Christmas, Hanukkah Events In Silver Spring: Music, Tree Lightings

SILVER SPRING, MD — There are plenty of things going on around Silver Spring to celebrate the 2023 winter holidays.

Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, starts at sundown on Dec. 7, and ends at nightfall on Dec. 15. Christmas, of course, is on Dec. 25, but you don’t have to wait to start taking in all the sights and sounds of the season.

Here are some of the holiday-related activities going on in and around Silver Spring:

• Maryland Youth Ballet is performing The Mini Nut as an abbreviated Nutcracker holiday show for families. Saturday, Dec. 2, Sunday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 9. 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
• Reflections Holiday Concert, Saturday, Dec. 2. 4 p.m. NIH Community Orchestra Chorus presents selections from Copland's Rodeo to the reflective choral work Fern Hill by John Corigliano. It also will have selections from Handel's Messiah. The full orchestra and chorus will perform at the Silver Spring United Methodist Church.
• Sounds of the Season: Saturday, Dec. 2, to Saturday, Dec. 23. Downtown Silver Spring is offering holiday performances by a variety of local bands with hot cocoa and s’mores stations. Times vary.
• Meet Santa or the Grinch at Downtown Silver Spring’s Turn Up the Cheer. Saturdays Dec. 2, 9 and 16. Noon-3 p.m. Enjoy cheer stations and take a selfie with special guests: Santa (Dec. 2 and 16) and the Grinch (Dec. 9).
• Block Print Holiday Cards (Adult Class) at Create Arts Center. Sunday, Dec. 3. 1-4 p.m. In this three-hour printmaking workshop, participants will compose a design, carve their design into an easy cut block and print the design onto folded greeting cards.
• Silver Spring Holiday Market and Craft Show at the Silver Spring Civic Building on Saturday, Dec. 3. Noon-4 p.m. More than 80 artisans, crafters and independent businesses will showcase arts and crafts, jewelry and baked goods.
• Ceramic Holiday Ornament Making Workshop (Adult Class) at Create Arts Center. Wednesdays, Dec. 6 and 13. 6-8 p.m. Create beautiful and personalized ceramic ornaments to give as gifts, display for the holidays or hang in your home year-round.
• Collage Holiday Ornament Making Workshop (Families) at Create Arts Center on Saturday, Dec. 9. 11 a.m.-2m. Create collaged holiday ornaments. Choose from a selection of colorful, textured papers to layer onto papier-mâché forms that will be transformed into your designs.
• Mosaic Jewelry Making Workshop at Arts on the Block on Saturday, Dec. 9. Noon-2:30 p.m. Make a holiday gift or a piece for yourself of one bespoke mosaic necklace and one pair of mosaic earrings. With hands-on help, sketch out a design, learn basic glass-cutting and puzzling techniques and get to work on the mosaic jewelry.
• Kids Winter Wreath Making Workshop at Create Arts Center on Sunday, Dec. 10. 1 p.m. During the 90-minute workshop, participants will adorn and personalize grapevine wreaths suitable for holidays, special occasions, year-round decorations and more.
• Breakfast with Santa at Dave and Busters Silver Spring on Sunday, Dec. 10. 9 a.m. Meet Santa at a breakfast buffet that will include a $10 Power Card® with Unlimited Video Game Play, kid-friendly crafts and a photo with Santa.
• EWI’s 10th Annual Women Owned Holiday Market on Saturday, Dec. 16. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The Latino Economic Development Center continues to support women entrepreneurs throughout the region with a holiday market with majority Black, Latina and immigrant-owned businesses at the Silver Spring Civic Building.
• Artisan Holiday Market on Saturday, Dec. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Eat, drink and shop at a holiday artisan market along Ellsworth Drive between Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street.
• Nutcracker Night and Mini Nutcracker on Saturday, Dec. 16. 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Akhmedova Ballet Academy will perform the best-known dances from The Nutcracker at the Mini Nutcracker and the full-length ballet at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center.
• A Gospel Big Band Christmas at Jesus House on Dec. 23. 7-9 p.m. A Gospel Big Band Christmas is a soulful celebration of Christmas through the rendition of traditional Christmas carols.
• The Majestic Theater is showing holiday movie favorites Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and other holiday classics from Dec. 2-23. Showtimes vary.
• Holiday Classics at the AFI Silver: Enjoy perennial Christmas classics A Christmas Story, White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Little Women and '80s favorites Die Hard and The Muppet Christmas Carol and more. Screenings from Dec. 5-24.
• Create Arts Center is offering a series of Winter Break Art Camp days for ages 6-12 as well as Counselors in Training. Dec. 26, 27, 28, 29 and Jan. 15. Parents can choose the days that work best for their schedule, with activities from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. with before- and after-care available.
• Silver Spring Ice Skating, the outdoor ice-skating rink at Veterans Plaza, is open daily, including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Skating sessions are for two hours. Reservations are available up to two weeks in advance. To purchase tickets, visit the website or purchase on-site. The rink has more than 400 pairs of skates available to rent, sized from toddler to adult.

The following holiday events are taking place at Westfield Montgomery Mall:

• Hanukkah Celebration with the Chabad of Potomac beginning at 4pm on Thursday, December 7. Celebrate the festival of lights with a Menorah Lighting Celebration with the Chabad of Potomac. Enjoy latkes, traditional treats and crafts at this community event kicking off the eight-day celebration.
• A Wacky Tacky Sweater Party from 12:30pm to 5:00pm on Saturday, December 9. Join Grammy U Mentor, Mega Ran, for Mega Ran, for Montgomery’s Tacky Sweater Holiday Party with a live performance featuring hits from his new Children's Album, Buddy's Magic Toy Box hitting #2 on American Billboard for Top Children's Album! After the performance, Meet Tamo and the promo team from DC 101, enjoy brews along with kid-friendly treats from Lone Oak Brewery with a pop-up from MoCo Show at the Jingle Lounge. Drop off lightly used and clean toys, books, or clothes for Interfaith Works and receive a gift from Westfield! Lone Oak will return to the Jingle Lounge for more seasonal fun from 12pm to 5pm on Sunday, December 10. For details click here.
• Cookie Decorating with Santa from 10:30am to 11:30am on Saturday, December 16: Pick up an edible decorating kit from the Nordstrom E Bar and get creative by decorating your cookies by the tree and then showing off your designs to Santa! Tickets are $12 per kit with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Operation Warm. Click here to register.
• Photos with Santa now through Sunday, December 24: Reservations are recommended to guarantee your picture-perfect moment with Santa! Before or after your visit with the man in red, stop by the Letters to Santa pop-up near Bath and Body Works and make sure he knows exactly what you hope will be waiting under your tree this year! Click here to secure a memorable holiday photo that will warm your heart all year long!

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