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DULUTH — Our guide to holiday events is full of festive shenanigans. Here are six more events to check out this week, some with a seasonal slant and some not.
Beats by Girlz Duluth celebration
The international organization Beats by Girlz works "to empower women & gender expansive people through music and technology," according to its website. It's turning 10, and there are celebration parties planned at 10 hubs of hipness including Madrid, Istanbul, Bogota, New York and, of course, Duluth. The Zenith City has a Beats by Girlz chapter led by Shaunna Heckman. A Saturday event at Bent Paddle will be an information session as well as a concert with performances by Beats by Girlz students and Minneapolis artist XINA. For details, see facebook.com/beatsbygirlzduluth.
Tom and Jerrys for CHUM
Noah Hobbs is a man who wears many hats: He's a Duluth city councilor, he works at One Roof Community Housing, and he's on the board of Churches United in Ministry. He also makes a mean Tom and Jerry. "During COVID," he said, "I got pretty, pretty bored of being isolated and tried out 10 or 11 different recipes that I found online, to see what was the best Tom and Jerry out there, and ended up making my own out of a combination of the 11 recipes."
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Last year, Hobbs posted up at the Jade Fountain to sell his custom cocktails for charity, and moved a couple hundred. He'll be back at the Spirit Valley night spot Friday at 5 p.m., mixing Tom and Jerrys to raise funds that will help stock CHUM's food shelf. His not-so-secret ingredient: Green Chartreuse liqueur. For information, see twitter.com/hobbs_duluth.
'Christmas Vacation' at Wild State
Has there ever been a more iconic second sequel than "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"? You could make a case for "Return of the Jedi" or "Toy Story 3," but the 1989 follow-up to "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) and "National Lampoon's European Vacation" (1985) has proved an unstoppable meme machine. We have "Christmas Vacation" to thank for moose-shaped eggnog glasses, anxiety about fresh-cut Christmas trees, and the fact that "Clark Griswold" is the go-to moniker for someone who overdoes a home lighting display. Wild State Cider is hosting a free screening Friday at 7 p.m. For details, see facebook.com/wildstatecider.
Holiday Dumb Show
With a name like "Holiday Dumb Show," Renegade Live is setting the bar low for its holiday sketch and improv show: the final installment in the company's "Series of Unfortunate Specials." The two-hour performance "ranges from irreverent to raunchy," the group's Robert Lee wrote in an email to the News Tribune.
"The show," he added, "will feature the amazing talents of Jody Kujawa, Christina Manchester, Robert Lee, Jonathan Manchester, Luke Moravec, Phillip Hoelscher, and Christine Winkler Johnson." It will be presented at Zeitgeist on Saturday at 8 p.m., repeating on New Year's Eve if you're looking for an incredibly "Dumb" way to say goodbye to 2022. For tickets and information, see zeitgeistarts.com.
Festival of Lessons and Carols
It may seem strange to think that pious carols like "The First Noel" and "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" were once considered unsuitable for church, but back in Charles Dickens' day, they were the equivalent of "All I Want for Christmas Is You." When the first Festival of Lessons and Carols was held, in England in 1880, it was novel for integrating popular carols with sacred hymns like "Adeste Fidelis." Why? The Right Rev. Edward White Benson saw his congregants hitting the pubs on Christmas Eve and thought that loosening things up a little might lure them into a house of worship.
The tradition continues to this day — not just in Britain, but here in Duluth. St. Paul's Episcopal Church is hosting its service Sunday at 6 p.m. The timing, in this case, does mean that if Roscoe's Pioneer Bar is calling your name on Christmas Eve, you'll still be free to go. Just don't tell the Rev. Benson. For information, see stpaulsfaithformation.org.
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Chanukah at the Mall
Hanukkah, or Chanukah, begins at sundown Sunday. To kick off the Festival of Lights, Chabad of Duluth MN is presenting a Chanukah Celebration at Miller Hill Mall. We're talking music, we're talking prizes, we're talking doughnuts, we're talking — wait for it — a giant balloon menorah. "We're not going to be able to light it, but that's OK," Chabad leader Mendy Ross told the News Tribune's Melinda Lavine. There will be another 6-foot menorah that can in fact be lit, so the holiday will be doubly bright. For details, see chabadduluth.org.
