Another great Neighborhood Matching Fund supported event!

Come the holidays, monkeys will be hanging from the trees and taking over store windows along Phinney and Greenwood Avenues. But don’t worry – they’re the lighted variety, and they don’t bite.

The 150 “escaped” monkeys will be promoting the neighborhood and its businesses, and tying in with the nearby WildLights at Woodland Park Zoo. Organized by the PNA’s business members and the Greenwood Arts Council, and supported by a Neighborhood Matching Fund Small and Simple award, the parade of lighted metal-frame monkeys will hang from awnings, windows, trees and poles from 59^th to 87^th streets. The monkeys will be 2 to 3 feet high and equipped with color-changing LED lights.

The monkeys will be individually sponsored by businesses and individuals. They will be displayed from Nov. 29 to Dec. 30. A Holiday Lighting event to kick off the season will be held at 5 p.m. Nov. 29 at the air raid tower at 67^th and Phinney outside the Phinney Neighborhood Center. A lighted cone atop the tower will be lit, and there will be musical entertainment.

Earlier in the day, the first of the monkeys will be ceremonially delivered to select businesses by a gorilla. Following the theme of neighborhood sustainability, he will be riding a bicycle provided by G&O Family Cyclery.