Starting tonight, the turkey barely digested, the city of Bellevue and local businesses kick off the annual “Magic Season” (read: Christmas shopping season), hoping to draw families downtown with activities such as the hard-to-miss Snowflake Lane, put on by The Bellevue Collection. If you’re not familiar with this “enchanted” tradition, it’s a solid 30-minute-plus holiday show with carolers, 60 marching toy soldiers, fake snow, a light show, and loud holiday music—the perfect way to exacerbate rush-hour traffic for the month leading up to Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I have a great time ringing in the New Year, but maybe just not every night. (Alas, I have no choice. I can see and hear all this from my kitchen.) But the kids just love it, and it’s not hard to see why. The show has this Disney Mainstreet Parade quality, and the actors/volunteers on the streets stay saccharine and in character every night. Also check out the Group Health Ice Rink in Bellevue Park, just blocks away, or the Garden d’Lights show at Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Both are great seasonal activities that are assuredly more fun for the little ones than shopping.

Nov. 23-Dec. 24, 7 p.m., 2007