Wednesday 06 – How about a little activism for your holiday season? The collective of environmental artists calling themselves Unicorn Riot made a two-hour documentary called Black Snake Killaz about the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline, and you can see it tonight in Denton. The screening is at 8pm at Dan’s Silverleaf, 103 Industrial St, Denton. Admission is free. Call 940-320-2000.
Thursday 07 – Ricki Derek playing at the Scat Jazz Lounge isn’t anything new, but our city’s resident swing music maestro will be running his ninth annual A Merry Little Christmas Show at the downtown venue, performing jazzed-up versions of your favorite holiday songs. The shows are Fri-Sat at 111 W 4th St, FW. Tickets are $32-38. Call 817-870-9100.
Friday 08 –Better than a pub crawl is a pub crawl for a charitable cause. That’s the promise of Santacon, a national event in which people dressed as Santa or in other Christmas gear go out for a night of drinking while benefiting a local charity, in our case the Tarrant Area Food Bank. The event starts at 6pm at T&P Tavern, 221 W Lancaster Av, FW. Admission comes with a donation of cash or canned goods.
Saturday 09 – You could do your Christmas shopping at a crowded mall and be utterly miserable, or you can do it at Cowtown Indie Bazaar. The annual event at Will Rogers Memorial Center will probably be crowded, too, but with the locally made artisanal goods for sale, you’ll probably feel somewhat better about your purchases. The event is 11am-5pm at 3401 W Lancaster Av, FW. Admission is $3-5.
Sunday 10 – It’s hard to believe that Fort Worth Opera has never put on Amahl and the Night Visitors before, but the troupe is giving a one-night performance of Gian Carlo Menotti’s English-language one-act opera that has become a Christmas staple for companies around the world. The performance is at 3pm at Ridglea Presbyterian Church, 6201 Camp Bowie Blvd, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-288-1214.
Monday 11 – Now that the daytime high temperatures have actually dropped out of the 80s this December, now’s a good time to go ice skating at Panther Island Ice. The outdoor rink has opened once again, so you can take to the ice and work on becoming the next Olympic skating champion or Stanley Cup winner. The rink is open thru Jan 15 at 223 NE 4th St, FW. Admission is $12. Call 682-704-7711.
Tuesday 12 – There remains plenty of time to catch the Amon Carter Museum’s show Commanding Space: Women Sculptors of Texas. The exhibit uses the sparse, at times ferociously enigmatic work of Celia Eberle, Kana Harada, Sharon Kopriva, Sherry Owens, and Linda Ridgway to point a way toward the medium’s future. The show runs thru Nov 18 at 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, FW. Admission is free. Call 817-738-1933.
Fort Worth Opera has presented Amahl and the night visitors several times at the Rose Marine theater featuring Eric Illick, son of Artistic Director Joe Illick.