MONDAY, DEC. 19
HIP HOP NUTCRACKER: Enjoy the popular holiday mash-up in its 10th anniversary season. Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker Prince set off in New York City scored by Tchaikovsky’s classic score alongside contemporary and hip-hop dancers, a DJ, a violinist, and Kurtis Blow, who opens the show with a short set. (The Music Center at Strathmore; 8 p.m.; $89)
HANUKKAH CELEBRATIONS: Celebrate the start of Hanukkah all around the D.C. area: Join EntryPointDC for a happy hour with Israeli dancing lessons, specialty drinks, spicy olive oil tasting, hot sauce contest, candle lighting, sufganiyot, and more (Franklin Hall; 5:30 p.m.; $5) Old Town Alexandria hosts a festival with a six-foot menorah lighting, latkes, hot cocoa, donuts, chocolate gelt, dreidels, and live music. (The Lyceum; 6 p.m.; FREE). And Capitol Hill hosts its annual menorah lighting alongside fire dancing, live music, hot chocolate, coffee, latkes, and donuts (Reformation; 5:30 p.m.; FREE)
SHORTS SCREENING: Join local production company Barkada DMV for a short Filipino-American film screening. Watch four films including The Houseguest and Pinoy Noir, plus the premiere of their Christmas comedy Very Merry Mahusay. (Old Greenbelt Theatre; 7:30 p.m.; $5)
MORE: Monday night open mic hosted by Angelique Palmer (Busboys and Poets Shirlington; 8 p.m.; $5), Sing! An Irish Christmas w/ Keith and Kristyn Getty and special guests (The Anthem; 7 p.m.; $45), Joy To The World! Jenny Oaks Baker & Family Four featuring Alex Sharpe (Main Theater at Capital One Hall; 6 p.m.; $30), O Night Divine! Christmas Music with Choral Arts (The Kennedy Center Concert Hall; 7 p.m.; $15), Pentatonix Christmas Tour (EagleBank Arena; 7 p.m.; $120), Kohai Presents 2022 Yerin Baek Us Tour (The Fillmore Silver Spring; 8 p.m.; $40), Visioning workshop with Maya Oren of Mojalvo (The Line Hotel; 6 p.m.; FREE), Queer cross stitching circle (The Outrage; 5:30 p.m.; $5), Collaborative screen printing workshop with Beth Hansen (Four Quarters Art and Books; 7 p.m.; $40), White House Historical Association book signing with Giovanna McBride (The Mayflower Hotel Autograph Collection; 11:30 a.m.; FREE), Profs & Pints DC: How Dickens “Invented” Christmas (Little Penn Coffeehouse; 6 p.m.; $12.72)
TUESDAY, DEC. 20
POP-UP BOOKSTORE: Carpe Librum brings back their pop-up used bookstore to support DC education nonprofit Turning the Page. Browse high-quality, gently-used books, CDs, DVDs, and vinyl on sale for $6 and under. (1350 Eye St. NW; 11 a.m.; FREE admission)
PORTRAIT POP-UP: Enjoy a sip-and-craft pop-up facilitated by artist Khánh Lê. Participants are encouraged to bring digital photographs and images from family albums to have scanned during the program to create self-portraits, in addition to materials provided. After crafting, browse works from the museum’s Triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. (National Portrait Gallery; 5 p.m.; $20)
MORE: Extended hours of the Conservatory and outdoor train display (U.S. Botanic Garden; 10 a.m.; FREE), Holiday Lights Ride (Trek Bicycle Arlington Clarendon; 6 p.m.; FREE), Ward 5 Holiday Party (Dock5; 6:30 p.m.; FREE), Light Up Arlington – Clarendon Menorah Lighting (Chabad Lubavitch of Alexandria-Arlington; 6 p.m.; FREE), Wreath Making & Christmas Carolers (12th & South Fern; 12 p.m.; FREE), Holiday Season Movie: Bad Santa (DC9 Nightclub; 7 p.m.; FREE), Soup Joumou cooking class with Chef Don Berto (Port-au-Prince; 6:30 p.m.; $69), LGBTQ+ happy hour for a good cause (Chadwicks; 6 p.m.; FREE)
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21
CHRISTMAS ART: Grab your tickets in person before they sell out for the “Christmas Story in Art” lecture. Enjoy an illustrated Christmas holiday lecture exploring the episodes surrounding the birth of Christ depicted through pieces in the National Gallery’s permanent collection. (West Building Lecture Hall; 1 p.m.; FREE)
OUTDOOR MUSIC: Participate in your own outdoor concert with the original composition “Unsilent Night.” Each participant gets one of four tracks in the form of a cassette, CD, or Mp3 to play simultaneously and create the piece. Then, march through the neighborhood to take the show to your neighbors. (Meet at Sherman Circle; 7:30 p.m.; FREE)
FOREST BATHING: Join Ward 8 Woods Conservancy on a forest bathing walk on the shortest day and longest night of the year. Ana Ka’ahanui of Capital Nature will lead forest bathing activities to help slow down and connect to nature before a campfire with refreshments. (Oxon Run Parkway; 4 p.m.; $10)
MORE: Holiday Sing-A-Long with District Karaoke (metrobar DC; 6 p.m.; FREE), Looking Beyond exhibit (Italian Cultural Institute; 2:30 p.m.; FREE),Holiday Soy Candlemaking w/ Relume (Shop Made in DC Georgetown; 5 p.m.; $40), Profs & Pints DC: Robert Frost’s Winter Poems (Little Penn Coffeehouse; 6 p.m.; $12.72), Murder on 34th Street (DC Improv; 7:30 p.m.; $25), Christmas wreath workshop (FSC Workshop; 6:30 p.m.; $55), Yalda Night (Fairfax Old Town Hall; 7 p.m.; $5), Witchy Winter Solstice Party (The Dew Drop Inn; 7 p.m.; FREE), Fried Feast: A Chanukah Cooking Class (Sixth & I; 7:30 p.m.; $35)
THURSDAY, DEC. 22
ORNAMENT WORKSHOP: Build your own ornament just ahead of the holiday. Georgetown Library provides all the materials to help your creative juices flow. (Georgetown Library; 4:05 p.m.; FREE)
HOLIDAY BAZAAR: Get those last minute gifts in at the final holiday bazaar of the season. Shop vintage wares, crafts, vinyl, cooking oils, and more to the tune of DJ beats. Sales start at 7 p.m., and the beats go longer into the night. (Showtime Lounge; 7 p.m.; FREE admission)
DINNER AND A SHOW: Enjoy a night out this holiday season with Acute Inflections’ hilarious holiday show. Enjoy jazzy takes on classics like “Santa Baby” and “This Christmas” while munching on American cuisine with a West African flair, available for purchase. (Moi Moi; 6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m.; $25)
MORE: MANNA Ward 8 Homebuyer Club (11th Street Bridge Park; 5 p.m.; FREE), Breakfast with Santa (Ada’s on the River; 8 a.m.; $65), Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas (In Bocca al Lupo; 7 p.m.; $25), BAD Singalong for the Holidays (H Street Country Club; 9 p.m.; FREE), Holiday Season Movie: Jack Frost (DC9 Nightclub; 7 p.m.; FREE), Christmas Week History Hike of Georgetown (Swedish Embassy; 3 p.m.; $23)
