Thursday, March 28, 2024

Christmas season brings winter events

November 28, 2012
	<p>Lansing resident Scott Miller uses a chainsaw to carve away at a large block of ice Dec. 2, 2011, at Winter Glow in downtown East Lansing. The event gave East Lansing residents the opportunity to get into the holiday spirit with food, performances and carriage rides. State News File Photo</p>

Lansing resident Scott Miller uses a chainsaw to carve away at a large block of ice Dec. 2, 2011, at Winter Glow in downtown East Lansing. The event gave East Lansing residents the opportunity to get into the holiday spirit with food, performances and carriage rides. State News File Photo

Photo by State News file photo | The State News

With Christmas break right around the corner, there will be plenty of Christmas-themed events around campus in the upcoming weeks. Winter Glow, The Last Noel and A Christmas Cabaret are only a handful of featured events offered to students and local citizens.

The annual East Lansing Winter Glow celebration will start at 3 p.m. Saturday. This year’s event is full of jolly activities including ice carving, a reindeer petting zoo, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus and marshmallow roasting. There also will be an outdoor holiday farmers market and Jingle Jam Music Tent. The activities will be open from 3-6 p.m.

The finale of the day’s events will start at 5 p.m. with the lighting of the luminaries. There will be approximately 500 luminaries lit with the help of volunteers from 5-8 p.m.

Winter Glow is free of charge and is open to the general public to attend.

The Spartan Dischords will be putting on their annual Christmas special, The Last Noel — A Yuletide Farewell, to kick off the Christmas festivities this upcoming weekend.

The performances will start at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday, with both shows playing at Kellogg Center Auditorium. The tickets are on sale for $5 for students and $7 for adults, with a 50-cent processing fee at spartandischords.com.

The show will be focused around a collection of traditional Christmas-themed songs with a few mix-ups of popular current tracks. The Spartan Dischords are known for combining humor and laughs into their traditional mix, adding a different kind of look to the show.

“One thing that the Dischords do that is different is that we offer a fine blend of harmony and humor,” Spartan Dischords Business Manager Wilson Shaner said. “There are two different sets where we are in our dress shirts and ties and do our traditional Christmas songs and our serious sets, then in our second set, we come out in our ugly sweaters and it is a humorous set.”

If you’re looking for a great post-finals Christmas escape, A Christmas Cabaret might be the way to go.

A Christmas Cabaret kicks off its four-show stay at Wharton Center at 8 p.m. Dec. 14, then performs two shows at 2 and 8 p.m. on Dec. 15 and their final presentation at 2 p.m. Dec. 16. All of the shows will take place at the Pasant Theatre inside Wharton Center, with ticket prices set at $48.

“This one is music, but it also has a story along with it too. Where the other ones are more of a musical extravaganza, this one is about celebrating the holidays Michigan-style,” Wharton Center Public Relations Manager Bob Hoffman said. “And the cool thing is local celebrities are involved. They’re going to have a song called ‘Spartan Green Christmas.’ It’s fun.”

The production will include plenty of big-name Broadway actors and actresses, such as Dwayne Clark, who was in “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark,” and Janeece Freeman-Clark, who was in “Urinetown: The Musical.” There also will be a couple of special guests that all Spartans have close to their hearts: MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and MSU mascot, Sparty.

“The fact that there’s such a connection with MSU, I think that’s what sets it apart,” Hoffman said. “We’re celebrating MSU and a Michigan Christmas.”

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Christmas season brings winter events” on social media.