STUFF TO DO Early in the Holiday Season

The PopCulteer
December 2, 2016

This week the PopCulteer pauses briefly to tell you about some cool holiday STUFF TO DO this weekend, while we continue on with our insanely long 2016 PopCult Gift Guide. Note that all of these events either give you a great opportunity to buy gifts, or the ARE great gifts that you could share with a friend.

The 14th annual, 2016 River Arts Show and Sale, takes place, Friday, December 2 from 6:30 to 9: 00 PM and Saturday December 3 from 10 AM to 4 PM at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charleston,located at 502 Kanawha Boulevard. Admission is $3, and that includes a raffle ticket to win work by five Featured Artists. This is a great place to pick up some local art and music to complete (or start) your holiday shopping.

Since its inception The River Arts Show and Sale has transformed the UUC building into a Holiday Gift Boutique showing the wonderful work of over 25 high quality WV artists and crafts people in a wonderful ambiance and atmosphere. A Friday Night artist’s reception and Saturdays Gourmet Lunch with live music throughout have become staples of the show.

This is a great artistic celebration and a wonderful way to support local artists while you do your shopping.

Krampus and Saint Nick

On early Saturday evening, Saint Nikolaus and Krampus invite everyone to visit Oddbird Gift Emporium on the corner of Capitol and Lee Streets in Charleston. We told you about them a couple of weeks ago.

Harkening back to old Europe, Saint Nick and Krampus will be sharing the history and traditions of the upcoming Saint Nikolaus Day (on December 6). The visit from Saint Nikolaus and Krampus will be Saturday, December 3 from 4-7 PM.

This meet and greet is open to all ages, young and old, naughty and nice. We would be remiss if we didn’t warn the naughty visitors that Krampus might give them a switch (wink). Refreshments and cookies will be on hand. Photographs are permitted.

Oddbird Gift Emporium is located at 247 Capitol St in the Oddfellows Building. It is open Tuesday thru Sunday, closed on Mondays.

No Pants Players’ Joytacular

Saturday from 7 PM to 9 PM, The No Pants Players are continuing their tradition of the annual Joytacular! This will be a charitable event with fun for the whole family. With the donation of a toy for Toys for Tots, you will be helping to give underprivileged children the joy of having a present to open on Christmas morning. This is a No Pants Players all ages show, with laughs for grandpa, grandkids, and everybody in between.

It’s free to get in with the donation of a new toy, or a mere ten bucks if you’re some kind of horrible Scrooge who can’t be bothered to help the poor, needy children.

The Empty Glass

Coming to the Empty Glass on December 3, 2016 we have a rock show with Saul Zonana and TriElement.

Saul Zonana, might not be a household name but you have definitely heard his work. His music has appeared on shows such as Crazy Love, Men In Trees, Party Of Five, 24, Wonderful World, Dirt, Beautiful People, Army Wives, Arrested Development, and more. Saul has toured the world with Ace Frehely, Adrian Belew (David Bowie/ King Crimson), Crash Test Dummies, and Lisa Loeb among a few. He has mixed / tracked music for other artists such as Adrian Belew, Crash Test Dummies, Blue Oyster Cult, Taylor Dayne, ATB, and many more. Musically, Saul is not defined by a particular category/ style of music. He easily crosses genres such as Indie pop, Power pop, and Progressive rock.

For TriElement, this will be their last show for 2016. The local progessive trio plans to finish out December recording what will become a series of EP’s instead of a full length album. They have some big plans for 2017, including a couple of short-stint tours and a lot of live dates.

The show kicks off at 10 PM, Empty Glass Standard Time, with an $8.00 cover.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg for your weekend STUFF TO DO. As always, check Facebook and the Calendar section of the Gazette-Mail for all kinds of other mischief for you to find yourself immersed in.

Check PopCult every day for a ridiculous amount of new entries in the 2016 PopCult Gift Guide, along with our regular features.