ASHLAND, Ky. — The holiday shopping season has begun.

The Ashland Town Center may have opened Thursday at 6 p.m., after people finished Thanksgiving dinner, but on Friday afternoon, was still packed, with the parking lot full and crowds making their way from store to store.

“This year, we have had a very healthy Thanksgiving and Black Friday with great traffic,” Michelle Adkins, the mall’s general manager, said.

Adkins said the mall is always evolving and looking for new tenants.

One of the new attractions for this year is the aisle booth from KNL Traditions, run by Larry and Karen Dickison, of Grayson.

The couple has set up at the mall before, for Halloween, but this was their first try at the Christmas season.

“I make mostly everything here,” Karen said, pointing pewter figurines and wildlife dioramas and landscapes, along with dragons, trains and other items.

They also have a selection of quilts, hand towels she has crocheted, as well as a number of geodes and pieces of petrified wood.

“A lot of rock enthusiasts like that,” she said.

Meanwhile, three juniors from Dawson-Bryant High School, Halle Moore, Gracie Riley and Emily Runyon, were wrapping gifts in return for donations to the school’s prom committee, on which they serve.

“They wrap while you shop,” Traci Hunt, the group’s advisor said. We’re trying to collect to decorate the old prom venue and to keep the ticket prices as low as we can.”

Adkins said the mall has many things planned for the season.

One is the cash for Your Magical Cause program.

“It’s an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to earn money for their causes,” she said.

Customers can bring their receipts from shopping, from Nov. 14-Dec. 4, to the mall office to apply their totals toward participating organizations, a list of which can be found on the mall’s website.

Adkins said the mall will host Sounds of the Season, in which groups, such as school choirs, school bands and orchestras, will provide entertainment for shoppers throughout the next few weeks.

On Monday, the mall will host Santa Photo Pet Night, in which people can bring their dogs or cats in for photographs from 5-7 p.m.

Cookies with Santa will take place on Friday, Dec. 5 and Santa will be available for photos through Christmas Eve.

For more information on these events, check the mall’s website or call the office at 606-324-1100.