Our music critics have already chosen the 43 best music shows this week, but now it's our arts critics' turn to recommend the best events in their areas of expertise. Here are their picks in every genre—from an evening of stand-up with Conan O'Brien to Disney's The Lion King, and from a talk about Scandinavian trolls with Lotta Gavel-Adams to an opening party for a new Dick's Drive-In in Kent. See them all below, and find even more events on our complete Things To Do calendar.

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MONDAY

FOOD & DRINK

12th Annual Cookbook Social
At Tom Douglas’s annual gathering at the Palace Ballroom, you can sip wine, purchase cookbooks, sample recipes inspired by the titles on display, get autographs, and visit with the authors of some of the season’s most exciting cookbooks. This year’s roster includes Instagram star Linda Miller Nicholson, who shares how to re-create her vibrantly-hued handmade pasta in Pasta, Pretty Please; Hsiao-Ching Chou, whose Chinese Soul Food explains how to make comforting dishes like dumplings and stir-fries; Julien Perry, whose Seattle Cooks collects signature recipes from top chefs and bartenders in the Seattle food scene; and Kausar Ahmed, who includes her favorite recipes from Pakistan in The Karachi Kitchen. JULIANNE BELL

Delancey Feast of the Seven Fishes
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. This lavish spread from Delancey promises the freshest catches that the Ballard pizzeria can procure, which may include albacore, lobster, Dungeness crab, Penn Cove mussels, anchovies, and roasted oysters snatched from Delancey’s roaring wood-fired oven, along with seasonal produce and a steady flow of beverages throughout. They’ll finish with some delightful-sounding butterscotch pots de creme for dessert. JULIANNE BELL

Martinis & Mistletoe Happy Hour at The Nest
Get yourself in a holiday mood with festive martini specials made with either Absolut Elyx vodka or Monkey 47 gin. 

Oagari-Yo Pop Up Night
This new pop-up from Revel sous chef Stephen Toyofuku will serve up an “umami-rich, home-style” youshoku (Japanese-style Western cuisine) feast inspired by anime and manga. (The name comes from the manga series Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma and means “dig in.”) Tuck into some Japanese-style comfort food like chicken karaage served with fried kimchi, kimchi ketchup, house-made kewpie mayo, and nori. JULIANNE BELL

MONDAY-FRIDAY

VISUAL ART

Youth in Focus
For the past 25 years, low-income city youth have expressed themselves and captured glimpses of their daily lives thanks to Youth In Focus's arts program, which pairs the young photographers with adult mentors. See work by this year's talented contributors.
Closing Friday

MONDAY-SUNDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Holiday Tea at Hotel Sorrento
Instead of gazing at a virtual Yule log video, take your tea beside an actual roaring, crackling hearth at Hotel Sorrento’s Fireside Room, a Mad Men–worthy old-school vision in opulent ochre mahogany paneling. You can nosh on posh teatime fare—like freshly baked chocolate-filled croissants with butter and jam, cucumber and cream-cheese finger sandwiches, and chocolate espresso pots de creme with strawberries—as you sink into a squishy high-backed leather chair and enjoy sounds played on a baby grand piano. If you’re lucky, you might even spy the ghost of Alice B. Toklas, who is said to roam the halls of the hotel. JULIANNE BELL

Miracle on 2nd
In 2014, Greg Boehm of New York bar Boilermaker temporarily transformed the space for his bar Mace into a kitschy Christmas wonderland replete with gewgaws and tchotchkes galore. Now the pop-up has expanded to bars in 50 cities worldwide and will be taking up residence in Belltown’s Rob Roy. The specialty cocktails are no ordinary cups of cheer: 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.” JULIANNE BELL

PERFORMANCE

Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker
The 13th annual Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker is a lascivious holiday show experience with sugar plum fairies, exciting, clothes-dropping times, and who knows, maybe some "woody" jokes.

VISUAL ART

Neddy Artist Awards Exhibit
One of the largest and most prestigious art awards in the state of Washington, the Neddy Awards provide cash prizes to outstanding artists living in the Puget Sound region. See the artists' work for yourself at this exhibit.
Closing Sunday

WINTER HOLIDAYS

WildLights
The zoo will light up with more than 700,000 (energy-efficient) LED lights that recreate wild scenes and creatures at the annual WildLights display.

TUESDAY

COMEDY

Conan & Friends: An Evening of Stand-Up and Investment Tips
Everybody loves Conan O’Brien, even if you weren’t one of the people religiously watching his (rather great) late night talk show on TBS, which aired its last episode in its hour-long format in October, and returns January revamped and a shorter 30 minutes each. Instead of cooling his heels during this three-month hiatus, Conan has embarked on an 18-date tour with a rotating group of comedians, his first time on the road since 2010 (when he was between late-night gigs). On this date, he’ll be delivering his self-deprecating humor joined by Team Coco writer Laurie Kilmartin (she also has a new book out, Dead People Suck), Ron Funches, Moses Storm, and Flula Borg. LEILANI POLK

FOOD & DRINK

PNW Crab Feast
If the Pacific Northwest is known for one crustacean, it's the Dungeness Crab, whose meat is famously sweet and tender. This class—which includes lunch—will teach you how to choose your crab, how to break it down and clean it, and how to prepare a crab feast.

READINGS & TALKS

Ashley Nellis and Steve Herbert with Katherine Beckett: The Case Against Life Sentences
Only a handful of countries on this planet regularly issue life sentences for criminal convictions, and the U.S. is one of them, with over 200,000 people currently serving out the remainder of their life in prison. But does this sentence have any effect on crime rates? Does it reform offenders or deter any criminal acts at all? Ashley Nellis of the Sentencing Project argues that any prison term over 20 years cannot be morally or pragmatically justified, and she will be discussing her new book, The Meaning of Life: The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences—as well as criminal justice in the U.S.—with UW professors Katherine Beckett and Steve Herbert at this Town Hall event. KATIE HERZOG

Jay Rubin: Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
In his introduction, Haruki Murakami describes this anthology as "an unconventional selection of works by an unusual assortment of writers." He's not lying. In addition to gems from greats like Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, and Yukio Mishima, editor Jay Rubin has included some genuinely bizarre stories, such as Yūten Sawanishi's "Filling Up with Sugar," which is about a mother who turns into sugar, vagina first. Or Shin'ichi Hoshi's "Shoulder-Top Secretary," which is about a town where people speak to each other through robotic parrots perched atop their shoulders. Whether you're looking for classics of the genre or weird-ass new stuff, you're sure to find something you like here. RICH SMITH

TUESDAY & SATURDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Holiday Cookie Extravaganza
Add gumdrop cookies, cold dough cakes, snowflake cookies, and other sweet treats to your holiday baking repertoire. Gift-wrap materials (including boxes, ribbon, and paper) are included in the class.

TUESDAY-SUNDAY

PERFORMANCE

Annie
This fantastic production of the classic musical is directed by Billie Wildrick (who usually stars in 5th Avenue shows), and she’s joined by an all-female creative team. They really have Annie dialed in: It’s sensational. I laughed and I cried. Two 11-year-old actors switch off playing Annie. One of them is a girl of Tongan descent who happened to see 5th Avenue’s production of The Little Mermaid, in which Diana Huey played Ariel, and she turned to her mother and said, “Her skin is brown like me—that means I can do that, too.” Plus, Timothy McCuen Piggee is phenomenal as Daddy Warbucks. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

A Christmas Carol
ACT Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol is a dependable, simple pleasure, with just enough variation to warrant returning year after year. For the 43rd (!) edition, Kurt Beattie will direct and Ian Bell and David Pichette will alternate as Scrooge.

Our Great Tchaikovsky
Hershey Felder embodied Irving Berlin last year to the measured praise of Sean Nelson, who lightly criticized the added schmaltz while calling Felder "an astonishingly gifted vocalist and pianist." Felder's past performances have brought other geniuses to life, including George Gershwin, Beethoven, and Leonard Bernstein. This fall, Felder will return as the tragic Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, in another exploration of the musically creative mind.

WINTER HOLIDAYS

Enchant Christmas
Not to knock quaint community Christmas tree displays, but this inaugural event at the Mariners' home base looks like it's going to raise the standards for holiday light spectacles by a lot. Safeco Field will be transformed into a magnificent winter wonderland complete with the "world's largest Christmas light maze" (which you can explore via an ice skating trail), seasonal concessions, live entertainment, and an artisan Christmas market. 

WEDNESDAY

FOOD & DRINK

4th Annual Champagne Showcase
Sample a symphony of sparklers at this tasting, which will feature 56 different kinds of champagne, crémant, prosecco, cava, and sekt from all over the globe.

Kent Dick's Drive-In Grand Opening
Kent has joined the Dick's Drive-In club. Celebrate the beloved regional burger chain's new southside location by grabbing a burger and shopping for Dick's-themed gifts from a holiday pop-up shop. Local high school marching bands will provide fanfare. 

PERFORMANCE

A Drag Queen Christmas: The Naughty Tour
If your holiday tastes bend toward the naughty, join bona fide queens of VH1's War on the Catwalk for fresh Christmas looks and "adult humor."

READINGS & TALKS

Seattle Think & Drink: The State of Journalism
Humanities Washington hosts a series of moderated conversations about “provocative topics and new ideas” at casual establishments throughout the year. Presented as part of its fall statewide series,  “Moment of Truth: Journalism and Democracy in an Age of Misinformation” includes Seattle Times reporter Marcus Harrison Green, University of Washington communications professor and Seattle journalism researcher Matthew Powers, and The Stranger’s own associate editor Eli Sanders discussing the current state of the news, how it got here, and what may be ahead. LEILANI POLK

WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY

PERFORMANCE

Dina Martina Christmas Show
If you think you know what drag is, if you think you know what humor is, if you think you know how the English language works, I heartily encourage you to throw your “knowledge” out the window and go see the Dina Martina Christmas Show. There is no one like Dina Martina. And there is no one like her die-hard, inside-joke-obsessed, constantly laughing crowds. Her dedicated fans include Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, and Kevin Costner. I’m not kidding. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

Hollywood & Vine
Enjoy a vintage and magic-filled tribute to Tinseltown with the 20-year-old circus troupe Teatro ZinZanni as they open their new home in Woodinville.

Homo for the Holidays: Jingle All the Gay!
At this point, we can call Homo for the Holidays a Seattle institution. After a decade of successful shows and a dramatic changeover in the cast this spring, Kitten N’ Lou are producing a "new chapter" and bringing the children a revamped gay holiday burlesque wet fever dream. Performers include Cherdonna Shinatra, Mr. Gorgeous, Markeith Wiley, Randy Ford, Abbey Roads, and lots of other talented queerdos. CHASE BURNS

In the Heights
Every decade, a musical comes around that reminds the general public that musicals can be popular, cool, and mainstream. The ’80s had A Chorus Line, the ’90s had Rent, the early ’00s had Wicked, and the teens had Hamilton. But before Lin-Manuel Miranda became a household name for creating Hamilton, he was snatching up trophies and accolades for his other hugely popular musical, In the Heights. Broadway fans will go and fall in love again, and newbies will get a chance to see Miranda's earlier work for the first time. CHASE BURNS

Murder on the Mistletoe Express
Cafe Nordo will return to its perennial Christmas heroine, Becky-June Beasley-Jones, whom we last saw in 2017's A View from Santa’s Lap. This time, Becky-June races home for "Grandma's last Christmas," but all sorts of sinister events disrupt the trip on the Mistletoe Express. Seattle playwrighting treasure Scot Augustson (Penguins) writes and directs, and Butch Alice stars as Becky-June. As with Nordo's other productions, the show will be accompanied by a four-course meal.

My Ántonia
Look, Willa Cather is a literary lesbian prairie goddess and My Ántonia is one of her most famous masterpieces. Published in 1918, My Ántonia is a story of an orphaned boy from Virginia who befriends a bunch of bohemian immigrants in Nebraska. The play version of the novel is lyrical, pretty, and very American in a way that will make even a depressed, sapphire-blue liberal cry patriotic tears. Usually, American prairie shit gives me hives, but My Ántonia is good stuff. CHASE BURNS

Wonderland
There are few cuter Seattle nights than those spent at the Can Can. Divided into three short acts that make up a brisk 90-minute show, each part of the Can Can’s wintertime cabaret Wonderland gets progressively naughtier, although the most scandalous thing you’ll see is a jock-strapped ass and bare tits covered by pasties. The show has danger, but it’s often found in the cancan lines that occur mere feet from audience members’ dinner salads. I once saw an athletic duet at Wonderland nearly knock over a birthday girl’s wine glass. But it didn’t. Everyone whooped. Pro tip: Get the beignets. CHASE BURNS

THURSDAY

COMEDY

Gina Yashere
The Daily Show’s UK correspondent, Gina Yashere is a high-energy stand-up comedian who gets charmingly bawdy and bodily-function-obsessed amid her wry observations about race. A significant portion of her act derives from her humorous experiences traveling around the world as a black lesbian of English Nigerian descent, an identity that baffles many cultures. As an English native who’s lived in America, Yashere offers many acute, hilarious observations about the two countries, including why she prefers US racism over the more discreet British type. Then there are her dealings with obsessive-compulsive disorder and sleep apnea. She leverages some amazing lemons-into-lemonade alchemy in her sets. DAVE SEGAL

Jo Koy
The Filipino American comic, whom you've seen on Chelsea Lately and The Adam Carolla Show, will bring some giggles to Tacoma.

Wilfred Padua & David Tveite
New York-based comics Wilfred Padua (the co-host of the podcast Miss Me With That) and David Tveite (the host of the podcast Sadness Town) will co-headline a weekend of comedy.

READINGS & TALKS

Ben Goldfarb: Eager
Even before the United States was a nation, fur traders crossed the continent, capturing and killing millions of beavers for pelts. The impact of this, according to environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb, was profound. In his new book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, Goldfarb traces the history of the fur trade and explains how eliminating beavers from ecosystems changed the landscape in ways we are still figuring out. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers” are working to restore those ecosystems—and the beavers that lived in them—to make healthier, more sustainable habitats, both for humans and nonhumans alike. Everyone wins when we coexist peacefully, and Goldfarb explains how, and why, at Elliott Bay. KATIE HERZOG

Trolls in the Nordic Imagination: Scary, Clumsy, and Lovable
Lotta Gavel-Adams, professor emeritus of Swedish studies at the University of Washington, promises a "short, snappy, entertaining" lecture on contemporary depictions of Scandinavian forest trolls, and I am, as they say, here for this. In recent films and novels from the region, the Swedes and Finns have apparently expanded the emotional universe of these gangly fantasy creatures to include expressions of clumsiness and lovableness, which tells us a little something about the culture that dreams up these creatures. The lecture is the second installment of what will hopefully be many boozy talks at the Nordic Museum. RICH SMITH

VISUAL ART

Capitol Hill Art Walk
Every second Thursday, rain or shine, the streets of Capitol Hill are filled with tipsy art lovers checking out galleries and special events. In December, check out FROOT by Goldsuit: New Artworks from Genevieve St. Charles and Jean Nagai: With Spirits.

WINTER HOLIDAYS

SAM Lights
Fight the gloom of night in the illuminated sculpture park, featuring luminarias, art-making activities, hot drinks and sweet treats for sale, and more.

THURSDAY-SATURDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Family Dinner: Italian Holiday Seafood Feast
These family-style dinners are made with whatever looks the best at the farmers market, paired with local wines. This time, enjoy a sumptuous seafood feast with roasted romanesco with whipped tonnato and lemon threads, rabbit rillettes crostini with pickled mushrooms, smelt fried with fresh herbs and caper aoili, squid ink chitarra with uni butter, and more, plus cinnamon-roasted pears with espresso butterscotch whipped mascarpone and candied almonds for dessert.

THURSDAY-SUNDAY

COMEDY

A(n Improvised) Christmas Carol
You may think you know the story of A Christmas Carol, but you have no idea. Watch a team of improvisers re-create Dickens's tale based on audience suggestions.

Crabgrass Productions' 'The Judy Garland Christmas Special'
This is an imaginary dress rehearsal for Judy Garland's doomed 1963 television Christmas special. Garland drinks and snarls her way through loathsome Christmas television treacle. It doesn't have as much to do with the holidays as it does with the frightening fantasies of her drink-addled mind, but there's terrifically bad singing, comically inept dancing, and Garland shoots Santa dead. You'll leave feeling drunk, abused, and forgotten—just like Liza!  PAUL CONSTANT

Preacher Lawson
Boasting honors like the 2016 Seattle International Comedy Competition top prize and this past season's America's Got Talent top-five finalist, Los Angeles-based comic Preacher Lawson will return to Seattle for an uproarious show. 

PERFORMANCE

Acrobatic Conundrum: The Fig Tree Waltzes
The rigorous athletes/dancers of Acrobatic Conundrum will revive The Fig Tree Waltzes with a new score by Finnish composter Petteri Rajanti and choreography by Costa Rica's Jimmy Ortiz. As the company describes it, "strong women hang from lofty trapezes and bearded men spin in hoops wearing skirts" in a drama about human striving.

Buttcracker IV... The Final Countdown!
This festive and raunchy holiday show promises glittery professional dance and holiday satire set to a hair-metal soundtrack. Wade Madsen will play God in this edition, replete with new choreography.

Disney's The Lion King
Julie Taymor's jaw-dropping, puppet-filled production of The Lion King will visit Seattle in its Circle of Life. Elton John music, Tony-winning direction, treachery, youth, and revenge...the works.

Iolanta
The Spectrum Dance Company and Spectrum school students dance the tale of Iolanta, a princess who has been carefully guarded from awareness of her own blindness, in a workshop production choreographed by Tony- and Bessie-winning Donald Byrd. Stay on after the opening performance for mingling and drinks.

Scott Shoemaker's War on Christmas
Scott Shoemaker (Ms. Pak-Man) and illustrious friends like Mandy Price, Waxie Moon, Adé Conneré, and Faggedy Randy will lead a fearless investigation into the War on Christmas. Their weapons: "comedy, songs, dance numbers, amazing videos and partial nudity!"

The Twilight Zone: Live!
In sixth grade, I was in a short school production of “To Serve Man” (“It’s a cookbook!”). I played one of the aliens. That particular Twilight Zone episode is also adapted for the stage in Theater Schmeater’s traditional holiday presentation, which also features adaptations of “The Shelter,” “Death’s Head Revisited,” and “The Changing of the Guard.” Rachel Delmar directs. LEILANI POLK

Veils
Lia Sima Fakhouri directs Tom Coash's play about a black American Muslim who, during a study-abroad trip to Cairo, starts a blog about the practice of veiling with a non-veiled Egyptian woman. Protests related to the coming Arab Spring, different approaches to feminism, and pretty shocking acts of violence—one of the characters is forced to take a "virginity test"—strains the burgeoning friendship and the hopes of finding common ground between US and Egyptian Muslims. RICH SMITH

FRIDAY

COMEDY

Miscast
Funny and spontaneous performers are paired with actors following a script to reshape scenes from real movies that the improvisers aren't familiar with in this series directed by John Carroll. This time around, they'll recreate holiday movies like It's a Wonderful Life and Die Hard. The performers include Coonoor Behal, Dave Bogan, Adam David, Morgan Dusatko, Laila Heid, Jess Lampe, Heather Mabson, Zak Nelson, Jenn Petti, Chrysta Storm, Yolanda Suarez, and The Stranger's own Joule Zelman. 

READINGS & TALKS

Copper Canyon Press Annual Poetry Party
Celebrate the Port Townsend poetry press with a celebration of the publication of Ursula K. Le Guin's last poetry collection, So Far So Good, with readings by excellent writers Karen Finneyfrock, Jane Wong, and Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. Plus, there will be a book sale and socializing. Editor Elaina Ellis will MC.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

COMEDY

Socially Inept
If you're a tech bro and you're not prepared to get roasted, be warned: This night of comedy will poke fun at coders, programmers, and the mega corps they work for, courtesy of five local comics.

Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas
Mike Murphy (Uncle Mike, on Saturdays), Graham Downing (Cousin Graham, on Fridays), and Jet City cast members reenact and trample over your fond Christmas memories in a happily vulgar performance. Not necessarily for squeamish types.

PERFORMANCE

12 Minutes Max
This show features 12 (surprisingly quick or unfortunately long) minutes of brand-new work from Pacific Northwest performers.  RICH SMITH

IRL: Instagram
The Horse in Motion theater troupe will bring you a like-worthy smorgasbord of dance, songs, plays, short films, and art pieces based on the internet, with work by local players like Holly Arsenault, Erin Bednarz, Maggie Lee, and many others.

Sugar Plum Gary
A misanthropic disposition combined with a strong satanist worldview distinguishes Sugar Plum Gary from other yuletide figures. Every year around this time, "somewhat beloved storyteller and comedian Emmett Montgomery" slips into a red onesie and takes the stage to give audience members completely unsolicited advice on how to best navigate the season, and it's often pretty funny if you're into dark, absurd humor. What's his favorite holiday decorating tip? In an interview with City Arts' Brett Hamil, Sugar Plum Gary gives his answer: I like to "find a dark place and put myself in a corner and wait," he says, with a creepy uncle grin. Merry Christmas. RICH SMITH

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

PERFORMANCE

George Balanchine's 'The Nutcracker'
If you haven't seen this Christmas classic since you were a kid, give it a go this year. In 2014, Pacific Northwest Ballet replaced its beloved Maurice Sendak set with one by Ian Falconer, who did the Olivia the Pig books, and I'm glad that they did. The new set is gorgeous in a Wes Anderson-like way, and it reflects the genuine weirdness and beauty in the story. I mean, the last 45 minutes of this thing is a Katy Perry video starring dancing desserts and a glittery peacock that moves like a sexy broken river. Bring a pot lozenge. RICH SMITH

Merce 100: Seattle Artists Respond to Merce
Merce Cunningham grew up in Centralia, Washington, and rose to become one of the most important choreographers in American history. He fucked with everything, taking what he pleased from modern, classical, and other dance traditions to create something new and often challenging. (He even fucked with the great modernist composer John Cage, who eventually became his spouse. Read their love letters if you get the chance.) Celebrate Cunningham's considerable contribution to the genre (and his 100th birthday) with some of our local talents, including Donald Byrd, Christiana Axelsen, Kate Wallich, Thomas House, Amy J Lambert, Ella Mahler, Daniel Edward Roberts (from the Cunningham Company) with Victoria Watts, and Louis Gervais. Poet Maya Sonenberg, Thunderpussy frontwoman Molly Sides, and others will also be around to offer an artful word or two. RICH SMITH

A Very Die Hard Christmas
Marxiano Productions, who most recently created the hit show Bohemia, will stage a merry holiday musical from a script by the top-notch sketch comedy outfit the Habit, which peppers the rip-roaring action with songs, jokes, and more.

WINTER HOLIDAYS

Snow Day in Denny Park
Denny Park's winter light display will provide a magical, twinkly respite with a light display, food trucks, a beer garden, live entertainment, and a winter market.

SATURDAY

FOOD & DRINK

Holiday Candy and Confections
Learn to make six different kinds of festive holiday candies and confections like velvet fudge, chocolate bark, toffee, and more. You'll go home with gift bags, boxes, ribbon, and paper with which to wrap up your creations for holiday gifts. 

PERFORMANCE

Grand Opening: Seattle Opera's New Civic Home
Whoop it up for Seattle Opera's new home with performances by Seattle Opera's Chorus and Teen Vocal Studio and members of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Also on the agenda: a rehearsal of Il trovatore, a dramaturgy talk, a Verdi sing-along, a costume presentation, and a self-guided tour.

Performance Lab
On the Boards' latest incarnation of its performance development series will begin with a performance-with-feedback-opportunities showcase curated by Charles Smith and Syniva Whitney. This edition will boast KT Kusmaul of Portland's Body Home Fat Dance, dancer Jordan MacIntosh-Hougham, intellectual burlesque artist Jesse Belle-Jones, rapper/writer Dåko'ta Alcantara-Camacho, and Stranger Genius in Award grantee for performance HATLO.

A Roast of Londyn Bradshaw
WEIRD, hosted by Old Witch, will roast birthday girl Londyn Bradshaw with the help of Cookie Couture, Betty Wetter, Arson Nicki, Siren, and Stacey Starstruck. 

Rushing
Two kids from opposing high school social circles—a star running back and a sousaphone player in the school marching band—wind up together, spurring some awful events. This play by Danielle Mohlman explores "the culture of violence, the fanaticism surrounding Division I sports, and rape on college campuses nationwide." Part of the Umbrella Project Writers Group Showcase; Kelly Kitchens directs. 

Thriftease
A wise twink once described Mona Real as "what would happen if Divine walked into Fremont Vintage and came out with the whole store." There are few queens who serve thrift-shop fantasy like Mona Real, and Thriftease is Seattle's chance to finger around her closet (and take home the goods). Queer go-go queens and dive-bar divas will model vintage finds, curated by Real, and the audience will bid on the items—everything beginning at an affordable $1. Winning bids help the models strip down to their panties, so prepare for butts. This edition will also feature designs by the fashion duo Femail.  CHASE BURNS

READINGS & TALKS

Finnegans Wake
Seattle composer, musician, and substitute teacher Neal Kosaly-Meyer will continue his amazing feat of reciting Finnegans Wake from memory, chapter by chapter—as if reading the modernist monster wasn't hard enough. In praise of Kosaly-Meyer's feat, Charles Mudede wrote, "Maybe this is the only way the novel could be saved. It’s not all that amazing to memorize something that everyone understands; it’s very impressive to memorize something understood by only one person, who has been in the grave for many years." The last performance will be the premiere of Chapter Five.

Maged Zaher, Jamaica Baldwin
Once upon a time, you could hear Maged Zaher and Jamaica Baldwin read in Seattle nearly every week if you wanted to—and you did want to. Zaher, who won a Stranger Genius Award in 2013, writes hilarious poems about the special loneliness of late capitalism. (His translations of contemporary Egyptian poets, collected in The Tahrir of Poems, are incredible, too.) Baldwin uses her personal experience to probe race and politics to great effect. Few employ the power of the volta better than she does. We were lucky to have them both around so often, but then they moved away. That was sad. Now, thanks to the miracle of modern transit and the routine maintenance of old friendships, they're back! Arundel is promising "free refreshments" to celebrate the occasion. RICH SMITH

WINTER HOLIDAYS

Hall-i-Day Celebration
This second annual Hall-i-Day Celebration will bring food by Chef Tarik Abdullah, crafts from local vendors (and complimentary gift wrapping), live entertainment, kids' activities, and more. Don't forget to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Rainier Valley Food Bank.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

PERFORMANCE

Valtesse Versailles
Bathe your senses in an evening of old-fashioned, decadent strumpetry with the sensual-chic dancers, contortionists, and aerialists of Valtesse. Dress in black, red, gold, and/or silver to match the Palais de Versailles visuals.

SHOPPING

Renegade Craft Fair
Shop for crafts from new and returning makers while you enjoy live DJs, food trucks, and cocktails.

SUNDAY

COMEDY

The Ballard Comedy Show Presents: Food Bank Benefit!
Bo Johnson and Joshua Chambers's regular show will harness their talents for the Ballard Food Bank, with hilarious local oddity Emmett Montgomery, wonderfully down-to-earth curmudgeon El Sanchez, and Wilfred Padua, whom Dave Segal called "Seattle's funniest middle school teacher by some distance."

FILM

Cine Mexicano: ‘70s Art House
See very different Mexican art house films from the 1970s, including Juan Manuel Torres's The Other Virginity, about four young working-class people falling for each other on a trip to the cabaret. Co-presented with Consulado de México en Seattle.

Shriek Holiday Party: Better Watch Out + Happy Hour
Experience Christmas in a creepy light at a screening of the holiday horror-comedy Better Watch Out, in which a teenage babysitter (Olivia DeJonge) becomes the victim of a home invasion by a not-very-nice Santa Claus. 

FOOD & DRINK

Musang Feast of the Seven Fishes
Experience a Filipino twist on the Italian American holiday tradition at a family-style dinner comprised of seven dishes featuring seven different kinds of seafood, as well as traditional Filipino desserts.

2018 SoDo Holiday Tasting
Taste offerings from eight participating wineries (Latta Wines, Kerloo Cellars, Nine Hats, Patterson Cellars, Rotie Cellars, Sleight of Hand, Structure Cellars, and Waters Winery) alongside tasty bites. Santa, the Dickens Carolers, and a mariachi band will roam around spreading holiday cheer.

Winter Feast | Food Truck & Holiday Gift Bonanza
Snap up some street food at this Winter Feast at the Fremont Sunday Market from the Mobile Food Rodeo with 20 food trucks, including Lumpia World, Wood Shop BBQ, NOSH, Beanfish, It's Bao Time, and more. Plus, as always, local crafters and artisans will be tabling their wares.

PERFORMANCE

juana y carmen
Amid a future war between the United States and a united Latin America, a group of badass femmes help people across the border into Mexico. Their camp is the sight of music, food, and a play-within-a-play about the atrocities they witness at the hands of border guards. Sara Porkalob, writer and director of the Dragon Cycle series, directs this new play by Meme Garcia, which is part of the Umbrella Project Writers Group Showcase. 

Untitled Play About Institutional Racism in the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
Office politics, institutional racism, and problematic hierarchies within marketing and fundraising companies abound in this satire of life in the nonprofit world. Sara Porkalob, writer and director of the Dragon Cycle series, directs this new play by Seayoung Yim, which is part of the Umbrella Project Writers Group Showcase.