This Thanksgiving-time feels more active than usual—and that’s not even counting some Black Friday and Small Business Saturday events getting a highlight later this week.
Monday, November 25
In Hamden, the next Mood Maker Monday at The Cellar on Treadwell features art by Thomas Drew, “pickled treats” from Mo Piklz, live music from The Vültüres and Parlay Droner and Detroit-style pizza from Jam City Pizza.
Tuesday, November 26
Curated by Best Video, a new film series at Lyric Hall—originally a silent movie theater established in 1912—presents a screening of Perfect Days (2023). The acclaimed “co-production between Japan and Germany… follows the routine life of Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho), a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo.”
Wednesday, November 27
At Cafe Nine, Dean Falcone’s 28th Annual Thanksgiving Vomitorium—an irreverent concert performed by a huge lineup of local “house” and “guest” musicians this time drawing from British rock and pop repertoire—promises its usual “musical trainwreck for all,” starting at 9 p.m. Watch as “we overcook perfectly good songs and violate them! Watch friends and enemies battle their way through songs they don’t know! Watch in amazement as audience members are unwillingly dragged to the stage to sing! See who fills the Vomitorium buckets with holiday cheer! See all your favorite bar stars!”
For conceptually simpler fare, Toad’s Place hosts a Thanksgiving Eve dance party, also starting at 9. In fact, there are a number of “Thanksgiving Eve” parties nearby, including at Hamden’s Haven Beer Company, North Haven’s Twelve Percent Beer Project, Branford’s The Stand and Milford’s Dockside Brewery.
Thursday, November 28 - Thanksgiving
Enjoy the day.
And if you’re looking for somewhere to go, the Madison Beach Hotel is offering an all-you-can-eat buffet “overlooking the Sound” with reserved seatings from noon to 5.
Friday, November 29
At the Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop in Hamden, “a holiday tradition returns” for the holiday season: A.C. Gilbert’s American Flyer Train Show, opening at 10 a.m. “Each Thanksgiving, the Eli Whitney Museum reaches deep into New Haven’s attic to unpack and display a tradition built here more than 60 years ago. Just after World War II, The A.C. Gilbert Company introduced its American Flyer trains. Gilbert trains—with their lively movements, their carefully crafted sound, their bright lights, the cedar scent of their smoke—won an enduring place in our collective memory. New Haven built an icon of the holidays.”
A different energy attends an opening in Seymour: the grand reopening of “year-round Halloween store” Halloween Dungeon, whose seasonal “Creepmas” reinvention “featur[es] exclusive one-of-a-kind products, horror and gothic wrapping paper, [a] professional photo op with live photographer bookings, and much, much more.”
It’s a big day in the town of Milford. A German-style Christmas festival and market runs from 1 to 8 p.m. on the Milford Green, featuring the Milford Concert Band performing at 5 and the city’s annual tree lighting celebration from 6 to 6:30. Meanwhile, a community screening of Home Alone (1990) replete with hot chocolate and other attractions starts at 3 in the Parsons Complex Auditorium.
Saturday, November 30
At Creative Arts Workshop, a series of Holiday Craft & Create popups—“fun, festive, and family-friendly drop-in sessions designed to bring out your inner maker”—begins today, when, anytime from 1 to 4 p.m., you can “press, decorate, and personalize your very own terracotta ornaments.”
A day festooned with city tree lightings begins with East Haven’s festivities from 1 to 5 p.m. on the town green, promising “fun for the kids and families” including visits with (and letter-writing to) Santa, carriage rides, live music, cookie decorating, hot cocoa and “kid-friendly crafts.”
West Haven’s celebration starts at 4:30 on their town green, with Santa having plenty of time to get there from East Haven by his scheduled arrival time of 6. Attractions include “live entertainment, free activities for the kids, hot chocolate and snacks, train rides, fire truck rides [and] hayrides.”
Branford’s lighting comes at the end of a parade that “will kick off at 6:30 p.m. from Branford High School and march down East Main and Main Streets, concluding with the tree lighting on the town green. All are welcomed to line the parade route.”
Sunday, December 1
At Barracuda, which was recently relocated to the back room of 80 Proof, a “Fine Art Photo Party Gala” convenes drinks, appetizers, musical performers, a poet, a live figure drawing model, a photographer, photo booths, a runway show, a raffle and, of course, attendees—who are both “the muse and the audience” as well as artists and subjects—to raise funds for The Mo-Pho, “a luxury popup private party bus.”
Written by Dan Mims. Image, sourced from the Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop, features a past installation for A.C. Gilbert’s American Flyer Train Show. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
