The downtown loft of John Horton and Rita Bell is just one of the homes on display during this weekend’s Christmas Tour of Homes. The annual Christmas Town and Country Tour and Colonial Dinner this Friday and Saturday will once again give a behind-closed-doors look at distinctive private residences that are decorated for the holiday season.

The weekend begins on Friday evening at 5 as visitors may tour several private homes dressed for the season and warmed by candlelight. On Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. visitors can tour private residences, farms, and commercial spaces in both Washington and the county before enjoying a private candlelight cocktail party on The Square and a delicious holiday dinner in a historic home.

The five-course Colonial holiday dinner Saturday night, prepared by local chef Aaron Rothman of Holly Court Inn, has already sold out, organizers say, but restaurants on The Square will be welcoming visi- tors all weekend. Talk of the Town will host a champagne reception for those with tickets to the dinner.

On the candlelight tour Friday night, visitors will be able to tour “Rosewood,” the home of India and Mercer Harris; “Magnolia Cottage,” the home of Virginia King and Skeet Willingham; Rosemary Hopkins’ arts-and-crafts style bungalow; Diana Smith’s and Tommy Russel’s converted 1922 feed mill; and Robert Aiken’s rarely-seen “Retreat.”

A reception is set for Retro Cinema Friday afternoon at 4:30, and the theater will be showing the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

The homes on Saturday’s tour include the Dunford-Canton home owned by Pablo and Mikki Canton; Haygralin, the home of Carol and Louis Harris; Alexander bungalow, the home of Ricky and Kathy Lindsey; Jane and Smythe Newsome’s Rider House; and the downtown loft of Rita Bell and John Horton and the loft owned by Catharine and Preston Sanders.

The tour is a production of the Washington-Wilkes Historical Foundation, which uses the proceeds to fund donations to local charities and to other needs in the community. Tickets are $30 for the Candlelight Tour Friday and $30 for the Saturday tour, and are available at tour headquarters at the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce on The Square.

The seasonally decorated homes are not the only attraction of the weekend. Visitors can enjoy downtown Washington merchants’ holiday gift bazaar, a gingerbread house display on The Square, and hourly snowfall on Friday and Saturday nights at 6, 7, and 8 p.m.

At the same time, Callaway Plantation will celebrate Christmas at Callaway, with a candlelight tour Friday evening from 4 to 8 p.m. and by opening Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All the historical houses in the Callaway complex will be outfitted in period decorations for the season.

The Robert Toombs House Historic Site will also be decorated for the season, with the Toombs Family historical re-enactors presenting living Christmas cards of the past Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. “In each room of the Toombs House, visitors will discover the greetings used by our ancestors to bring Christmas to hearth and home,” curator Marcia Campbell said.

The Washington Historical Museum will also feature an antique Christmas exhibit.

In another highlight of Tour weekend, the Washington Little Theater will present “A Tuna Christmas,” a seasonal comedy with two actors, Bradley Barber and Cindy Barrow, presenting 23 hilarious characters. “A Tuna Christmas” will play December 11, 12, 16, 18, and 19, with matinee performances on December 12 and 13.

And finally this weekend, Washington’s annual Christmas Parade is set for Sunday afternoon, December 13. With a theme of “Winter Wonderland,” organizer Blake Thompson says, the parade will form at the Pope Center at 2 p.m. and step off at 3, traveling down Robert Toombs Avenue and ending at the Washington-Wilkes Elementary School. Floats are expected from many churches, youth groups, civic clubs, and sports teams, along with groups of autos and motorcycles.