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Must List: The Buttcracker, Handel’s Messiah and Holiday Gifts Galore
What to do this weekend in Seattle
Must Cruise
The Argosy Christmas Ship Festival
(Through 12/22, times vary) Cruise into Christmas on a sparkling boat, while enjoying choral performances, seasonal cocktails and a special reading of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas by Santa himself. Landlubbers can enjoy the spectacle, warmed by a bonfire, at one of the cruise’s many stops along Puget Sound, where the choir’s 20-minute performances will be broadcast via speaker to the shore.
Must Rock
The Buttcracker Takes Over the Erikson Theatre
(12/18 to 12/20, times vary) “Hair metal” songs ratchet up a bizarre holiday package very loosely based on the classic. Party on, Clara.
Must See
William Kentridge at Greg Kucera Gallery
(Through 12/24, times vary) The famed South African artist, known for his expressive, socially conscious animated films of his sooty drawings and erasures, shows a series of volatile collage etchings, large and small.
Must Shop
Seattle magazine’s 2015 Holiday Gift Guide
‘Tis the season for giving. Browse our top local finds for him, for her, for home…for everyone.
Must Listen
Seattle Symphony Performs Handel’s Messiah
(12/18 to 12/20, times vary) A centuries-old December tradition, this venerated masterpiece is performed by the Seattle Symphony.
Must Go
Great Seats Left for Late-Night Showings of Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker
It’s the 10th anniversary for this provocative holiday performance and we’re told there are two 10 p.m. shows next week on December 21 and 22 that still have stellar seats left. Nab tickets here and get thee to the The Triple Door, stat.
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Rearview Mirror: Godzilla, Cork, and a New Sushi Spot
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
POPPING OUR SENSES I don’t think I’ve ever given much thought to a wine cork beyond the satisfying pop it makes when opening a bottle, but after spending a morning at DeLille Cellars in Woodinville with about 50 other people, I have a new appreciation for it. The occasion was “(Pop) Open Your Senses,” a…
Best Bookstore: Beguiled Books
This Pioneer Square darling is easy to spot: pink doors and candy-striped details mark its home near Occidental Square. Beguiled Books started in 2024 as a mobile bookstore, making its way from table to tent to trailer, and finally to its current brick-and-mortar space. Labelling itself as “Seattle’s Original Romance Bookstore,” Beguiled specializes in just…
Best Art Gallery: Foster/White Gallery
A pillar in Pioneer Square’s arts ecosystem, Foster/White Gallery opened in 1966 (then called Richard White Gallery) as the first space of its kind in the neighborhood. It soon gained notoriety for showing preeminent Northwest artists such as Morris Graves, William Morris, George Tsutakawa, and Dale Chihuly. In the decades after founding the gallery, its…
Best Museum: Seattle Art Museum
A vote for Seattle Art Museum is really a vote for three different art outings. The downtown museum pairs ambitious exhibitions with a global collection; the Seattle Asian Art Museum occupies SAM’s original 1933 Art Deco home amid the 43 acres of Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park; and the Olympic Sculpture Park puts art out in…