It might not be quite time to start listening to holiday music, but you can definitely get a jump start on your holiday shopping this weekend. (And we won’t tell if you’ve already started jamming to “Jingle Bell Rock.”) Hanukkah is right around the corner as well, and crisp temperatures are bringing the holiday spirit. You’ll also have the opportunity this weekend to enjoy a bird walk, hear some storytelling or enjoy a swanky evening to benefit the local YMCA.
Want to see your event included in What You’ll Do? We pull these ideas from our community calendar, which you can find on the right side of WYDaily.com. Submitting to the calendar is free and easy, so make sure to add upcoming events for your group or organization.
Film, Music and Theatre
The Williamsburg Regional Library is paying tribute to William & Mary alumna Glenn Close with their Thursday Afternoon Film Series. The film this week is The Lion in Winter, a made-for-television remake that has Close playing Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine opposite Patrick Stewart as King Henry II. The movie will show at 2 p.m. in the library’s theater.
The York County School of the Arts presents An Evening of Plays at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights. The one act shows “Band-Aides” — written by SOA student Elise Watt — and “When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet” will be performed at Bruton High School. Tickets are $10.
A woodwind quartet from the Virginia Symphony will perform a free concert in the Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre as part of “The Virginia Symphony Presents…” series. The concert will start at 7:30 p.m., and include classically American music from the colonial era to contemporary times.
Start That Holiday Shopping
Find a gift for a loved one (or yourself!) at the Queens Lake Middle School Holiday Arts and Crafts Bazaar. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, shop from more than 40 artisans and vendors at the 7th annual event. There will also be live music, food concessions, a children’s arts and crafts room and a bazaar raffle.
The Williamsburg Outlet Mall is holding its annual Holiday Indoor Street Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Vendors will be selling arts and crafts, antiques, food, jewelry and more.
At the Colonial Williamsburg Employee Arts & Crafts Show, employees, volunteers and retirees will present and sell handmade wares. There will be jams and handmade jewelry available, along with many other gift items for the holidays. The show will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Historic Triangle Community Services Building.
Ne’Qwa artist Trieste will be at Yankee Candle Village from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday to sign a large selection of special ornaments. Ne’Qwa artists create every design by using the centuries-old tradition of painting on the inside of mouth-blown glass.
Farmer’s Markets
The Toano Farmer’s Market, on the corner of Forge and Richmond roads, is open year-round, opening at 8 a.m. Saturdays. It showcases Bob’s Sausage Company, Rainbow Eggs, Heidi’s Home Grown, plus an array of produce vendors during the year.
Come to the first Holiday Market at the Williamsburg Farmers Market starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Shop for local produce, baked goods and other products on Merchant’s Square on Duke of Gloucester Street.
Discover Something New
On Thursday and Friday morning and afternoon, there will be an Archaeological Dig at New Quarter Park. Led by the Tidewater Virginia Historical Society and the Fairfield Foundation, the dig will focus on an area where previous digs uncovered colonial artifacts. Registration is required and space limited, but the park is open to the public.
Return to the park Saturday morning for a Bird Walk and Book Signing. Bill Williams, Director of Education at the William & Mary Center for Conservation Biology, will lead the walk from 7 to 9 a.m., and will sign his book Birds of Virginia’s Colonial Historic Triangle afterwards.
Bibliophiles should head to the William & Mary Bookstore this weekend for a slew of book signings. Books being signed are A Very Virginia Christmas by Wilford Kale, Daddy’s Christmas Angel by Mary Montague Sikes, First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Mamie Eisenhower, An Intimate Portrait of the Women Who Shaped America by Feather Foster, Goshen Revisited by Jack and Judy Witt and Hard Facts:Terrorist Camps, the CIA, and the State of Homeland Security by Capt. Edward M. Brittingham.
Health and Wellness Support
Those with questions on the Affordable Care Act can head to the James City County Library at 10 a.m. Thursday for an ACA Information Session. Healthcare navigator Heather R. Parsons will present a brief overview of the program and answer questions. The event is free and open to the public.
An Alzheimer’s Association Support Group will meet at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Colonial Heritage Club House. This group is specifically for caregivers of a family member or friend with dementia.
Williamsburg is among more than 300 cities participating in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s International Survivors of Suicide Day at 1 p.m. Saturday. The 15th annual program at Riverside Doctors Hospital will feature a panel of individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide, and mental health experts. The Day allows those who have are bereaved after a suicide loss to connect in a supportive and healing environment.
This and That
The 12th annual R.F. Wilkinson Family YMCA Festival of Trees will be held Saturday evening at the Alan B. Miller Hall at William & Mary. Starting at 6:30 p.m., the black tie optional event will include music, an open bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres. There will also be a raffle, a live and silent auction. Funds raised will benefit the YMCA’s Guardian Program, which gives children and family in the area access to programs in youth development and healthy living.
Need a driver’s license, to register your car, or to do another Department of Motor Vehicles task? The DMV’s Mobile Unit will be on the W&M campus, at the Morton Hall Parking lot from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The Mobile Unit is open to the public, and can process the same transactions as a regular DMV.
Tellebration! at the Williamsburg Regional Library celebrates storytelling with two weekend events. On Saturday, there will be a four-hour storytelling workshop for youth and teens aged 10 to 19 beginning at 10:30 a.m. (registration required). Participants will have a chance to share their stories after the workshop. From 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, the public is invited to hear the Weavers of the World Storytelling Collaborative swap stories, joined by two winners of the Richmond area youth storytellers competition.
