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This article was published 19/12/2024 (647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Beeracle on Fort Street

• Devil May Care Brewing Co., 155 Fort St.
• Saturday, noon-close
• Free admission

The holiday season needn’t be all milk and cookies, festive nogs and cranberry punch. And Devil May Care Brewing Co.’s seasonal releases to be poured at their annual Beeracle on Fort Street holiday party will prove just that.

On Saturday starting at noon, the Fort Street brewery will be pouring small-batch new releases and returning favourites, including the Ravenscroft coffee gingerbread imperial stout and the Little Full Lotta Sap spruce beer (fans of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation will appreciate the name of the latter).

At 5 p.m. Freebirds Kitchen will join the party with food for purchase including wild rice and turkey soup, bannock, holiday-dressed brussels sprouts and, with a hat tip to Ross Geller from Friends, their version of his Moistmaker leftover turkey-and-stuffing sandwich.

There’s no charge for admission, and all ages are welcome to attend — Devil May Care offers plenty of non-alcoholic beverages, and the brewery also has a number of board games on hand.

— Ben Sigurdson

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Holiday har-hars

• Sunday, 8 p.m.
• Park Theatre, 698 Osborne St.
• Tickets $20 (plus fees) in advance or $25 at the door

Cap off 2024 with some laughter at the final Winnipeg Comedy Showcase of the year.

Hosted by Jared Story, this long-running quarterly event features six local standup comedians delivering their best material.

Sunday will be the 38th edition of the showcase — which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year — and the lineup includes a cast of returnees and first-timers.

On the docket is Tyler Kotowski, a regular host and headliner at Rumor’s Restaurant & Comedy Club; Matt Kay, former winner of the Funniest Person with a Day Job contest; Garrett LeBlanc, host and producer of the Dear Diary show at the Handsome Daughter; Lady Lumps; a musical comedy duo made up of Danielle Kayahara and Jenny-Lynn Sheldon; Karlee Liljegren, host and producer of King of Garbage Hill at the Handsome Daughter; and Pat Gagné, another Funniest Person with a Day Job winner who will be making his showcase debut this weekend.

Doors open at 7 p.m.; arrive early for pre-show happy hour.

— Eva Wasney

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Studio Ghibli at Cinematheque

• Dave Barber Cinematheque, 100 Arthur St.
• Various times

If you need an escape from your own world, consider visiting Hayao Miyazaki’s, where seeing is the same as believing. In the 39 years since the Japanese filmmaker co-founded Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki has become the most influential purveyor of animated feature films since the namesake of Disneyland. But unlike Walt, who put his pencil down to become a producing mogul, the 83-year-old Miyazaki continues to craft his universe — dreamy, folkloric, epic — by his own hand.

On Friday and Saturday, open the door to 100 Arthur St. to be greeted by My Neighbor Totoro, a film that has been ranked by Sight & Sound as the greatest animated film of all time. Follow it up with Spirited Away (screening Saturday and Sunday), an undisputed masterpiece that earned Miyazaki the 2001 Academy Award for best animated feature.

The celebration of Ghibli and Miyazaki continues next week with a rare opportunity to catch 1984’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on the big screen (Dec. 27-28) along with another underappreciated classic, Castle in the Sky (Dec. 28-29).

— Ben Waldman

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Nine Lessons and Carols

• Annual Christmas festival
• St. George’s, Crescentwood, 168 Wilton St.
• Sunday, 7 p.m.
• Free — childcare is provided at this event

What is it about Anglican spectacle?

It’s not the best known of the religious pageantries. But remember that three of the top 10 most watched televised events — two royal weddings and a funeral — unfolded at Westminster Abbey, arguably the world’s most famous Anglican church. (Wikipedia tells us that at least 16 royal weddings have taken place at the abbey since the year 1100; wonder whether Medievals had paparazzi.)

Clearly, Anglican pageantry draws in the religious and non-religious alike. This is true of St. George’s annual Nine Lessons and Carols. The event is a little fancy, but mostly warm and welcoming. After a land acknowledgment, and in between readings, we’re treated to one of the Anglican Church’s artistic gifts: choral music, in this case (mostly) from England’s older canon of Christmas carols.

Candlelight bounces off Tyndall stone, mosaic tile columns and stained glass, as the frocked choristers walk in procession through the sanctuary. Afterwards attendees gather, under candlelight, in the gym for homemade treats and non-alcoholic wassail, a hot mulled drink.

Back to Wikipedia: “Wassailing refers to a traditional ceremony that involves singing and drinking to the health of trees on (the Christmas festival) Twelfth Night in the hopes that they might better thrive.”

Wassail we do?

— Conrad Sweatman

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Winter Solstice Harp & Flow by Candlelight

• Sunday, 7-9 p.m.
• The Third Place, 66 King St.
• Tickets $45; email kaylachafe@gmail.com for information on how to book.

Make this last weekend before Christmas all about restoration and rest with a yoga session that promises to calm your nervous system and ground you.

The Winter Solstice yoga by candlelight is led by certified fitness instructor Kayla Chafe and certified health-care musician Mary Robinson, with therapeutic harp music to promote a deeper sense of relaxation.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and guests are encouraged to arrive by 7:15 p.m. to settle into the space. Yoga begins at 7:30 p.m. and continues for an hour before 30 minutes of socializing. Remember to wear comfortable clothing for movement and bring a yoga mat and something to drink.

— AV Kitching

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