Weekend Best Bets

All Weekend

• Check out the tasty displays at The Breakers mansion during their Gingerbread Mansion Contest. Local pastry chefs will be crafting edible models of iconic houses such as the Isaac Bell House, the Chinese Tea House, Kingscote, Chepstow, Green Animals Topiary Garden, and Hunter House. More info…
  
  
• Observe in awe as Wickford Village is transformed into a winter wonderland during the Wickford Village Festival of Lights. More info…
  
  
• Witness performers jump and soar through the air among spectacular holiday scenery, including giant candy canes and oversized gifts during Cirque Dreams Holidaze. More info…
  

Friday

• Truly get in the holiday spirit by visiting the Annual City of Providence Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, where visitors can ice skate on the Providence Rink. More info…

• Comedian/actor/musician/jack of all trades Demetri Martin comes to The Vets. Prepare to laugh your butt off. More info...

• Feel as though you’re a part of the show as you follow performers throughout Rosecliff Mansion during The Newport Nutcracker at Rosecliff. More info…

• World-renowned musicians Phil Coulter of Derry, Northern Ireland and Andy Cooney of New York will grace the stage with traditional Irish music during Celtic Twilight Christmas. More info…

Saturday

• W. Kamau Bell, a prominent comedian and former host of FXX show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell comes to Fete with Bad Lad and Zach Sherwin More info...

• Enjoy holiday classic It's A Wonderful Life at Providence Place, courtesy of National Amusements’ Holiday Classics, with free admission as long as you bring a non-perishable food item. More info…
  
  
• Enjoy great shopping, curbside carolers, delicious baked goods and more at the SoMa Holiday Stroll. More info...

• Head to the Hope Artiste Village to meet the man behind the Haven Brothers documentary and to get a signed copy of the DVD. More info...
  
  
• Enjoy dinner and drinks with your favorite 20th century English household at the Downton Abbey On-Stage Dinner Party and Preview Screening. Catch the first episode of the fifth season before it makes its debut in January. More info...

• Ring in the holidays at RISD Museum’s Getting Merry Like Christmas as holiday classics are performed in jazz and gospel form during. More info…

• Craft your very own gingerbread house at the Tenth Annual Gingerbread House Decorating Contest—the winners will be announced on Artists’ Exchange’s website. More info…
  
  
• See iconic Newport in a new light—Christmas lights, that is. Carolers will sing and Mr. and Mrs. Claus will join as the tree is lit for the holidays during the 44th Annual Bowen’s Wharf Christmas Tree Lighting. More info…

• Save 25% on selected seating and performances for most upcoming shows at the PPAC / The VETS Annual Holiday Sale. More info...

• Meet Santa and sip on bloody marys made by the expert bartenders at Aurora in Providence during indowncity's Holiday Social. More info...

Sunday

• Get a sweet, sweet sugar rush while helping to determine who makes the best cookie in the state. It all goes down at RI Food Fights Present: 3rd Annual Cookie Smackdown, happening at Fete. More info...

• Take advice from one of the area’s top party planners, Bessie Van Wickle, as she discusses how to plan the perfect holiday party at Blithewold Mansion’s Style at Home: A Holiday Party Workshop. More info…