When do you go out for the holidays in downtown Kirkland? The two places that host most of the season answer that question differently. On Kirkland Performance Center's calendar, most of the nights listed between now and Christmas start at 7 or 8 p.m. At the Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market Street, admission is always free and the gallery's posted hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The two venues barely overlap, and that gap is what makes the season work. Market Street has the afternoons. Kirkland Avenue has the evenings. If you plan November and December around that split, you get both instead of picking one.
Two buildings that have been raising money for their rooms
Both venues have been putting money into the room itself. At KPC, that work is already on the stage.
In July 2025, the City of Kirkland reported that KPC had started construction to replace its rope rigging with a modern hoist and to put in new lighting and staging technology. At that point $4.1 million of a $5.2 million goal had been raised. By October 2025, KPC was promoting its fall fundraiser as a chance to break in its new Harlequin Liberty Switch stage. The Grand Kyiv Ballet's Nutcracker will dance on that floor in December.
On Market Street, the Kirkland Arts Center scheduled its Souper Bowl for Oct. 22, a soup-and-art evening in the KAC Gallery. General admission was listed at $50 and VIP at $75. KAC earmarked the proceeds for future gallery upgrades, including lighting and heat-blocking blinds. The holiday market will fill that same gallery a month later.
The gallery's building is older than either fundraiser. Kirkland's historic structures survey places the Peter Kirk Building among five brick commercial buildings put up in 1890 and 1891, and records that it first housed a large mercantile and drug store. A building that started out selling goods across a counter will spend December selling goods again, this time from local makers.
Market Street's daytime season comes in two parts
The current gallery show is Northwest Designer Craftartists, a show of wood and metalwork on the main floor and the mezzanine, open through Nov. 20. It's a quiet lead-in to the holiday month, and it's free on any weekday afternoon.
After that comes the Holiday Art Market. The gallery lists it for Nov. 23 through Dec. 21. KAC's call for vendors confirmed a 2026 market with 75 vendor slots for Pacific Northwest artists and makers. Vendor applications ran from Sept. 4 to Oct. 10. KAC hasn't posted separate market hours, so plan on the regular gallery schedule and check with the gallery before a weekend trip. On Saturdays the doors close at 2 p.m.
For a downtown resident, that schedule shapes the trip:
- Weekday afternoons give you the most time, with five hours of gallery access Tuesday through Friday.
- Saturdays are a morning-to-early-afternoon window, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Sundays and Mondays the gallery is closed on its regular schedule.
- Thursday and Sunday evenings are the exception, when KAC runs open figure drawing and painting from 6 to 9 p.m. for $20 a session.
KAC's Winter Quarter 2027 classes were scheduled to open for member registration on Oct. 20 and for public registration on Oct. 27. If someone on your list would rather take a class than receive a candle, that's another option.
Kirkland Avenue's season is a string of single nights
KPC's calendar works differently. Nearly every listing is a single date, sometimes with two showtimes, and the Nutcracker's three nights are the longest run on the calendar. The center says it adds shows every month, so the list may grow. As of now, the November and December lineup from the start of the month is:
| Date | Show | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Spain Flamenco Arts, "La Velada: An Alchemy of Past and Present" | 3 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Emma Willmann | 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | "Seattle Deepavali Kondattam with Gopinath" | 3 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 12 | Revisiting Creedence | 7 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | "GUNJAN - Raga, Retro & Remix" | 2 and 6 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 20 | Piff the Magic Dragon | 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Seattle International Comedy Competition: Semi-Finals | 7 p.m. |
| Mon., Nov. 23 | Warren Miller's "Days Off" | 7 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | "Susan Rice Live at KPC!" | 5 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | The Movement Collective, "Chapter One" | 2 p.m. |
| Wed., Dec. 9 | "Christmas With The Carpenters" | 7 p.m. |
| Thu.–Sat., Dec. 17–19 | Grand Kyiv Ballet, "The Nutcracker: Symphony of Lights" | 7 p.m. nightly |
| Sun., Dec. 27 | Amazing Bubble Man | 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. |
A few of these are a little different from the usual holiday fare. The Deepavali program on Nov. 7 is a family-friendly Tamil cultural afternoon. The Movement Collective calls "Chapter One" its first annual showcase. On its November and December listings, KPC calls the three-night Nutcracker run the landmark event of the season.
Most of the KPC calendar is after dark. Six dates have a showtime before 6 p.m.: the flamenco matinee, the Deepavali program, the earlier GUNJAN show, the 5 p.m. show on Nov. 29, The Movement Collective, and Amazing Bubble Man. On the evening dates, the gallery on Market Street has closed hours before curtain.
Where the two calendars meet
Since the two schedules rarely compete, a few dates let you do both in one day:
- Fri., Nov. 20. The last day of Northwest Designer Craftartists, with the gallery open until 4 p.m. That evening, Piff the Magic Dragon takes KPC's stage at 8 p.m. You can catch the wood and metalwork before it comes down and still make dinner before the show.
- Mon., Nov. 23. The first listed day of the Holiday Art Market and also Warren Miller's "Days Off" at 7 p.m. Mondays are normally closed days at the gallery, so confirm with KAC how opening day will run before counting on it.
- Sat., Nov. 14. GUNJAN plays at 2 and 6 p.m. The craft show is open until 2 p.m. that Saturday, so a late-morning gallery visit fits before the evening show.
- Thu., Dec. 17 or Fri., Dec. 18. Both are full weekday gallery days during the market's last week, followed by the Nutcracker at 7 p.m. The Saturday performance on Dec. 19 leaves only the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. window on Market Street.
The two runs end within days of each other. The Nutcracker closes Dec. 19 and the market's listed final day is Dec. 21, so the week before the holiday is the last chance on both calendars.
Planning a season that keeps both
KPC sells one night at a time. The Arts Center gives you a four-week window with doors you can just walk through, on short daytime hours. Those two schedules call for different planning. Book KPC dates early, since most happen only once. Save Market Street for the open weekday afternoons that the evening calendar leaves free. Your Thursday could be the Nutcracker, and your Tuesday could be an unhurried hour at the Peter Kirk Building looking for a gift made somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
Marianne Francis brings a curator's eye for light and arrangement to presenting a home for sale. If this season has you looking at your own rooms with a gallerist's eye, Marianne would welcome the conversation. Work With Marianne.
