Your 5-minute guide to the best things to do in Charlotte | Dec. 14-20
Friday
▪ If you missed Vintage Charlotte’s Winter Market in November, VTGCLT Pop gives you one last chance to shop more than 90 local and regional small businesses specializing in vintage and handmade goods. From food and drink to fashion, toys, jewelry, accessories, home décor and other fun, unique finds, this creative market place pops up from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Dec. 20. EpiCentre.
▪ Brooklyn teen Miles Morales debuts as one of Marvel’s alternate-world heroes in the new animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which also introduces Spider-Gwen — a character created by Charlotte-based comic book writer Jason Latour and artist Robbi Rodriguez. The movie is premiering nationally to a swell of positive reviews. See local listings for theaters and times.
▪ Fourteen-year-old ventriloquist and 2017 “America’s Got Talent” winner Darci Lynne Farmer wraps her first full year of touring with a holiday variety show: Rocking Around the Christmas Tree with Darci Lynne and Friends, co-starring Nigel (the British bird), Petunia (the singing rabbit), Oscar (the Motown mouse), and a cast of other puppets. 7 p.m. Ovens Auditorium. $29.75-$49.75.
▪ The annual Charlotte Symphony Pops Magic of Christmas show is all-new this year under the direction of resident conductor Christopher James Lees. Expect staples like “Sleigh Ride,” “Hallelujah Chorus” and songs from “The Nutcracker” and “Polar Express,” as well as snow and Santa at all 10 performances. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday and additional performances through Dec. 23. An abridged version for younger children is at 11 a.m. Saturday. Knight Theater. $19-$137.
▪ Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte returns to Armadillo Acres for “The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical” — a sequel (of sorts) to Betsy Kelso and David Nehls’ “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” that features a decorating contest, a resident who hates the holiday, a “Christmas Carol” sequence, and a case of amnesia interspersed with lewd humor and sexual innuendo. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday and additional performances through Dec. 23. Hadley Theater at Queens University. $44-$50.
Sunday
▪ The new touring production of A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage finds Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Charlie and the rest of the Peanuts gang discovering the true meaning of the holidays in the stage adaptation of the 1965 TV special. The themes explored in Charles M. Schulz’s classic special remain as timeless as Vince Guaraldi’s piano score. 2 and 7 p.m. Ovens Auditorium. $35-$45.
▪ The Charlotte Film Society presents a free screening of the 1951 film version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The black and white film stars Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and Mervyn Johns as Bob Cratchit, and the movie — directed by Brian Desmond Hurst — is still considered the definitive version. 2 p.m. Francis Auditorium at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Main Branch.
▪ You’ve heard of the running of the bulls. But what about running of the Santas? That’s what uptown will look like Sunday when participants in RiRa’s inaugural 5K Santa Run take to the streets for a mid-afternoon holiday jaunt. The event is a fundraiser that benefits Charlotte’s Patriot Military Family Foundation, which helps provide services for veterans. 3 p.m. RiRa Irish Pub. $40-$45.
Thursday
▪ To celebrate the start of Winter Break, consider Discovery Place Science’s Winter Wonder Bugs program — which allows kids to cozy up to live bugs, learn about neuroscience with robo roaches, study fireflies, craft buggy tree ornaments and butterfly masks, and even stop for a bite (of bugs) in the Bug Bistro. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (check the museum’s website for other hours through Jan. 2). $17, $13 for children, $15 seniors; $3 extra for Bug Lab exhibit which includes giant insect models, games, and challenges.
▪ The Nutcracker isn’t the only ballet in town this week. On its first tour of the United States, the National Ballet Theatre of Odessa brings its gorgeous interpretation of the Brothers Grimm’s “The Sleeping Beauty” to life with a kiss, a score by Tchaikovsky, choreography by Marius Petipa, staging by Maria Polyudova, and a cast of 55 performers. 7:30 p.m. Knight Theater. $40-$60.