It’s full steam ahead for the holiday season, with festive gatherings, Dickensian theater and Christmas jazz.
Monday, December 1
In North Branford, Rose Vineyards and Winery holds its sixth annual Holiday Sip & Stroll from 5 to 8 p.m. “Sip, snack and shop” from “22 handcraft vendors.”
Wednesday, December 3
At Legacy Theatre in Branford, Scrooge and Marley, a “charming and illuminating musical prequel to A Christmas Carol” adapted by Legacy Theatre’s own Keely Baisden Knudsen, opens a 12-day run with 2 and 7 p.m. showtimes.
At 4:30 on the campus’s Aquinas Hall lawn, Albertus Magnus College lights its Christmas tree, alongside a centennial pageant, choral singing and, after the switch is flipped, “holiday activities and giveaways.”
Thursday, December 4
From 5 to 8 p.m. on the city green, New Haven’s annual Christmas tree lighting promises live music, food, rides, photo ops with Santa and WTNH News 8 emcees.
Friday, December 5
Starting at 2 p.m. today and picking up tomorrow at 10 a.m., Yale’s second annual Rossini Symposium, “New Haven in Italy / Italians in New Haven,” invites “members of the New Haven community for an exploration of the rich ties between this city and Italy. Friday’s events will focus on connections between local schools and Italy, while Saturday’s events will explore the history and legacy—past and present—of Italian-Americans in New Haven.”
From 4 to 8 p.m., Guilford’s Henry Whitfield State Museum holds its 26th annual Firelight Festival, inviting you to “gather outside Connecticut’s oldest house and escape the darkness of the approaching winter solstice in the glow of festive luminaria, lanterns, and outdoor fires. Enjoy roasted marshmallows, popcorn, hot cocoa, and mulled cider. Explore the first floor of the Whitfield House, a rare chance to tour after dark. Learn to craft a punched ‘tin’ (paper) lantern to take home. Tour the archaeology exhibit History Beneath Our Feet in the Visitor Center, and stop into the gift shop to do some holiday shopping. In the spirit of giving, bring donations for the Guilford Food Bank and new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots.”
Back the other way, from 5 to 9, the 23rd annual Lamplight Stroll “transforms Downtown Milford into a holiday wonderland filled with twinkling lights, festive music, free horse-drawn carriage rides, Santa, carolers, and charm.”
From 5:45 to 7, the Historic Wooster Square Association’s annual Holiday Tree Lighting offers “an evening of warmth, connection, and holiday cheer” in Wooster Square Park and requests that celebrants “bring a non-perishable food item for a local food pantry.”
Armada Brewing hosts a night of Holiday Movie Trivia starting at 7, with an apparent focus on “timeless classics like Home Alone and Elf to The Grinch who stole Christmas.”
At 8, famed and acclaimed saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith, a member of The Roots who regularly performs on The Tonight Show and has toured with “Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Al Green, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Bob Dylan, Lizzo, and many more,” comes to Neighborhood Music School for a one-night-only performance with Al Street on guitar, Eric Finland on organ and David Hawkins on drums. On the docket? “Soul, jazz, standards, originals and funky stuff.”
Also at 8, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, a quirky but edgy post-grunge band that opened the first real rock show of my life and flirted with fame before being condemned to major-label purgatory, headlines a show at Hamden’s Space Ballroom.
An 8:30 show at Toad’s Place features Highly Suspect, whose appealing alt-rock contains ingredients of Audioslave, Hozier and Imagine Dragons.
Saturday, December 6
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Bethany, the second annual Kriz Farm Holiday Market offers “pre-cut Christmas trees, wreaths, horse-drawn wagon rides, select ice cream, craft vendors, live music, food trucks and more,” including pics with Santa from 11 to 2. (Note: Entry costs one unwrapped toy drive donation or $5 per car.)
But you might want to stop first at Bethany’s First Church of Christ,, where an annual Christmas Bazaar, also going from 10 to 3, offers a “scrumptious breakfast [or] lunch,” “unique handmade crafts from talented vendors” and a “legendary” “cookie wonderland” with other baked goods “from pies to pastries.”
On Broadway Island, a Weekend of Holiday Cheer opens today at noon with an ice carving competition, an a capella concert and a hot cocoa competition. It picks up tomorrow, also starting at noon, with a community choral concert, an infant toy drive, an all-ages coat drive, a sequel hot cocoa competition, professional photos with Santa, kettle corn and more.
From noon to 3, the McGivney Center celebrates St. Nicholas’s feast day with “live music from Craig Calistro, children’s activities, refreshments, and more! Plus, explore the Christmas Tree Festival trimmings from 20 Connecticut Catholic schools and vote for your favorite.”
From noon to 6, the third annual New Haven Artisan Market convenes “30+ vendors for ur delight” at the Bradley Street Bike Co-Op.
At 2 under the auspices of the Connecticut Map Society, the Mitchell Branch Library hosts Show & Tell, “an annual event… at which six people give short (10-minute) talks about a map or map topic that interests them.”
The fifth annual Bad Santa Bar Crawl spurs an expected 3,000 revelers across 10-and-counting downtown bars with drink specials, DJs, a costume contest and party photos from 2 to 10 p.m.
Starting at 3 p.m. with a champagne reception, in conjunction with Invitation to Engage: 60 Years of Long Wharf Theatre & Beyond, the New Haven Museum hosts a celebration of longtime Long Wharf photographer T. Charles Erickson.
Sunday, December 7
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven’s 21st annual Craft & Gift Fair offers “unique handmade gifts, artisan crafts, and specialty items” for sale, including free gift wrapping and, from 10 to noon, babysitting.
Yesterday’s family-oriented Story Time with the Grinch reading at RJ Julia in Madison is all booked up, but today’s 11 a.m. encore at RJ Julia in Middletown still has spots. “Bring your little ones to a fun and engaging holiday story time with none other than the Grinch himself!” The book he’ll be reading is, of course, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, “a charming and classic tale that’s sure to delight young readers and spark their imaginations.”
At noon, Armada Brewing holds its next speed-puzzling competition, in which “teams of two will race to complete the same premium 500-piece puzzle.” The team entry fee includes the puzzle and two drink tickets, while winning earns prizes—including the right “to compete in our Season Championship Tournament for the ultimate title.”
At 2 and 6 at Lyric Hall, actor Mike Rose presents his “90-minute one-man show adaptation” of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol intended to capture “the spirit of the original novella.”
At 5, the Elm City Big Band, “a 16-piece jazz group comprised of some of Connecticut’s top jazz musicians and music educators,” performs classic Christmas songs alongside a winter sock drive.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Image features New Haven’s tree last year, freshly lit. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
