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Courtesy of King Ray
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The Queer Craft Fair
Rainbow Delight
Sunday 15
The Queer Craft Fair at the Old Labor Hall in Barre goes beyond your average winter bazaar: The one-day event offers more than 50 LGBTQ+ vendors, as well as an ancestor altar, a missed connections board, a community art project and on-site haircuts. There’s even a masked “access hour” at 10 a.m. for attendees seeking less sensory input while they peruse.
In Her Dreams
Thursday 12
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Ukraine’s Grand Kyiv Ballet stages the scintillating spectacle The Nutcracker at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s enduring masterpiece of sprightly movement and music awakens from its seasonal slumber, reviving the timeless tale of young Clara, her enchanted toy companion and their ethereal Christmas Eve cohort.
Mobile Bulbs
Thursday 12
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Analog Cycles’ snazzy annual Xmas Lights Ride is a slow-paced three(ish)-mile bike parade beginning at the East Poultney Green. Cyclists of all ages mount festively decorated rides to mark the season, while less adventurous folks partake in a watch party at Poultney Pub. Thematic décor runs the holiday gamut, from reindeer to menorah and beyond.
Icy Adaptation
Opens Friday 13
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Courtesy of Laura Roald
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The SnowQueen and the Trolls
Perfectly timed for these tanking temps, Vermont’s own Complications Company presents The Snow Queen and the Trolls at Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington. Adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 fairy tale, this vibrant and less nightmare-inducing stage play uses puppetry, comedy and song to guide audiences through an unforgettable magical journey.
Raise the Dickens
Sunday 15
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Yankee storyteller Willem Lange’s reading of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story at Lost Nation Theater in Montpelier is a hallmark of the holidays, harking back to 1975. A bona fide believer in authenticity, Lange uses the original cutting of the novel that Charles Dickens himself once performed — and sticks to the story’s lesser-known full title. (It is a ghost story, after all.)
Winter’s Wonderland
Monday 16 & Tuesday 17
The Paul Winter Consort take the stage with vocal powerhouse Theresa Thomason for a “Winter Solstice Celebration” concert at New Hampshire’s Lebanon Opera House and the Flynn in Burlington. The Grammy-winning group is cited as an originator of world music, as well as a new genre — dubbed “earth music” — that interweaves classical, jazz and world elements.
Changing Tides
Ongoing
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Courtesy
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“The Old Crown Point Bridge” by Anne Austin
Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery’s “Wintertide” exhibition in Shelburne is an annual group show spotlighting 16 diverse Vermont artists. The works are varied in style and range from abstract paintings to art glass — yet thematically unite in their evocation of wintry vibes. Notable names include watercolorist Anne Austin, sculptor Leslie Fry and marble magician Nancy Diefenbach.
