New Haven’s usual din quiets down for a special dinner tradition Thursday, before the big, loud, red-and-green month ahead kicks into full swing Friday.
Monday, November 23
The annual Trinity Holiday Bazaar ended yesterday, but another seasonal gift-buying pop-up keeps chugging about a block away. The Holiday Shop, opened last Friday at 1020 Chapel Street, has 15 vendors selling “home décor, glass and metal art/sculptures, gourmet foods, hand-crafted jewelry and more” through early January. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5.
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Tuesday, November 24
Tuesday night means Game Night at 1253 Whitney, doubling as an open house for the co-working/community event space. “It’s a great time to get a tour, or just the perfect evening to hang out and play some games with friends. Bring a game, or use our game library,” organizers say. 5 to 9 p.m. 1253 Whitney Avenue, Hamden. (203) 780-8890.
Wednesday, November 25
What used to help stressed-out New Haveners recover from high-pressure Thanksgiving get-togethers now helps New Haveners get holiday-time angst out of their systems before the big day even arrives. Scheduled for the night before Thanksgiving since 2013, the 19th occasion of guitarist Dean Falcone’s Annual Thanksgiving Vomitorium hits Cafe Nine tonight, promising to “overcook perfectly good songs and violate them” while “audience members are unwillingly dragged to the stage to sing” and onlookers “see who fills the Vomitorium buckets with holiday cheer.” $5. 250 State Street, New Haven. (203) 789-8281.
Thursday, November 26 – Thanksgiving
If you’ve got family or friends to spend the holiday with, you already know what to do. And if you don’t have any plans, you need only walk outside to enjoy the special, elusive solitude of a city at rest.
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Friday, November 27
Two local Christmastime traditions waste little time offering their season’s greetings.
First, the Eli Whitney Museum (915 Whitney Ave, New Haven; 203-777-1833) calls “all aboard!” for its annual Mr. Gilbert’s Railroad exhibit, showing off classic, still-running toy trains by American Flyer, which the locally legendary A. C. Gilbert Company acquired in 1938. Today’s special hours run from noon to 5 p.m., with regular hours falling on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and noon to 5 p.m., respectively, through January 17. Free.
Second, Scott H. Severance’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol returns to the Shubert (247 College St, New Haven; 203-562-5666) for a weekend-long run, promising “first-class professional actors, lush costumes, stunning sets and puppetry, song and dance, a heavy dose of humor and a timeless message.” Showtimes are 7:30 tonight, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and 2 p.m. Sunday. $12-69.
Saturday, November 28
Speaking of Christmas, the multilingual Joyeux Noël (2005), a movie based on a true story about a temporary Christmas Eve truce on a World War I battlefield, is the first in a free noon/2 p.m. double feature at the Ives Main Library (133 Elm St, New Haven; 203-946-8138). “The world made them enemies. One night made them brothers,” the trailer intones. The second, also a critically cheered foreign film—it actually won top prize at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival—is Pelle the Conqueror (1987), about a father Lassefar and his son Pelle who, fleeing their demons in Sweden, immigrate to Denmark, only to find more hardship. Along the way, however, Pelle will “conquer your heart,” the trailer predicts.
Sunday, November 29
And speaking of Dickensian Christmas, the Yuletide Carolers, who sing four-part harmonies in Victorian attire, “fill the winter air with the bright sounds of the season” tonight at the United Methodist Church of Branford (811 E. Main St; 203-488-0549). The concert, which involves a $15 suggested donation, starts at 7 p.m., with “refreshments” to follow. Yesterday, by the way, was Branford’s communal Christmas tree christening on the town green, which included a 5 p.m. parade before the 5:45 tree lighting and was fueled by hot chocolate.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
