Holiday hours may vary—please check venue websites directly for the most up-to-date information.
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COMEDY
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Luke Severeid’s energetic, shouty comedy style (which this event’s promo materials describe as “unmedicated ADHD in action”) should help you shake off any holiday blues—the Pacific Northwest native is a hiker, metal music lover, and onetime HUMP! Best Comedy Film winner, so he fits right in around these parts. He’ll be joined by Andrew Frank, whose comedy takes a more cerebral tack—his love of “language, philosophy, sociology, biology, psychology, anthropology, and cosmology” shows up in each set. LC
(Laughs Comedy Club, Totem Lake, $19)
FOOD & DRINK
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The acclaimed English-style brewery Machine House Brewery is throwing its first Christmas party at its new Hillman City location. Snap a selfie with Kris Kringle and belt out your favorite caroling standards at a cask beer-fueled Christmas karaoke session from 8-11 pm. You’ll get to enjoy mulled wine and gravity pours of a special beer. JB
(Machine House Brewery, Hillman City, free)
LIVE MUSIC
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We all know the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, which is typically followed by two-plus months of dark, cold days. However, many cultures throughout history have celebrated the solstice as a time for renewal. Tap into a little bit of that winter solstice magic with two days of “musical sun ritual and summoning” from nearly a dozen improvisational musicians like Heather Bentley (viola, cello), Kaley Lane Eaton (piano, vocals), Leanna Keith (flutes, vocals), and many more. AV
(Good Shepherd Center/Chapel Performance Space, Wallingford, $5-$20)
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This weekend, gift yourself a break from the Christmas tunes (seriously—I’ve already heard Wham’s “Last Christmas” approx. 5,000 times this month) with the distortion-driven rock duo Bexley. They will jam songs from their debut self-titled album alongside like-minded locals Actress, House of Blue Leaves, and Public Theatre. AV
(Belltown Yacht Club/Screwdriver Bar, Belltown, $13 – $15)
VISUAL ART
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Ghost Gallery is reprising its annual mini art exhibit, where you can browse hundreds of 10″x10″—or smaller—works by locals and artists farther afield. If you’re in need of last-minute gifts you can buy the art right off the wall or shop other treasures like tarot cards, candles, jewelry, and more. SL
(Ghost Gallery, Downtown, free)
FILM
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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, $12.50)
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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, $12.50)
SPORTS & RECREATION
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Join your fellow fans to cheer on the Kraken from their practice facility with community skate and watch parties. Channel your inner Gourde and take a spin around the ice under a live broadcast of the game on a 32-foot screen. Don’t worry if gliding around on ice wearing tiny blades on your feet freaks you out; fans are also welcome to watch from the bleachers. SL
(Kraken Community Iceplex, Northgate, $14.97)
FILM
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If you’ve already peeped MOHAI’s new exhibition, Pulling Together: A Brief History of Rowing in Seattle, then you’re well aware that George Clooney has directed a flick about the University of Washington rowers, 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.) If you haven’t seen the exhibition yet, I recommend checking it out after a screening of The Boys in the Boat, which blends triumphant feels with Great Depression-era costuming. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $13-$14)
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The BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas series broadcasted slow-burn, ethereal chillers each Christmas Eve throughout the ’60s and ’70s, so after a full night of yuletide festivities, Brits could snuggle up for an hour of strange atmospheres and creepy characters. (If this sounds incredibly appealing to you, I agree; I’m imagining a live-action version of Edward Gorey’s animated intros for Mystery!) The Beacon will screen two of the series best films: The Signalman, adapted from a Charles Dickens story, and Whistle and I’ll Come to You, adapted from an M.R. James ghost tale. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, $12.50)
FOOD & DRINK
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If you, like me, are still not over the end of Halloween and all the fun, creepy things associated with it, take heart: Yuletide and horror are a pairing as classic as peppermint schnapps and hot cocoa. Think The Nightmare Before Christmas, Krampus, the seminal slasher Black Christmas, the bizarro Finnish film Rare Exports, last year’s murderous action comedy Violent Night…the list goes on. Greenwood’s moody bar Dark Room understands this and is hosting a Christmas horror-themed pop-up, with appropriately eerie decor and food and drink specials inspired by classic films in this dark, wintry niche. Sip warming libations with a little edge, like “Silent Night, Deadly Night” (Cognac Park, Scotch, Pasubio Vino Amaro, Don’s Tiki Mix, grenadine, lemon, dark sour ale), and snack on inspired bites like “Gremlins” (a Korean hot dog with a side of kimchi pimento cheese) and “Last Stop on the Night Train” (Jolly Pong panna cotta, miso caramel, gochugaru strawberries, sesame, and Jolly Pong streusel). JB
(Dark Room, Greenwood)
PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE
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Formerly known as Miracle on Eastlake Ave, Re-Bar’s annual Christmas party has moved to the Royal Room for its 12th year. Reverend Riz Rollins (Flammable, KEXP), Dane Garfield (Flammable), Sharlese (KEXP), and Kaviera (Quantum) will give the gift of beats while you dance off your eggnog hangover. AV
(The Royal Room, Columbia City, free)
WINTER HOLIDAYS
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Every year, the diabetes research center JDRF Northwest invites local architecture firms to use their skills to craft an elaborate gingerbread structure for this holiday tradition that’s displayed at the Sheraton. For a sweet date with your sweetheart, check out the chocolate factory-themed gingerbread pieces, then grab some chocolate popcorn and go see Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka at the newly opened SIFF Cinema Downtown. SL
(Sheraton Hotel, Downtown, Donations encouraged, Friday-Monday)
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It doesn’t get more Hallmark movie than an outdoor ice rink, and the one in Bellevue Downtown Park will be open for 60 days of skating this year. You can take a free skate lesson, warm up with seasonal treats, or join the fun during a specific theme night, ranging from black tie on December 27 to pride night on January 3. For maximum cheesiness, the last of the ever-popular ugly sweater skates takes place this Saturday. SL
(Bellevue Downtown Park, Bellevue, $15-$20, Friday-Monday)
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Cougar Mountain Zoo might feel like a hike, but it’s only about a 30-minute drive from Seattle, and the zoo’s cougars, tigers, wolves, and, yup, Siberian reindeer(!) are celebrating the holidays all month with Santa snapshots, so you can tell him you’ve been nice while visiting cuddly caribou at the same time. It’s kind of like a mini version of the North Pole, conveniently located off I-90. LC
(Cougar Mountain Zoo, Issaquah, $15-$18, Friday-Saturday)
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No holiday selfie is complete without a 13-foot illuminated reindeer, which is why Westlake Park’s installation of luminous light sculptures will come in handy for the next few weeks. The collection of sparkly lit sculptures (presented by Amazon) will be available for free strolls and snapshots until January 9—look out for the giant snowflake and the candy cane that’s twice your height. LC
(Westlake Park, Downtown, free, Friday–Monday)
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South Lake Union is all lit up for the holiday season—if you take a stroll through the neighborhood, you’ll find interactive art installations and twinkling trees decorating the streets. While you’re in the area, you can drop by MOHAI to catch its new rowing exhibition, too. LC
(Various locations, South Lake Union, free, Friday-Monday)
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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. It’s your last chance to check out the new European-inspired outdoor Christmas market; it runs through Christmas Eve and offers gifts from local and international vendors and tasty treats like glühwein and bratwurst. SL
(Seattle Center, Uptown, free, Friday-Monday)
EXHIBIT
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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, $14, Friday-Sunday; opening)
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The first cohort to graduate from the Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute will share their oral history and “Black memory work” in this culminating exhibition, which was inspired by interviews with Black longshore workers, barbers, dancers, educators, and beauticians. I’m stoked to see Ricky Reyes, Eboni Wyatt, and Sierra Parsons’s Making.Wavs zine and immersive reading room, Ariel Paine’s barbershop installation, and Brenetta Ward’s quilted scrolls. LC
(Wa Na Wari, Central District, free, Friday-Sunday)
FILM
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Over the last 30 years, Studio Ghibli has become legendary for its lush visuals, emotional and affecting storytelling, and poetic, intelligent approach to nature and the more-than-human world. One of its central figures is (duh) cofounder Hayao Miyazaki, who has made some of the studio’s most revered flicks (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’sDelivery Service among them). He’s also the most endearingly idiosyncratic director, like, maybe ever, and has announced, then broken, his retirement a total of four times. Never change, Miyazaki!! Anyway, if you’re a Ghibli fan, you probably know all of this and are already jazzed for his first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and The Heron. It’s a hand-drawn, semi-autobiographical fantasy that seems likely to fall in line with all of the reasons you love him already. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $13-$14, Friday-Monday)
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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, $13-$14, Friday-Monday)
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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. CM
(Multiple dates through December 28, Grand Illusion, University District, $8 – $11)
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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, $13-$14, Friday-Monday)
VISUAL ART
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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, free, Friday-Saturday; closing)
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After peeping legendary Edo-period Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai’s woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated books (yes, including Great Wave, plus a LEGO interpretation of it) on view at Seattle Art Museum, why not drop by SAM Gallery to scope out Japanese-inspired prints created by local artists? Printing the PNW features works by multimedia printmakers Kerstin Graudins and Nikki Jabbora-Barber, sea creature lover Jueun Shin, and Minami Wrigley, who blends intaglio and etching techniques to depict both the Pacific Northwest and Japan. LC
(SAM Gallery, Downtown, free, Friday-Sunday)
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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, $0-$15, Friday-Sunday)
