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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

Colorful abstract background with bokeh light
Colorful abstract background with bokeh light

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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

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