Soar to: Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Multi-Day
PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE
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Atmosphérique is a queer-run, open-format membership evening that has showcased native underground artists since 2022. This weekend, host JENNGREEN will have fun Atmosphérique’s second anniversary alongside native DJ Reverend {Dollars} (aka Renee Jarreau). Because the founding father of Darqness Seattle Queer and Trans Folks of Coloration Arts Collective, Jarreau’s work focuses on bringing collectively marginalized Black, trans, and queer communities by way of music and dance with DJ units filled with supercharged home, membership, and hip-hop beats. AV
(Timbre Room, Downtown, $11.90)
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When you worship on the altar of pop goddesses like Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Britney Spears, you higher be attending church—and by “church,” I imply Madame Lou’s GODDESS sequence. The recurring dance occasion is a really glittery, very homosexual extravaganza that brings collectively music, dancing, and drag artistry to have fun 4 a long time of pop divas. In honor of the occasion’s second anniversary, DJs Stevie303 and Tony Burns will spin back-to-back Madonna bops as you get into the groove with go-go dancers, Madonna-themed cocktails, and performances from drag superstars Queen Andrew, Miss Texas 1988, Macy Marcs, and Monday Mourning. AV
(Madame Lou’s on the Crocodile, Belltown, $13-$20)
PERFORMANCE
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The “longest-running drag present in Washington State historical past” has a brand new residence, and it solely is sensible that the Unicorn would host the who’s-who of Seattle’s drag scene. This weekly present will host a number of the metropolis’s greatest drag names, together with Ladie Chablis, Londyn Bradshaw, Miss Texas 1988, Amora Namor, and LüChi. LC
(Unicorn, Capitol Hill, free)
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
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Be part of throngs of artwork nerds at Gage Academy of Artwork for stay demos and mannequin drawing classes, plus a vacation artwork sale to pop by when your hand begins to cramp. Guests will discover a cafe on web site, and primary drawing provides are offered, so simply present up together with your creativity in tow. An after-hours occasion will observe the occasion with wine and beer alternatives, plus a stay DJ to “maintain the enjoyable flowing.” LC
(Gage Academy of Artwork, South Lake Union, $10 Urged Donation)
COMEDY
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Kayla Brown and Dan Hurwitz, creators of the “award-eligible” mockumentary That is Spinal Harm, return to host this bimonthly showcase of native humorous people with disabilities, which hit the large stage at Bumbershoot this summer season. The jokester troupe has been performing in and round Seattle since 2018, with a rotating forged every time. This version’s lineup hasn’t been introduced but, however count on sharp wit with a contemporary, inclusive twist. LC
(Northwest Movie Discussion board, Capitol Hill, $7-$14)
FILM
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Bob Clark’s filmography may very well be described as “unhinged,” or, on the very least, “eclectic.” The lo-fi zombie schlockfest Kids Should not Play With Lifeless Issues was considered one of his first options, and he’d later go on to direct Porky’s, A Christmas Story, and Child Geniuses. It is cinematic whiplash. Clark’s vacation hunk of horror coal Black Christmas is my favourite of his filmography, although. It is legitimately terrifying and even popularized a persistent horror trope—a homicidal maniac’s cellphone calls come from inside the home. Decked out in twinkle lights, the ’74 flick follows a gaggle of sorority sisters picked off over winter break. It is considered one of my favorites at the moment of 12 months. LC
(Grand Phantasm, College District, $9-$12)
LIVE MUSIC
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Very similar to the normal Christmas deal with generally known as figgy pudding, caroling is a whimsical old-timey vacation custom that appears to fade slightly extra into obscurity with every passing 12 months. That is why final 12 months, I declared the month of December the beginning of Little Ladies Winter. I am speaking bonnets, handwritten letters, Christmas bushes lit with actual candles (that is secure, proper?), boiled puddings, communal singing, and serving to your neighbors à la the Nineteenth-century coming-of-age novel. Summon your internal March sister on the annual Figgy Pudding Caroling Competitors, which brings collectively 20 festive caroling groups (and a whole bunch of bystanders) to sing vacation ditties. Velvet capes, prime hats, and fur muffs are extremely inspired (by me). AV
(Pike Place Market, Pike Place Market, free)
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It is an actual disgrace that canine aren’t usually allowed at classical live shows as a result of the style has been scientifically confirmed to have a chilled impact on pets—Seattle-based charity live performance sequence Mozart & Mutts agrees. You and your canine mates are invited to Previous Range Brewing, the place you’ll get within the vacation spirit with festive hits and classical masterpieces performed by world-class musicians. Think about being a chamber musician on stage, searching to an viewers of snoozing pups—pure heaven. The efficiency is free, however donations will likely be accepted to profit the native animal shelter Saving Nice Animals. AV
(Previous Range Brewing Firm, Ballard, free)
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Tom Waits’s catalog features a handful of Christmas songs, like “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” and “Christmas Sucks (ft. Peter Murphy).” But, each December, it is the non-yuletide tunes from The Coronary heart Of A Saturday Night time and Nighthawks At The Diner that I flip to. Every delicate piano ballad seems like watching the snowstorm from the window of a dimly lit, smoky bar with a scorching toddy in hand. I am anxiously awaiting the day that Waits proclaims one other tour (he hasn’t toured since 2008!), however till then, we’re fortunate to have this annual tribute to the “poet of outcasts” (New York Occasions). This weekend, embrace your vacation blues whereas native musicians ship a set that spans Waits’s profession. AV
(Conor Byrne Pub, Ballard, $12-$15)
SPORTS & RECREATION
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On condition that Crystal Mountain and Stevens Cross are actually open with an surprising quantity of early snow, I am cautiously optimistic that circumstances will likely be nice for the entire ski season. Nonetheless, it by no means hurts to wish for extra pow. Head over to the Alpine Diner in White Middle to have fun their first anniversary and shake off the moist gloom we have down right here within the lowlands. There will likely be a scorching cocoa bar, ski films projected on the partitions, ski and board waxing, and even shotskis. Bonus factors should you carry flippantly used winter gear to donate to the coat drive or should you present up in goggles and a vibrant ’80s snowsuit. SL
(The Alpine Diner, White Middle, free)
VISUAL ART
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I am intrigued by the calming, contemplative framework of Mark Templeton’s A GUIDE TO INNER LIGHT—the solo present pairs lo-fi risograph pictures with repetitive tape loops pulled from ’70s- and ’80s-era meditation cassettes the Canadian media artist present in a library. I like to recommend trying out the subtleties of the work in particular person; subsequent 12 months, Templeton will publish the sequence as a photobook and restricted version tape. LC
(Solas Gallery, Pioneer Sq., free)
WINTER HOLIDAYS
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Many tree lighting ceremonies occurred final weekend, however should you missed them (or simply need extra twinkly lights in your life), you are in luck! This Saturday, West Seattle hosts a night of vacation festivities to assist us be rather less depressed that the solar units at 4 pm. Hearken to carolers and sneak a selfie with Santa as you wander an evening market filled with native distributors, enter your pet in a fancy dress contest, and collect for the tree lighting at 6 pm. The occasion goes til 8 pm, so you will nonetheless have time to cease by the beer backyard and revel in Christmas DJ mashups. SL
(West Seattle Junction, Junction, free)
FILM
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I will be trustworthy: I have never seen a single considered one of Mike Leigh’s movies. However the Beacon’s curation of the prickly English director’s flicks has impressed me to alter that. “Leigh has solid a physique of labor distinctive in its concern for the struggles of atypical individuals,” the theater explains. On December 8, they will display the 1990 comedy-drama Life Is Candy, Leigh’s portrait of a working-class household within the London suburbs whose humble desires of meals truck possession complicate their lives. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia Metropolis, $12.50)
EXHIBIT
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New York-based photographer Victoria Sambunaris car-camps throughout the US for a number of months a 12 months, creating large-scale images that hint the transformation of the nation with “particular consideration given to increasing political, technological and industrial interventions.” In Traces of the Manifest, Sambunaris shares snapshots, street logs, minerals, discovered objects, and movies from her travels, which doc “the impression of business websites, geological forces, and human traces present in panorama” from the Texas Gulf Coast to the southern California desert. LC
(Photographic Middle Northwest, Capitol Hill, free, Friday–Sunday)
FILM
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Die Arduous. Scrooged. Nationwide Lampoon’s Christmas Trip. The Gingerdead Man starring Gary Busey. They’re all superb Christmas films! However my all-time favourite, the one vacation movie that wins out 12 months after 12 months, is The Muppet Christmas Carol. The traditional story is narrated by Gonzo and (the wildly underappreciated) Rizzo the Rat, with Kermit because the earnest Bob Cratchit and Michael Caine because the grumpy Ebenezer Scrooge. However to essentially admire the magic of the film, first learn this fascinating Vulture interview with songwriter Paul Williams. The Muppet Christmas Carol was the primary Muppet film made after Jim Henson died in 1990 and it is also first film Williams scored after getting sober, so all of the heartfelt moments about appreciating life and the individuals you’re keen on in songs like “It Feels Like Christmas” and “Grateful Coronary heart” vibrate with real love, grief, and gratitude. Good luck not sobbing your eyeballs out now that you already know that, sorry! Get to this screening not less than half-hour early for a Muppets-related pre-show particular. STRANGER MANAGING EDITOR MEGAN SELING
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $6.50-$15.50)
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I may take or go away Jesse Eisenberg, however really feel strongly that Kieran Culkin is considered one of our most interesting modern character actors. (If you have not seen Succession, watch half an episode and you may perceive why.) In A Actual Ache, Eisenberg’s second function movie as author/director, he stars alongside Culkin. The pair play cousins headed to Poland to “honor their beloved grandmother,” the place, maybe predictably, familial tensions floor. I like a possibility for actors to point out off their chops with out a lot distraction, so the movie’s pared-down premise is intriguing. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $14.50-$15.50, Friday–Sunday)
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Love him or not, Luca Guadagnino and his psychosexual model are kinda unstoppable. The director of Name Me By Your Identify and the cannibalistic street journey Bones and All is releasing not one, however two movies this 12 months. (I am positive you keep in mind Challengers, everybody’s favourite sexy tennis romp, from again in spring.) Queer adapts a William S. Burroughs novella and follows an American expat in ’50s-era Mexico Metropolis (performed by Daniel Craig) who meets a cold, trendy youthful man. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $14.50-$15.50, Friday–Sunday)
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Really feel-bad grindhouse slasher Silent Night time, Lethal Night time follows an axe-wielding Santa’s Christmas Eve punishment of the naughty-listers on the town. Upon its ’84 launch, individuals acquired fussy. The flick impressed what Selection described as a “rising refrain of protests” in opposition to its probably “traumatizing” depiction of a splatter-happy Santa, and Siskel and Ebert shambled onto their cleaning soap bins to disgrace the movie’s manufacturing workforce. In different phrases, it is a whole blast should you’re into gnarly, low-budget, mean-spirited horror. LC
(Grand Phantasm, College District, $9-$12, Friday–Sunday)
FOOD & DRINK
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Everybody’s favourite Capitol Hill dive bar is again with their vacation gentle present! Bait Store all the time goes complete hog with vacation decorations, and their epic musical gentle present kicks off each hour on the hour(ish). Take pleasure in considered one of their blended cocktails or a seasonal sipper (final 12 months we tried “It’s Giving Thanks” and “Dancing Queen,” which makes use of Swedish Fish-infused vodka), and really feel your self get swept up within the vacation spirit. SL
(Bait Store, Capitol Hill, free, Friday–Sunday)
SHOPPING
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Seize some seasonally acceptable “inexperienced time” and stroll by way of the Arboretum Basis’s Graham Guests Middle, the place you will discover volunteer-made vacation wreaths, fresh-cut trimmings, tree ornaments, domestically sourced honey, pressed flower playing cards, and extra, plus twinkling tunes by harpist Leslie McMichael. The annual vacation sale is a stable method to test a number of bins in your present checklist whereas feeling good about supporting the general public backyard’s tree care, environmental training, and volunteerism. LC
(Washington Park Arboretum, Madison Park, free, Saturday–Sunday)
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There are 5 fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this 12 months, so now’s the time to seize items to your family members. Test off the parents in your checklist on the Giving Market, the place purchases will profit native and international charities. Performances and actions will maintain consumers entertained—count on stay music from soulful performer Sheryl Wiser on Friday and Kenyan American singer-songwriter Naomi Wachira on Saturday. Plus, native illustrator Cathy Wu will whip up pet portraits (carry a photograph for reference, solely service animals are allowed), and you’ll DIY some jewellery or vacation playing cards. SL
(Invoice & Melinda Gates Basis Discovery Middle, Uptown, free, Friday–Saturday)
VISUAL ART
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When life provides you lemons within the type of a worst-case-scenario presidential election, make lemonade by attending a cat-themed artwork present. Look, I am unable to promise this exhibition will treatment your existential dread. I can, nevertheless, promise that Gallery ERGO has curated an “insanely good lineup” of artists, all of whom have labored their magic on “birch cat head-shaped panels.” Plus, 10% of all proceeds from the present will likely be donated to a neighborhood animal shelter. There’s nonetheless hope for humanity, you already know. LC
(Gallery ERGO, Pike Place Market, free, Friday–Sunday)
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Russian-born studio e gallery artist Polina Bertou and Portland-based creator Jess Perlitz come collectively on this curious exhibition, which senses “the sides of their proprioceptive discipline” with reflections on containers, portals, and the physique. I am stoked to see Perlitz’s 16-foot fabric-and-sand arm sculpture paired with Bartou’s Flashe work, with figures that curve like banana bunches. Perlitz’s Rain Rainbow is very lovely, a stone-like kind streaked with rainbow hues. “Even what appears stable can spill,” the gallery explains. Right here, not all creative expression will be neatly contained. LC
(studio e, Georgetown, free, Friday–Saturday)
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City Craft Rebellion has blossomed from its humble, 50-booth beginnings in 2005 to turn into the most important indie craft occasion in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Providing a considerate various to mass-marketed vacation items and massive field shops, the winter present will have fun its twentieth anniversary with all of the resin earrings and chunky ceramics your coronary heart needs. You will discover artsy choices from unbiased companies like Sunday’s Dream, Inna Patina, Crunch Provide, and Snowmade. LC
(Seattle Middle Exhibition Corridor, Uptown, free, Saturday–Sunday)
WINTER HOLIDAYS
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Simply north of the zoo, the charming Phinney Ridge neighborhood showcases artwork in dozens of venues, from galleries to eating places to bookshops. The scenic group ought to assist brighten up your winter—you will discover wreaths, a block-printed wrapping paper workshop, and handmade pottery at this two-day competition. Better part? The fest is extra than simply one other buying alternative—it helps the nonprofit Phinney Neighborhood Affiliation, which offers scorching meals to group members, assist for the Greenwood Senior Middle, and rather more. LC
(Phinney Middle Blue Constructing, Phinney Ridge, $4-$6, Saturday–Sunday)
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Yearly, diabetes analysis middle JDRF Northwest invitations native structure companies to make use of their abilities to craft elaborate gingerbread constructions for this vacation custom that’s displayed on the Sheraton. These aren’t your common gingerbread homes; some constructions can tower as much as six toes, making them an amazing reference level to surreptitiously see in case your Hinge date is mendacity about their peak. Plus, it is a festive exercise to tack onto the usual “let’s get drinks” date. SL
(Sheraton Resort, Downtown, Donations inspired, Friday–Sunday)
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As gimmicky because it sounds, this Christmas-themed nightly parade between Bellevue’s essential buying facilities is definitely fairly magical (and completely free). Whatever the climate forecast, it snows. Dazzling lights and vacation floats that includes wintertime princesses, elves, and Santa himself cruise down the road amongst rows of dancers and toy drummers (taking part in actual drums). We advocate being in your finest conduct—Santa’s watching. SL
(Bellevue Assortment, Bellevue, free, Friday–Sunday)
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Seattle Middle’s annual winter competition kicks off the day after Thanksgiving with an ice-carving spectacle on the Worldwide Fountain that includes roving carolers, hearth pits, s’mores, and different seasonal treats. To my excessive pleasure, the winter practice and village show I keep in mind from my childhood remains to be arrange contained in the Armory, which additionally hosts a world bazaar for all of your gifting wants and on-stage leisure all through the month from the likes of the Dickens Carolers, Xmas Maximus, and Better Seattle Tubachristmas. Subsequent door on the Fisher Pavilion and adjoining garden, attend the second installment of the Seattle Christmas Market, which echoes the favored European custom with glühwein, bratwurst, and buying. I did not go final 12 months due to the value, however I peered over the excessive partitions and was tickled to see an enormous weihnachtspyramide or German Christmas pyramid, which is successfully an ornamental carousel that spins from the warmth of candles. (Though this one wasn’t powered by real-life flames, which might be for the most effective.) SL
(Seattle Middle, Uptown, Friday–Sunday)
