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Does your calendar need to get a bit merrier? Our weekly roundup can guide your sleigh this week.
Happy waning-days-of-2025, folks. I admire us all for getting through the workdays as hot cocoa and present unwrapping approaches — but there are still so many things to do this year, and so little time left to do them.
This weekend is the winter solstice, and we wanted to include some season-turning-specific celebrations to ring in the longest night of the year. We have solstice events and holiday-themed stage shows to add to your calendar for the week. Let’s get into it.
Winter solstice events
At 7:03 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, the Northern Hemisphere will be at its greatest tilt away from the sun, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year. (Disclosure: I’m not an astronomy expert, so forgive me if I mangled any finer points of the solstice.) But despite the actual event only lasting a moment, Eugene is filled with solstice-specific happenings. Here are three to consider checking out.
Hike to ‘Solstice Pedestal’ atop Mount Pisgah
Do you have plans on Sunday at 7:44 a.m.? Are you down for summiting a mountain as the sun rises? If so, make a date to check out the “Solstice Pedestal,” a bronze sculpture atop Mount Pisgah. It has two slots that align to meet the sun’s path only during the summer and winter solstice. My colleague Wayne Parker wrote about the piece and interviewed its sculptor, Peter Helzer, back in June for the summer solstice, touching on the piece’s design and Ken Kesey connection. (If you’re not in for an early morning hike on Sunday, you can swing by to see the sun’s light through the sculpture at sunset, too.)
- When: At sunrise and sunset on Sunday, Dec. 21. Sunrise is projected to be at 7:44 a.m., and sunset at 4:37 p.m.
- Where: The summit of Mount Pisgah.
- How much: It’s not a formal event, so it doesn’t cost money — only time.
Take in a ‘Wordless Solstice’
If you’d like to celebrate the solstice with some vibey guitar music in a low-key space, Eugene singer-songwriter Brian Cutean, who also goes by Brian QTN, has hosted this annual celebration since 2006 at Tsunami Books. The house lights will be turned down low for the show, which Cutean writes will help “set intentions for the New Ear.” (Pun intended.)
- When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21.
- Where: Tsunami Books, 2585 Willamette St., Eugene.
- How much: $5 to $10 sliding-scale donation is suggested.
Craft at MECCA’s winter solstice celebration
MECCA: Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts will be hosting a solstice-themed crafting event the day before the solstice with crafts focused on “celebrating nature and welcoming back the light.” Registrations are closed for gourd fairy habitat crafting, but drop-in spots are still available for beeswax candle dipping. I’m sad about the gourd fairy slots selling out, as that sounds delightful — but as a candle lady, it’s still worth dropping in!
- When: Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20.
- Where: 555 High St., Eugene.
- How much: Candle dipping costs $10 for instructor Tenar Fynn to guide participants through making their candles.
Stage shows
Eugene Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ with Orchestra Next
Visions of sugar plums dancing aren’t in your head — they’re onstage at the Hult Center as the Eugene Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” opens this week. Famed composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s score will be performed live during the show by Orchestra Next.
- When: The show opens Friday, Dec. 19, at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Wednesday, Dec. 24. Check the Hult Center’s website for a complete list of all performance times.
- Where: The Silva Concert Hall in the Hult Center, downtown Eugene.
- How much: Tickets are available online and start at $30.
Or a sensory-friendly version with ‘Nutcracker Short & Suite’
This rendition of “The Nutcracker” is performed by the Eugene Ballet Youth and specifically designed for people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers to enjoy the show. That means a reduced running time of 60 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission, dimmed house lights, recorded music to limit sudden changes in sound, and no strobe lights or explosives will be used. The lobby will have immersive activities, space to move, a calm-down area, and a space to watch the performance on video.
Fidget spinners, headphones and other comfort items are welcome.
- When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23.
- Where: The Silva Concert Hall in the Hult Center, downtown Eugene.
- How much: Tickets are available online and start at $15.
Christmas gets goth with Revelers Aerial Works: ‘The Nightmare Before Cirque-mas’
Jack Skellington and aerial dance: need I say more? Revelers Aerial Works is putting their spin on “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with an aerial reimagining of the story, also featuring classic circus arts and “mild scares” from the aerial group.
- When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, and 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20.
- Where: The Soreng Theater in the Hult Center, downtown Eugene.
- How much: Tickets are available online and start at $35.
Consider the season with ‘Christmas Presence’
I spoke with Eugene couple David and Jeany Snider about putting on this show, which mixes storytelling, audience input and renditions of classic holiday songs. It’s a Christmas show more about what the holiday means beyond candy canes and Yuletide glee, they said.
- When: Friday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m and 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.
- Where: Wildish Community Theater, 630 Main St., Springfield.
- How much: Tickets are available for purchase online. Adult tickets are $25, while student tickets are $20. The Friday performance at 7:30 p.m. will also be livestreamed, which people can watch for $15. The show is also running a promotion to sell four tickets for the price of three.
What’s playing in theaters?
Box office releases
First, there were forest aliens. Then, in a shocking twist, water aliens. Now, a transformational pivot: fire aliens. OK, OK, sarcasm aside, James Cameron’s giga-franchise “Avatar” is getting its latest installment this week with “Avatar: Fire & Ash” coming to theaters. Not to knock any Na’vi enthusiasts, but I will be sitting this one out. I saw the last “Avatar” movie in IMAX, and it gave me a diabolical headache that lasted for hours. Playing at Metro Cinemas, Regal Valley River Center and Cinemark Eugene Springfield 17.
But I am very much looking forward to “The Secret Agent,” a Brazilian neo-noir political thriller that takes place during Carnaval in 1977, amid the backdrop of the country’s military dictatorship. It stars Wagner Moura, who played Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series “Narcos,” as a technology expert on the run who returns to his hometown to try and reunite with his son. The film had a celebrated run at the Cannes Film Festival, including a win for best actor for Moura and best director for Kleber Mendonça Filho. Playing at Metro Cinemas.
Then there’s “The Housemaid,” an adaptation of the best-selling Freida McFadden thriller starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried and directed by Paul Feig. I haven’t read the book, but I do trust Feig with zany thrillers about women in domestic life — any “A Simple Favor” fans in the audience? — so I’m expecting this to be a bit of campy fun. Playing at Regal Valley River Center and Cinemark Eugene Springfield 17.
Special screenings
Did you know that one of the earliest examples of a slasher film is also a Christmas movie? You can check it out in Eugene at the Art House. “Black Christmas,” the 1974 horror flick about a group of sorority sisters who are stalked and murdered by a killer at Christmastime, is a popular answer for being the first slasher movie (though some horror movie buffs will quibble with that assessment), with unnerving phone calls coming from inside the house, and a “final girl” protagonist years before “Halloween.” Playing at the Art House Thursday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 20, and Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 9 p.m.