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Pencil This In: LA County's Holiday Celebration, Feast of the Seven Fishes and Heebonism
A Christmas house along the Venice canals. | Photo by lmiyake via LAist's flickr pool.
It's Christmas Eve, but there are still a few events worth checking out. Happy holidays!
HOLIDAY ARTS BASH
This afternoon’s the 50th annualLos Angeles County Holiday Celebration at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from 3-9 pm. The free event features music and dance of the season from the many neighborhoods and cultures of LA. The lineup includes more than 40 groups, including TAIKOPROJECT's mix of Japanese drumming and hip hop, English and Korean holiday songs from Opera California Youth Choir, street dance from Antics Performance, African-American music from the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, and holiday music from the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, Harmonic Bronze Handbell Ensemble, Palmdale High School Choral Union and Salvation Army Tabernacle Children's Chorus. Parking is free, too! Merry Christmas LA!
FOOD
Marino's on Melrose holds its 27th annual Christmas Eve dinner and celebration, La Vigilia, or the Feast of the Seven Fishes, tonight. It’s a common custom in southern Italy, the Feast is a multi-course meal, mostly of seafood dishes as meat and dairy are avoided, representing everything from the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, to the Seven Sins, to the seven days of the week. The Marino family has a 10-course feast ($59 per person) planned during restaurant hours 11:30 am to 3 pm and 5 to 10 pm. The menu features: a pickled cauliflower and vegetable salad, two preparations of salt cod, and two Italian Christmastime desserts, Souffle di Panettone and Roasted Chestnuts.
TEA
For something really special, try the afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel’s Living Room, an open salon complete with large comfortable sofas and open fireplaces. The tea is offered daily at 2:30 and 5 pm to the accompaniment of a classical harpist. Guests choose from 19 varieties of loose leaf tea custom blended for The Peninsula Beverly Hills. Reservations are recommended and can be made by phoning 310-975-2736 or emailing diningpbh@peninsula.com.
PALM SPRINGS PARTY
Heading east on the I-10 tonight? Then you might want to join Heeb Magazine for their party Heebonism: The Mother of All Christmas Eve Bashes at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. Jews and gentiles are welcome to celebrate that nice Jewish boy’s 2009th birthday. “Hosted by comic Eric Andre, the night will start off with a Chinese dinner and feature the sounds of DJ Luke Top from Fool’s Gold and Maxwell Williams from Maximum Thrills. The revelry will also include "Strip Dreidel," with porn stars Joanna Angel and James Deen. 8 pm to 3 am. Rooms start at $180 (and includes one entrance to dinner and the party). Just dinner and the party: $36. Party only: $18.
*Pencil pick of the day
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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