It’s Christmas. And Chanukah. And Kwanzaa. And more.
Monday, December 23
Starting at 8:30ish, I’m told, Stella Blues hosts a low-key holiday party and movie night with drink specials, free pool and two comedies: The Night Before (2015) and 8 Crazy Nights (2002).
Tuesday, December 24 - Christmas Eve
New Haven’s historic Center Church on the Green hosts a carol sing at 3:30—“sing your favorite Christmas carols and take in the holiday decorations in our historic meetinghouse”—followed at 4 by a traditional “lessons and carols service… celebrat[ing] the anticipation and joy of Christmas with readings and music,” including a communal choir-led candlelight rendition of “Silent Night.”
Wednesday, December 25 - Christmas Day
Merry Christmas.
And happy Chanukah. At 5 p.m. on the first of the holiday’s eight nights, a city menorah lighting on the New Haven Green offers “Chanukah music, hot latkes, donuts, dreidels, and an incredible Chanukah laser show,” plus a “menorah parade.”
At 5:30, a Chanukah Game Night at Orchard Street Shul promises a “menorah lighting, Chinese dinner, latkes, board games, donuts, music, dreidels and gelt.”
Thursday, December 26
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and tomorrow, the Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop in Hamden holds special Christmas break visiting hours for its 2024 edition of A.C. Gilbert’s American Flyer Train Show.
Friday, December 27
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center hosts a Christmastime Family Day “offering exhibit tours, live music, children's crafts, refreshments and more” (including a chance to vote during the Center’s annual Christmas Tree Festival).
At 6 p.m. on the second of the holiday’s seven nights, a Kwanzaa Celebration presented by the city of Hamden offers “discussion, games, crafts and refreshments” in Miller Memorial Library’s Thornton Wilder Hall.
From 6 to 9, New England Brewing Company in Woodbridge hosts what is apparently for some “the traditional oasis between Christmas and New Year’s,” as the Supernaut Old Stars, a brewery-specific super group, “funkify” NEBCo’s final Final Friday of 2024.
After the doors open at 7:30, the next Freakout Fridays cult movie screening at Seymour’s Strand Theater makes the admirably freaky move of dropping attendees right into a sequel: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987).
New Haven ska legends Spring Heeled Jack lead a four-act 8 p.m. Holiday Romp & Stomp at Hamden’s Space Ballroom.
Saturday, December 28
Little Lies, a regionally touring Fleetwood Mac tribute band, comes to Toad’s Place for a seated 8 p.m. show.
At 9, On & On Radio, which seems like a DJ collective, presents a Home for the Holidays party at Cafe Nine featuring DJs Sonia Sol, AG, Nusnce, Josway, DJnotbryan and lovecaro.
Sunday, December 29
Back at Cafe Nine, Nikki & The Barn Boys, whose “influences rang[e] from classic rock legends to modern alternative innovators” and whose music “captures the essence of late-night adventures, heartbreaks, and the unfiltered intensity of living for your dreams,” headline a 4 p.m. matinee opened by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Reed Foehl.
Written by Dan Mims. Image, sourced from @SHJUSA, features band member Mike Pellegrino during a Spring Heeled Jack show. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
