New Haven’s Thanksgiving Week traditions—impudent live music, quaint model trains, locavorous gift shopping—are back, but they aren’t alone.
Monday, November 21
Among all the people coming home for Thanksgiving are Jose Oyola and Sam Perduta. Going by their stage names JOATA and Elison Jackson, the New Haven music scene expats join forces with local “mathy shoegaze-pop” duo Ports of Spain and Hartford “summer indie rock” sextet POSSM for an 8 p.m. bill at Cafe Nine.
Wednesday, November 23
The theme for East Rock Brewing’s trivia night tonight, starting at 6:30 sharp, is general knowledge, which isn’t really a theme but sounds perfect for far-flung friends and families reunited by the holiday.
At 9 p.m., it’s back to Cafe Nine for a more specific holiday affair: Dean Falcone’s Vomitorium in its 26th edition, this time with a ’60s theme. “Come hear your favorite songs from the swinging psychedelic far out 1960s slaughtered and massacred the way they deserve in this festive American holiday tradition where friend and foe come together and then attack each other with blows of unrehearsed tunes.”
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Thursday, November 24 – Thanksgiving
You can pay for your big meal in advance by running the Branford Rotary Club’s Thanksgiving 5K. Beginning and finishing at Walsh Intermediate School, the starting pistol fires at 9:10 a.m. for the main run, after a Kids’ Fun Run at 9 and a post-race party at 9:40. “Enjoy kids activities, music, and grab & go food!”
Also, it looks like GATHER is hosting a 10 p.m. “gthrgiving” event—whatever that means!
Friday, November 25
From 10 a.m. to 3, A.C. Gilbert’s American Flyer Train Show, the Eli Whitney Museum’s annual holiday display of historic, working, locally made model trains, opens to the public. Kids and adults alike can view and interact with a miniaturized world spanning a countryside and, if the past is any indication, a village bearing some resemblance to New Haven.
Starting at 5 p.m. on the town green, Milford’s official tree lighting event promises Santa, caroling, ice sculptures, a bonfire, live music and “more!”
Previews for Yale Rep’s The Brightest Thing in the World begin at 8 tonight. “Beguiling Lane works in a bakery and in short order wins over cool customer Steph with her warmth, wit, and homemade desserts. Their blossoming relationship also opens the door to romance for Lane’s older sister Della, who hasn’t been on a date in years. But the skies dramatically darken as each woman must come to terms with her own limitations.”
Saturday, November 26
From 11 to 9, New England Brewing “fill the warehouse and taproom with vintage arcade games” set to free play. Also on hand: vendors Elm City Sounds (vinyl records) and 4mer Legends (“vintage designer glassware”), food truck The Mason Jar Exchange and, from 6 to 9, DJ Dooley-O.
It’s a busy post-Black Friday Saturday at The Shops at Yale, with “indoor craft activities for children, hot apple cider, fresh popcorn, giveaways, an ice carving demonstration, Yuletide Carolers and more” from noon to 4 at 1042 Chapel Street; “storytelling and selfies with Santa and Mrs. Claus” from 1 to 3 at B Natural Kitchen; and “the festive sounds of horn and tuba” from 1 to 4 on Broadway Island.
From 1 to 5 on the town green, the East Haven Chamber of Commerce’s annual tree lighting promises carriage (and kiddie train) rides, live music, cookie decorating, craft making, a bouncy house and visits with Santa.
“Wigs, waistcoats and candlelight” is the headline for Orchestra New England’s Colonial Concert XLIII, starting at 8 p.m. in United Church on the Green. “A festive pre-concert dinner will take place at The Elm City Club, just across Elm Street,” at 5:30 p.m.
Written by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
