It's Snow Time in SoCal: While flakes won't fall from the sky in the days ahead, Southern Californians craving a little cold funtime can find the frosty stuff in some offbeat spots. Look to Studio City, where 70 tons of snow will serve as the shivery centerpiece of the Winter Family Festival on Dec. 11 or Snow Wonder in Marina del Rey on Dec. 10. SNOW DAY LA has the cooler to-dos, and cocktails, near Dodger Stadium, while a Culver City-based dance performance will incorporate snow. And is there a bit of snow on the ground up at the newly re-opened SkyPark at Santa's Village? Photos say this is so.
Holiday Boat Parades: Newport Beach's century-plus parade arrives on Dec. 14, but there are other sparkly charmers to be found just off our shores. The King Harbor Boat Parade sails on Saturday, Dec. 10 in Redondo Beach, the very same night that the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade takes to the waves. Other boat parades up the coast, from Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard to Morro Bay, will also run boat parades on Saturday, Dec. 10. Toot toot and so forth!
Christmas Tree Lane Opens: Does your great-grandma have tales of visiting the famous deodar cedars of Altadena, the ones that go all twinkly around the middle of December? The tree-terrific light display has been around for nearly a century now, making it a centerpiece of seasonal to-dos for many Southern Californians. Night #1 is Saturday, Dec. 10, and there's a craft festival earlier in the day, too, to get the merry fest going.
Van Gogh's "Bedroom" Opens: It isn't too often that a famous painting hits the road, and for it to be a masterpiece, one known well beyond the doors of The Art Institute of Chicago, is a wondrous thing. If you're a fan of the iconic painter, and know he painted three versions of his bedroom, you'll want to see this particular take at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. Opening date of the three-month exhibit? Friday, Dec. 9
Renegade Craft Fair: Okay, no more putting things off, or hemming, or hawing, or doing whatever you do to avoid holiday shopping. The time is nigh, the place is Grand Park, and a caboodle of regional artisans will be out with very handmade-y high quality goods that are ripe for the buying and even more ripe for the gifting. A belt, some earrings, a tee, a mug? Done, done, done, and done. It's on both weekend days, Dec. 10 and 11, so make your way to Metro at once and do up your holiday shopping, Grand-Park-ly.
