by The Cowl Editor on December 5, 2019
Local
by Brenna O’Leary ’20 A&E Staff
This holiday season, as you decorate your dorms, shop for more people than you can count, and listen to Christmas music, do more than just rock around the Christmas tree stressing over finals. Take the time to rock around the city of Providence! There are many holiday events coming up in the next two weeks that are perfect for distracting students from their end of semester worries. It is the best remedy: get off campus and celebrate! Here are just a few things Providence has in store this holiday season.
Later this coming week, downtown Providence will be abuzz with holiday cheer and winter magic. To start the holiday season, Eat Drink RI, Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy, and Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism are hosting the PVD Winter Lights Market. It opens this coming weekend, with events on both Friday and Saturday. The Providence Tree Lighting Ceremony at City Hall will take place Friday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m. The steps of City Hall will be showered in Christmas spirit, and there will be food and performances as well. Promotions show that it is an opportunity to “watch the steps of City Hall illuminate with the lighting of the City’s tree while enjoying local culinary delights and performances.”
This begins a sparkling weekend for downtown Providence. Following this event, on Saturday, December 7, will be another Providence Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Providence Rink in Burnside Park, accompanied by a figure skating show that features an array of skaters including the 2018 Olympic Bronze Medalist Mirai Nagasu. Mayor Jorge Elorza will also be present at both ceremonies. The PVD Winter Lights Market events are great for students whose schedules are packed, as they are all free and located nearby at Burnside Park and City Hall.
If you start your holidays with these lights festivals, you should also see the lights go on and the curtains go up with the fun musical experiences in Providence. The beloved story by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, will be performed live by the Trinity Repertory Company. Located on Washington Street, Trinity Rep has been running the show since the beginning of November and will continue to do so through Dec. 29. Tickets are available on their website or you can call the Trinity Rep Box Office. According to their website, it is a “magical, music-filled production [that] continues its four-decade-long tradition of delighting audiences.” If you love live performances, you can also check out the Festival Ballet Providence as it presents the Nutcracker. The show runs from Dec. 13-15, and prices vary based on seating.
If this is not magical enough for you this holiday season, there are so many other festive activities in Providence. At the Providence Place Mall, you can take pictures with Santa—or your pet can! The hours vary, but pet photoshoots take place on every Monday through Dec. 16. Another activity, although a bit pricy, is Holiday Glass Blowing at the Gather: Glass Blowing Studio on Atwells Avenue. This is a great way to learn something new, get off campus, and even an opportunity to make a gift with love for a special someone this Christmas.
This is just a little sneak peek at some of the events and activities of our local community this holiday season. If you are interested in learning about more events, check out GoProvidence.com. On their website, they list all the events in RI this holiday season and provide your imagination with a never-ending amount of possibilities to get into the Christmas spirit and get you out of any finals funk.