Must List: Santa’s Lights Tour, May the Course Be with You 5K, Spectrum Dance
Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events.
By Beau Iverson & Gavin Borchert December 6, 2018
Love the Must List? Get it right in your inbox. Subscribe.
MUST BUS
Santa’s Lights Tour
(12/8) MEHVA, the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association, hosts a handful of excursions each year using its fleet of historic trolleys and motorbuses. Only one trip, however, includes Santa Claus, who joins riders for a 3-hour tour of the city’s best Christmas lights this Saturday. We promise this tour is much more magical than your average commute. Buses depart 7 p.m. $5. Pioneer Square, 2nd Ave. S. and S. Main St.; 206.477.0460; mehva.org
WALK, JOG OR RUN, YOU MUST
May the Course Be with You 5K
(12/9) Although this December marks the first without a new Star Wars film since 2014, you can still get your fix of your favorite galaxy far, far away at the second edition of this 5K run/walk. Light sabers and costumes encouraged, and nonperishable food donations will be accepted for a local food bank. Last year’s course record: 12 parsecs. 9 a.m. $25. Green Lake, 7201 East Green Lake Drive N; 425.610.9311; run2befit.com
MUST MOVE
Spectrum Dance
(12/6–12/8) Spectrum borrows from itself for its Occurrence performance series, combining excerpts from works in its repertory with new creations according to the collage-making aesthetic of choreographer (and Cornish alumnus) Merce Cunningham. Also this month, there is a workshop production (12/13–12/16) of Spectrum director Donald Byrd’s Iolanta, a metaphor-rich fairy tale about a secluded blind princess. Times vary. $20. Spectrum Dance Theater, Madrona, 800 Lake Washington Blvd.; 206.325.4161; spectrumdance.org
Photo by Truman Buffett
MUST YIPPEE-KAI-YAY
A Very Die Hard Christmas
(12/1–12/23) Sketch comedy troupe The Habit and Seattle Public Theater take on perhaps the most contentious “holiday” film of all: Die Hard. This musical parody features original music performed by a live band, action, jokes, and, we assume, plenty of heating duct crawling. Times and prices vary. Bathhouse Theatre on Green Lake, 7312 West Green Lake Dr. N; seattlepublictheater.org
MUST VIEW
Light in the Attic: A Visual Archive
(12/8–February) This touring photo exhibition shows rare and unseen prints of Light in the Attic artists (such as Glen Danzig, Townes Van Zandt and Karen Dalton), as well as images by some of the most renowned rock photographers of the 20th century, and commemorates the 16-year anniversary of beloved Seattle reissue record label, Light in the Attic. Times vary. Free. KEXP Gathering space, Queen Anne, 472 1st Ave. N; 323.661.5482; kexp.org
Follow Us
Holiday Hunt in Pioneer Square
A daily ornament drop turns December into a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt.
The holidays tend to bring out the kid in all of us. And if opening presents and eating too many treats weren’t enough, there’s also a scavenger hunt in Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. Pioneer Square’s Holiday Ornament Scavenger Hunt has returned for its third year. Twenty-five handblown glass ornaments—all made at Glasshouse Studio—are hidden across 25…
Chit-Chat Kids
Phone a friend.
Twenty years ago, before everyone walked around with a device in their pocket, kids used to call each other on a landline—often tethered to the kitchen in their home. It was a simpler time, when parents didn’t have to worry (nearly as much) about a potential predator contacting their child. Nowadays, things are different, which…
A Plate for Pickleball
The design celebrates the state’s official sport. Additional plates are on the way.
Washington served up a new license plate last week, honoring the state sport of pickleball. In the works for three years, it’s the second of seven specialty plates to hit the market since getting approved by lawmakers earlier this year. “We’re thrilled to see our efforts become reality,” says Kate Van Gent, vice president of…
Seattle-Based Agency Brings Real Voices to NBC’s New Campaign
DNA&STONE built the project around candid conversations to understand what audiences want from reporting.
“I turned off news altogether. I want to be able to form my own opinions. Just tell the truth.” These lines open NBC News’ new national campaign, a 60-second ad that drifts over forests, farms, neighborhoods, and cityscapes while Americans talk about how worn out they feel by the news. The landscape carries the conversation…