Holiday hours may vary—please check venue websites directly for the most up-to-date information.

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MONDAY

FILM

5 Broken Cameras Past Event Like List
Shot almost exclusively by the Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, the 2011 documentary 5 Broken Cameras tracks nonviolent resistance efforts in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by Israeli military occupation and encroaching settlements, through the lens of Burnat's bullet-ridden cameras. The film is "structured around the violent destruction of a succession of Burnat's video cameras" as he observes protests, arrests, beatings, and the destruction of olive groves. "I feel like the camera protects me," Burnat says, "but it's an illusion." LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City)

TUESDAY

LIVE MUSIC

Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas Past Event Like List
I am a regular listener of the Las Culturistas podcast—a "Reader" to be exact (IYKYK)—so, the fact that America's sweetheart Matt Rogers is coming to town feels like a true Christmas miracle. If you know anything about his podcast with Bowen Yang, then you know that Rogers loves many things, including indie pop sapphics MUNA and Christmastime—so it only makes sense that his debut album, Have You Heard of Christmas, is dedicated to the holiday season (and features a song with MUNA). He will perform many mirthful songs from the album like "Hottest Female Up In Whoville" along with tender yuletide ballads like "I Don't Need It To Be Christmas At All." AV
(Moore Theatre, Belltown)

WEDNESDAY

LIVE MUSIC

50 Years of Music & Ideas of KBCS: Black Belt Eagle Scout, Richard Simeonoff, and Mr. Sam Past Event Like List
I don't care what anybody says—there is no better gift than cold hard cash. It's simple, useful, and chic. And, this holiday season, it'd be wise to give some bills to Bellevue College's volunteer-run radio station KBCS because you'll get something very special in return—a wonderful evening of live music! Indie rock singer-songwriter Black Belt Eagle Scout (aka Katherine Paul) will headline alongside Americana artist Richard Simeonoff and Mr. Sam (of NOLA folk ensemble Mr. Sam & The People People). AV
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard)

Home for the Holidays III Past Event Like List
Join the local music mentorship program Sharing The Stage as they present their annual holiday celebration featuring Seattle-born jazz musicians who are back home for the holidays. This year, enjoy performances from Basement Tuesdays, Mr. Dinkles, Schmear, Small Change, Iris Olympia, McKenzie McCloskey, Josh Teicher, and Mia Christ. AV
(Chop Suey, Capitol Hill)

THURSDAY

FILM

Gothmas: NWFF Holiday Party 2023 Past Event Like List
Calling all Queens of the Damned, The Craft-style coven members, and Siouxsie Sioux look-alikes: The Northwest Film Forum's annual holiday party is gonna be a Gothmas straight from the crypt. The shindig is free with RSVP, so show up in your fishnetted finest to play pin-the-horns-on-the-Krampus, indulge in some karaoke-fueled existential angst (Bauhaus, anyone?), and observe the judging of the NWFF staff cookie competition. LC
(Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill)

LIVE MUSIC

An Evening with David Benoit: Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown Past Event Like List
When the winter blues covers the windows of my mind in heaps of snow, there is one thing that can shovel me out: Vince Guaraldi's score to A Charlie Brown Christmas. Similarly to the way a string of Christmas lights can transform a cold, dark city street into a twinkling cinematic setting, the opening piano chords to "O Tannenbaum" can instantly uncover the fruits of the season; evoking flannel PJs and hot cocoa with big squishy marshmallows. And, when I hear the children's choir coo "Christmas Time Is Here," it truly makes me believe that there is "beauty everywhere." Guaraldi died nearly 50 years ago, but there are plenty of saints carrying on his legacy. Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist David Benoit, who is best known as the musical director of the 2015 Peanuts Movie, will return to Jazz Alley with vocalist Courtney Fortune for a tribute to Guaraldi's beloved score. AV
(Jazz Alley, Belltown)

Seattle Men's Chorus Presents: A TREEmendous Holiday Past Event Like List
The Seattle Men's Chorus will make the yuletide gay with a festive, fun-filled performance that proclaims to be the Pacific Northwest’s "gayest sing-a-long." The chorus will perform dazzling carols of the season, such as revamped takes on "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Festival Gloria," "Here We Come A-Caroling," and many more. Look forward to snazzy tree costumes, sensational singing, humorous dancing, and plenty of holiday cheer. Plus, while all the performances are family-friendly, this year's lineup will include an abbreviated and interactive show specifically for little ones with short attention spans. AV
(Benaroya Hall, Downtown)

READINGS & TALKS

Ginger Minj: Southern Fried Sass Past Event Like List
Drag queen Ginger Minj stole hearts across America on the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, winning three challenges and ultimately placing as the runner-up to winner Violet Chachki before returning for seasons two and six of Drag Race All Stars. The self-described “nicest bitch you’ll ever meet,” “froganista,” and “glamour toad” is known for her side-splitting impressions of celebs like Adele, Phyllis Diller, and Tammy Faye, as well as her feisty Southern belle persona. Now, the redheaded icon is turning her talents toward the culinary world with the release of her new cookbook, Southern Fried Sass, which imparts her secrets to “everything from contouring to cooking and setting the table for a full-on Southern-style Thanksgiving dinner.” You can look forward to behind-the-scenes tea, decorating tips, advice gleaned from her grandmother, and recipes ranging from Red Barn BBQ ribs to “better than sex cake.” JB
(Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill)

FRIDAY

PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE

Shrek Rave: Shrek The Halls Past Event Like List
What happens at a Shrek rave exactly? Portland Mercury contributor Ben Coleman has the answer to that burning question: "As green painted bodies blasted at each other endorphins on the dance floor—to a sped-up version of Carly Rae Jepsen's ‘Call Me Maybe’—more elaborate costumes started to emerge: a digital gingerbread man leering through the pixels of an animated LED face mask, a guy with glowing gloves robot dancing in the corner. Three witches in iconic pointy hats and slinky black dresses sipped $8 well drinks out of plastic cups, bobbing to a trancy remix of Imogen Heap's ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ cover." Just think, that could be you. Join your fellow Seattle ogres for a special holiday edition of the beloved rave. Get your game on, go playyyyy! AV
(The Showbox, Downtown)

SATURDAY

FILM

Black Christmas Past Event Like List
Black Christmas is an underrated holiday hunk of horror coal, and it's surprisingly freaky–just wait until you find out what's hidden in the attic. Decked out in twinkle lights, the '74 flick follows a group of sorority sisters who receive strange phone calls over winter break. (You guessed it, a serial killer is on the loose.) Black Christmas also spawned one of my favorite horror tropes: For the first time, the calls were coming from inside the house. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City)

The Snow Queen Past Event Like List
Fans of Labyrinth and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders will likely dig this frosty Finnish adaptation of a classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, which will screen again this year as part of the Beacon's holiday traditions. Päivi Hartzell's The Snow Queen is a surreal journey that follows a nightmarish queen in an icy baroque realm. The film's lavish costumes and set design heighten its strange, fantastical effect—picture a blend of Rococo decadence and glam-punk filth. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City)

LIVE MUSIC

Sera Cahoone Band with Kate Blackstock Past Event Like List
You might know the Seattle-based singer-songwriter and longtime Sub Pop artist Sera Cahoone from her work in beloved indie rock bands like Carissa's Wierd or Band of Horses. However, over the last 15-plus years, Cahoone has established a hefty solo career with her lyrically-driven Americana and country-rock tunes. Her ease with the genre could have to do with her home state of Colorado, which birthed musicians like John Denver, Judy Collins, and Nathaniel Rateliff. She will be joined by local interdisciplinary artist Kate Blackstock. AV
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard)

PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE

Emerald City Gala with The Marshall Law Band and King Youngblood Past Event Like List
Funk-hop ensemble Marshall Law Band, alt-rock heavies King Youngblood, and many more will rock out for a good cause in support of Seattle Cozy Connections, a local organization that gathers winter essentials and financial contributions for the houseless community and distributes the donations on Christmas Day. AV
(The Crocodile, Belltown)

MULTI-DAY

EXHIBIT

The 27th Annual Model Train Festival Past Event Like List
Trains seem to represent all things wintry and magical–maybe it's the soothing chugga-chugga sounds, the plumes of smoke, or the romantic notion of snuggling up in a vintage train car à la Hercule Poirot. (Just me?) Indulge in some train magic at this model train festival, where regional railroad clubs will share their intricate room-sized layouts throughout the Washington State History Museum. Every floor of the museum will "come alive with trains," including "Kitsap Live Steamers 7.5-inch gauge railroad engines" and the Mount Rainier N-Scale layout, which features miniature Washington scenery, plus train operators, train footage, and collectible train buttons at the admissions desk. LC
(Washington State History Museum, Tacoma, Friday-Sunday; opening)

Astra Lumina: An Enchanted Night Walk Amongst The Stars Past Event Like List
Los Angeles-born light experience Astra Lumina will illuminate the Seattle Chinese Garden all month long, transforming the botanical space into a "wonder of visiting stars" with projections, lighting, music, and "astral energy." OoOoO! Bundle up to stroll down the celestial pathway; you're promised to encounter "cosmic visions and astral song." (You may also want to pop an edible first.) I think it'd be the perfect way to celebrate New Year's Eve—lock your resolutions into place with a fake shooting star or twenty. LC
(Seattle Chinese Garden, Riverview, Monday-Sunday)

Pulling Together: A Brief History of Rowing in Seattle Remind Like List
George Clooney-directed flick The Boys in the Boat will premiere on December 25, sharing the story of the University of Washington rowing team, who were thrust into the spotlight while competing at the 1936 Olympics. (Spoiler: the "Miracle 9” won the gold medal in the eight-oared competition.) Get pumped for the film at this exhibition on the historic team, which spotlights "the University of Washington men’s and women’s rowing programs and the history of rowing in Seattle overall" and showcases the Husky Challenger shell. LC
(MOHAI, South Lake Union, Monday-Sunday)

We Are Puget Sound Past Event Like List
If you call the Puget Sound region home, it's worth it to learn more about the wildlife and cultures that also reside in and around the Salish Sea, from Southern resident orcas and Chinook salmon to community gardeners and Coast Salish tribes. The Burke Museum's new exhibition We Are Puget Sound "explores the marvel of our area" with canoe models, clam baskets, and specimens from its fish, plant, and fossil collections, plus photos and profiles of Salish Sea protectors. This is fascinating stuff, people! (The exhibition is based on the book We Are Puget Sound: Discovering and Recovering the Salish Sea, published by Braided River in partnership with Washington Conservation Action; you can snag a copy from Elliott Bay before you see the exhibit.) LC
(Burke Museum, University District, Tuesday–Sunday)

Winter WNDRland Past Event Like List
If you haven't yet visited the interactive, technology-as-art installations at the Seattle outpost of the WNDR Museum, it's a good time to drop by the cavernous, almost 13,000-square-foot space, which has transformed into an "icy winterscape." Brrrrr. The museum's biggest draws, like the generative light floor and 360° immersive theater, will be coated with a "shimmering blanket of snow and ice." Sounds like a chilly opportunity for your winter-era selfies. LC
(WNDR Museum, Pike Place Market, Monday & Thursday-Sunday)

FILM

The Iron Claw Past Event Like List
In The Iron Claw, an insanely jacked Zac Efron dons a shaggy wig and a pair of tiny shorts and hits the wrestling ring. He plays one of the Von Erich brothers, a real-life inseparable clan that made waves in the early '80s professional wrestling world while navigating a family "curse" and a domineering dad. Jeremy Allen White is in it, too, so expect lots of sweaty zaddy moments, tacky costuming for the gods, heartfelt reflections on brotherhood, and a side of self-destruction. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, Thursday-Sunday)

It's a Wonderful Life Past Event Like List
Already before World War II, the world of the villain in It's a Wonderful Life, the robber baron Henry F. Potter (portrayed by the stern face of Lionel Barrymore) was long over. The glory period of his kind did not rise from the combined ashes of the First World War and the Crash of 1929. But no one knew what was to come next. Would the USA become another USSR? The 1930s were called the Red Decade for a good reason. Was the hero of It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey (played by the drawl of James Stewart), a Red? Sure looked like it in 1946. STRANGER SENIOR WRITER CHARLES MUDEDE
(Grand Illusion, University District, Tuesday-Sunday)

Poor Things Past Event Like List
Real Lanthimos heads know that he doesn't direct anything without dystopic, black comedy underpinnings and plotlines that make audiences ponder why they're on the planet at all. He is weird, as directors should be, and you're either in or you're out. This time around, he's adapted a '92 Scottish novel for the screen, painting the picture of a young woman (played by Emma Stone, who is raven-haired and looks charmingly bananas) brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist (played by my famous dad, Willem Dafoe). Best part? Poor Things "saved" my other dad, Mark Ruffalo, from "depressed dad typecasting." Praise be. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, Monday-Thursday)

Wonka Past Event Like List
I'll be honest: Timothée Chalamet's Wonka, all lollipop-chic in a top hat and crimson velvet coat, kinda gives me the chills. But I like chocolate and candy as much as the next person (as well as Cinerama's famous chocolate popcorn, which will be available at the newly opening SIFF Cinema Downtown), so I'm willing to give him a shot. The theater will throw open its doors for the first time for screenings of the Paul King-directed Wonka, and early reviews for the film are surprisingly great—Variety called it a "fun, rousing, impeccably staged, jaw-droppingly old-fashioned musical." Hard to argue with that. LC
(SIFF Cinema Downtown, Belltown, Monday-Sunday)

FOOD & DRINK

Delancey Feast of the Seven Fishes 2023 Past Event Like List
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a traditional Italian American supper featuring seven kinds of fish or seafood, usually served before midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and the beloved Ballard pizzeria Delancey has forged a tradition of celebrating it each year. As always, they promise the freshest catches they can procure, with crab arancini, scallops in celery broth, cod, chicory persimmon salad, cuttlefish spaghetti, and a steady flow of wine pairings throughout. They’ll finish with poached pears for dessert. JB
(Delancey, Ballard, Monday-Tuesday)

Miracle on 2nd Past Event Like List
In 2014, New York bar owner Greg Boehm temporarily transformed his space into a kitschy Christmas wonderland replete with gewgaws and tchotchkes galore. Now the pop-up has expanded to more than 100 locations all over the world and will be returning to Belltown’s Rob Roy this year. Beverages are housed in tacky-tastic vessels (a drinking mug resembling Santa’s mug, for example), bedecked with fanciful garnishes like peppers and dried pineapple, and christened with irreverent, pop-culture-referencing names like the “Bad Santa,” the “Yippie Ki Yay Mother F**r,” and the “You’ll Shoot Your Rye Out.” JB
(Rob Roy, Belltown, Monday-Sunday)

Sippin' Santa Past Event Like List
This holiday-tiki-themed cocktail bar pop-up (a spinoff of Miracle on 2nd at nearby Rob Roy) invites you to "imagine Santa on a surfboard instead of a sleigh and palm trees instead of pine." Drinks range from the "Merry Spritzmas" (Prosecco, aperitif, tawny port, cognac, lemon, falernum, fig preserves, and cardamom bitters) to the "Jingle Bird" (bourbon, pineapple rum, Campari, lime, pineapple, and "jingle mix"). JB
(Navy Strength, Belltown, Tuesday-Saturday)

LIVE MUSIC

Macklemore: The Ben Tour Past Event Like List
Having attended high school in 2010s Seattle, Macklemore was a big deal. Pre-"Thrift Shop" success, one of my "cool" teachers had us analyze the song "Wing$" as homework. Later, Macklemore himself showed up at our school cafeteria to sign autographs. He was such a common topic in my school that at one point I asked myself: "Does Macklemore have a partnership with Seattle Public Schools!?" The Macklemore takeover didn't stop there. The "Thrift Shop" music video was filmed at local thrift stores in my neighborhood, where I shopped regularly. Plus, my fourth-grade teacher makes an appearance in the video. Watching my real life reflected back at me on MTV was eerie. I didn't like it—and as it turns out, I was not alone. Gradually, I saw Macklemore transform from a local celebrity to an A-list star, to finally, a hometown embarrassment. Now, he has come around full circle into someone that Seattleites don't seem to mind. After his 2017 album Gemini, the man took a short break from music. He founded agolf lifestyle brand (yes, he charges nearly "$50 for a t-shirt") and opened a short-lived vintage mall. Now, Mack is back with his first album in six years, Ben, which returns to his roots with cathartic overshares and a handful of lesser-known collaborators. He will support the album with a two-night stint at his hometown arena. AV
(Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown, Thursday-Friday)

South Hudson Music Project Presents: The Music of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Past Event Like List
Because the Royal Room does the music of A Charlie Brown Christmas every year, every year I have to write this love poem to the core tune, "Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)," this masterpiece of American culture. It is, I think, one of the most beautiful pieces of jazz ever composed. Listening to it is like watching the falling snow through a window. The room is warm, something is roasting in the oven, and outside, the flakes are falling faintly through the universe and upon the trees, the hedges, the water gutters, the telephone poles, and the rooftops of a thousand apartment buildings. This is where you want to be forever. This is Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)." It opens with a trembling bass, like someone coming out of the cold, stamping their feet, brushing the snow off their shoulders, hanging their winter coat, rubbing and blowing on numb fingers, and entering the living room where there is a window, watching the flakes falling faintly upon all the buildings and the living. STRANGER SENIOR WRITER CHARLES MUDEDE
(The Royal Room, Columbia City, Tuesday & Thursday)

PERFORMANCE

A Charlie Brown Christmas Past Event Like List
What even is Christmas without the pessimistic, zig-zag-wearing eight-year-old Charlie Brown? I don't want any part of the holiday if he's not invited. This all-ages musical adaptation of the '65 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas will return with Charlie and the rest of the Peanuts gang, complete with a wonky tree, musings on holiday commercialism, and the discovery of the true meaning of Christmas. (Good grief.) LC
(Taproot Theatre, Greenwood, Wednesday-Saturday)

A Christmas Carol Past Event Like List
If the impending holiday season elicits your well-deserved "Bah, humbug," I recommend taking this dependable Yuletide delight for a spin. ACT's A Christmas Carol, returning for its 48th year(!!!), will offer up a little Dickensian magic with a bunch of intrusive ghosts and a notably grumpy old dude. What could be more Christmassy than that? LC
(ACT - A Contemporary Theatre, Downtown, Tuesday-Sunday)

A Very Die Hard Christmas Past Event Like List
"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs." Or you could head to this Die Hard musical parody, which blends the action classic with pure comedy (plus smooth jams and '80s style) for a snarky twist on the Christmas spirit. Yippee ki-yay, am I right!? Sketch writers from The Habit have teamed up with Seattle Public Theater for the production, confirming that no holiday season is complete without a few pesky German terrorists. LC
(Seattle Public Theater, Green Lake, Wednesday–Sunday)

Black Nativity Past Event Like List
Written by innovative playwright, poet, and social activist Langston Hughes, Black Nativity first premiered in 1961 and was one of the first off-Broadway plays composed by an African American person. Presented in partnership with The Hansberry Project, this interpretation of the gospel play features "actors, dancers, soaring vocalists, and a rousing city-wide gospel choir," who come together for nativity storytelling, dance, and traditional Christmas carols with brand-new songs. The production also offers opportunities for audience sing-alongs, so prep your vocal chords before the show. LC
(Broadway Performance Hall, Capitol Hill, Tuesday–Saturday)

The Dina Martina Christmas Show Past Event Like List
Seattle's own "Second Lady of Entertainment" will return to the stage with some Christmassy razzle-dazzle this month. Alongside Stranger Genius award-winning composer and musician Chris Jeffries, Dina Martina will deliver the surreal comedy and festive tunes for which she's been known and loved for over 25 years. (Her show was described by former Stranger editor Chase Burns as "cozy but disorienting," and John Waters calls her act "some new kind of twisted art,” so buckle in for a holiday fever dream.) LC
(ACT - A Contemporary Theatre, Downtown, Wednesday-Sunday)

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker Past Event Like List
It's The Nutcracker—you already know the premise, but it never really gets old, does it? Tchaikovsky’s magical score will spring to life again in this sugar plum-packed rendition of the longstanding holiday tradition, complete with mice, tin soldiers, and a timeless trip to the Land of Sweets. Let's say you're all Nutcrackered out, though. Here are some little-known facts that might entice you: The production's eight Polichinelle costumes are decked out with 640 black pom-poms, and there are 154 costumes in the show, not counting duplicates. The scenery is made up of 3,000 square yards of fabric, and 98 yards of faux fur were used to create the mice. (Personally, there's nothing like 98 yards of faux fur to get me into the holiday spirit.) LC
(McCaw Hall, Uptown, Tuesday-Sunday)

Grand Kyiv Ballet: Snow White Past Event Like List
Prime dancers from the National Opera and Ballet of Ukraine will bring the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to life, complete with musical motifs by Polish composer Bogdan Pavlovsky. While the production sounds very graceful and magical (it blends "the vibrant style of a Disney animated movie" with comedic acting and hardcore technical dance skills), I'm particularly pumped to see the poison apple and the glamorous Evil Queen on stage. LC
(Paramount Theatre, Downtown, Wednesday-Saturday)

Holiday Extravaganza with Ginger Minj Past Event Like List
Glamour toad, froganista, and nondenominational festivity enthusiast Ginger Minj will shimmy into Queer/Bar for a two-night holiday spectacular. The Florida-born Southern belle and RuPaul's Drag Race crowd fave will also offer a meet and greet before the show. If you can't get enough of Minj's "neat, petite, and ready to eat" realness, I recommend dropping by the release of her memoir cookbook, Ginger Minj: Southern Fried Sass, at Elliott Bay Book Company on December 21. LC
(Queer Bar, Capitol Hill, Friday-Saturday)

Jingle All the Gay Past Event Like List
Don’t you DARE pout at this "brilliant deranged" (TimeOut New York) jubilee, lest you make the naughty list of fabulous fruitcakes like Tito Bonito, Woody Shticks,  Kylie Mooncakes, and Cherdonna Shinatra. Jingle All the Gay is bound to stuff your stockings with luminous burlesque, cabaret, dance, drag, and musical performances in one hilarious celebration of chosen family. In other words, they're making the yuletide gay!! Get it? It’s Christmas-themed. Bless. LC
(West Hall [Oddfellows Building], Capitol Hill, Wednesday-Sunday)

The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show Past Event Like List
Jinkx Monsoon, the "internationally tolerated Jewish narcoleptic drag queen," and BenDeLaCreme, the sugary sweet RuPaul's Drag Race icon, will bring their unique blend of bubbly effervescence and quirky realness to the stage for this holiday dragstravaganza. The pair plan to show off their sleigh and share why they're the true queens of Christmas cheer, which already seems undebatable. The show will return to town after a wildly successful run last year; expect brand-new songs and a healthy dash of spectacle, plus "adult themes and language." LC
(Moore Theatre, Belltown, Thursday-Sunday)

Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker Past Event Like List
This showy burlesque spectacle invites you to journey to the lascivious Land of the Sweets, which will return for its 17th season with more sugar plum sexiness and swinging tunes by The Nutcracker Nonette. Anticipate lots of "light-juggling," plus jazz, ballet, striptease, and songs swirling together in one infectious confection. Yum. (Pro tip for the grown and sexy people out there: All shows scheduled after 9 pm are for attendees 21 and over.) LC
(Triple Door, Downtown, Tuesday–Sunday)

Scott Shoemaker's War On Christmas! Past Event Like List
Scott Shoemaker (aka Ms. Pak-Man) will lead a gaggle of Seattle's most Yuletide-lovin' burlesque, music, and comedy stars in this subversive celebration of Christmas. Expect song and dance, utter hilarity, and partial nudity from this cast of cheery queerdos. LC
(Theatre Off Jackson, Chinatown-International District, Friday-Saturday)

Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas Past Event Like List
Returning for its 16th year, Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas will deliver more "delightfully twisted" holiday mischief, courtesy of Mike Murphy and an alarmingly charming cast of other funny folks. Not for the faint of heart, the show's improvisers will trample on audience-provided Christmas memories like a pack of wild reindeer. LC
(Seattle Center, Uptown, Friday-Saturday)

SPORTS & RECREATION

Meowga - Yoga with Cats Past Event Like List
If you're anything like the EverOut staff, the phrase "yoga with cats" definitely perked up your ears. It's true: You can practice yoga alongside stretchy felines in Seattle Meowtropolitan's cat lounge, which up to 25 kitties from Regional Animal Services of King County call home. It's better than doing another Yoga with Adriene video in your house pants. The all-levels Hatha class is adaptive and focused on the breath, so you'll leave feeling more peaceful, and probably a little more covered in cat hair. Win-win, in my opinion. LC
(Seattle Meowtropolitan, Wallingford, Tuesday & Saturday–Sunday)

VISUAL ART

Clarissa Tossin: to take root among the stars Past Event Like List
Brazilian-born, LA-based artist Clarissa Tossin's multimedia works (including films, sculptures, and drawings) look closely at global capitalism's "frontier mythologies," interrogating persistent legacies of colonialism in Latin America and the US through repurposed consumerist garbage. She uses what is perhaps the most potent symbol of exploitation and ecological disaster—Amazon delivery boxes—to think about climate change, mapping as a conquest-driven technology, human consumption, and even space exploration. Why am I stoked about the show? Well, because I'm a nerd: Tossin's first solo museum exhibition on the West Coast borrows its title from sci-fi writer Octavia Butler’s apocalyptic Earthseed novels. LC
(Frye Art Museum, First Hill, Wednesday–Sunday)

Eirik Johnson: The Light That Gets Lost Past Event Like List
Seattle-based artist Eirik Johnson's The Light That Gets Lost pairs tranquil, hushed diptychs with a sound installation, inviting the viewer to respond to the subtle differences in imagery within a larger thematic framework of natural transformation and climate change. The images depict hunting cabins "built by the Iñupiat inhabitants of Utqiaġvik (formerly known as Barrow), Alaska as seen through the extremes of the Arctic summer and winter." There's something deeply satisfying about observing the shifting appearance of the cabins as the seasons change—in summer, they have a bare, weathered, and makeshift appearance, but blanketed in snow, they become pristine, almost magical. LC
(Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Georgetown, Wednesday–Saturday)

Emily Counts: So Familiar Past Event Like List
Emily Counts' ceramic style is always a little (okay, more than a little) mystical, reflecting on nature and the fragility of life through surreal sculptural busts and curious wall pieces that are sometimes lit from within. In her new exhibition So Familiar, Counts's coven of life-sized ceramic figures "stand in ceremony," each paired with a folkloric animal familiar. The exhibition expands upon her previous exhibition, Sea of Vapors, at the now-shuttered Museum of Museums, so expect more themes of growth, decomposition, aging, and transformation, plus sensory oddities and nostalgic features. LC
(studio e, Georgetown, Thursday–Saturday; closing)

Rafael Soldi: Soft Boy Past Event Like List
At the heart of artist and curator Rafael Soldi's new solo exhibition is Soft Boy, a video installation that represents the artist and curator's first venture into moving image work. Pulling from his experience as a queer youth in Peru to "focus on the construction of masculinity in Latin American society," Soldi dissects gender expectations through language and adolescent games. His video harkens to his time in an all-boys Catholic school, complete with playground skirmishes and performative machismo. Soft Boy also includes selections from a print series called CARGAMONTÓN, which translates to a form of hazing in Latin American schools, and mouth to mouth, which "present[s] word plays and Spanish-English pairings that reveal the gendered power structures built into language and the slipperiness of meaning." LC
(Frye Art Museum, First Hill, Wednesday–Sunday)

Satpreet Kahlon: the inscrutable shape of longing Past Event Like List
After winning the 2021 BAM Biennial: Architecture & Urban Design Award of Excellence, Satpreet Kahlon was granted the opportunity to present a solo exhibition at the museum, and the inscrutable shape of longing began to take shape. The Indian-born, US-raised artist explores how cultural and ancestral histories intermingle to inform the "messiness, contradictions, and nuances" of embodied life. Kahlon drew from her experiences of displacement and colonization's aftermath to create a "multisensory constellation of video, image, and sound" in a web-like installation. I'm especially intrigued by Kahlon's use of mirrored acrylic, which splinters and refracts archival footage of Panjabi folk rituals into "hundreds of tiny fragments reflected across the gallery." LC
(Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Wednesday–Sunday)

WINTER HOLIDAYS

Christmas Ship Festival Past Event Like List
Because nothing says Christmas like a giant ship covered in lights, the waters around Seattle will get a little more sparkly as Argosy Cruises' Christmas Ship docks in waterfront communities along the Puget Sound. Those who pay to hop aboard can enjoy holiday-themed food and drink, a community choir performance, and a reading of "‘Twas the Night Before Christmas" during the three-hour cruise. The 8th Annual Parade of Boats, where everyone is invited to deck their boats out in lights and join in on the fun, will take place on Friday, December 8, with a number of excellent shoreside viewpoints for us plebes who don't own boats. SL
(Various locations, Puget Sound, Monday-Saturday)

WildLanterns 2023 Past Event Like List
Grab some hot cocoa and get cozy with your friends, family, or Hinge date at this wintertime immersive experience full of giant glowing animal and nature scape lanterns, each representing flora and fauna from around the globe. Kids and those of us who are kids at heart will enjoy a magical snowy world in a polar regions exhibit, and marvel at brilliantly lit parrots and toucans in the Fine Feathered Friends zone. Arachnophobes might want to skip the Bugs and Blooms display, where vibrant flowers and giant spiders line your path (though we bet they won't bite). Let your imagination run wild in the Fantastical Folklore Realm as you search for mythical beasts from the white dragon to a pegasus. SL
(Woodland Park Zoo, Phinney Ridge, Monday-Saturday)

Winterfest Past Event Like List
Every holiday season, the Seattle Center transforms into Winterfest, where visitors will find seasonal decor, live performances on the weekends, and of course, the beloved miniature winter train and village. For the first time this year, we're getting a European-inspired outdoor Christmas market offering gifts from local and international vendors and tasty treats like glühwein and bratwurst. SL
(Seattle Center, Uptown, Monday-Sunday)