The flurry of activities that make up Selma’s holiday extravaganza will begin Sunday and run for a couple of weeks.

The Selma Art Guild will hold its Christmas Party and Sale Sunday from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. at its headquarters on Selma Avenue. The event will feature a variety of holiday paintings, jewelry, ceramics and other gift items and many artists will have work marked down to be sold for the holidays.

This year’s Holiday House will be held at the Larry Stripland Performing Arts Center beginning Monday Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. through Saturday Dec. 15. The event will feature a wide array of local arts and crafts, as well as a different food vendor each day.

Extended hours will be observed on movie nights, Thursday through Sunday.

The event is in its 40th year. Originally launched by the Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce, the event offered attendees the opportunity to tour historic homes and attend a festive event complete with local baked goods, art and live music.

Though the event has not featured a tour of homes for a number of years, the Old Town Association and the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society signed onto this year’s event to sponsor an event that will somewhat revive that tradition.

The newly-minted “Christmas in Old Town” event is meant to encourage residents in the historic district to decorate their homes for the holidays – homes decorated by Dec. 5 will be included in the competition and judged.

“We want to show off our history and celebrate the holiday,” said event co-chair B.J. Smothers in a press release. “We are all volunteers who love Old Town and Selma and invite our neighbors and visitors to join us as we celebrate.”

During the weekends of Dec. 8 and Dec. 15, Miss Minnie Sue’s Cottage at 622 McLeod Avenue will be open to the public. Admission will be $5 and there will be light refreshments and a variety of live music each day.

Local resident Barbara Burns will open her historic home at 618 Tremont Street to the public on Sunday, Dec. 8 from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Admission is $5.

All of the money raised from these two homes will be used to benefit the work of the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society.

On top of all of this, the Walton Theater will be closing its run of “The Grinch” this weekend. The final showings will be Saturday at noon, 1:35 p.m., 3:05 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.