community bike ride and walking tour of downtown Steubenville and Nutcracker Village, Nov. 30 and Dec. 28. The events are sponsored by the Steubenville Chapter of Strong Towns.

• The Holiday Hike at Beatty Park will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 7.

• Steubenville’s Sights and Sounds of Christmas parade will begin at noon on Dec. 7 at the intersection of Fourth and North streets.

• A Dean Martin Christmas dinner show with Joe Scalise will be held Dec. 8 at Froehlich’s Classic Corner. The show begins at 3 p.m. and seats are limited.

For schedules of events and times visit steubenvillenutcrackervillage.com and visitsteubenville.com/2021-christmas-at-the-fort.