Best Things To Do This Holiday Weekend In Los Angeles And SoCal: Dec. 23 - 25

Ring in the holidays at the L.A. County Celebration. Dance at Emo Night or a RiRi Rave. Watch a storytelling game show. Take part in Las Posadas.

Events

Friday, Dec. 23; 9:30 p.m

 Club Decades: Emo Night
Boardner’s
1652 N. Cherokee Ave., Hollywood
Club Decades presents an emo and pop punk dance party with DJs, live performances, go-go dancers and a soundtrack from My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, Vampire Weekend, AFI et al. 18+.
COST: $15 - $20; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 7 p.m

It’s a Wonderful Life
Historic Warner Grand Theater 
478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Watch Frank Capra’s 1946 classic on the big screen, presented by the San Pedro Film Festival. The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams to help others. His suicide attempt on Christmas Eve is thwarted by his guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), who shows George what life in Bedford Falls would be like if he’d never been born.
COST: $15 - $20; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 7 p.m.

Social Distortion
The Belasco
1050 South Hill St., downtown L.A.
The veteran punk rockers play an all-ages show, tapping from their more than four decades of music and previewing new songs. The band plays one more show at the Belasco on Dec. 28.
COST: Tickets start at $45.42; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 8 p.m.

Arturo Sandoval Swinging Holiday
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 
The Grammy-winning artist Arturo Sandoval brings a Latin jazz twist to favorite holiday tunes.
COST: $52 - $131; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 6:30 p.m.

Gremlins / Gremlins 2: The New Batch
New Beverly Cinema
7165 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax
Everyone knows the rules: Don’t expose the gremlins to bright light, don’t get them wet and NEVER feed them after midnight. But easier said than done. The New Beverly screens a double-feature of Joe Dante’s horror-comedy starring Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates. Advance tickets are sold out, but additional tickets will be available at the door on a first-come, first-served basis.
COST: $12; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 8 p.m

Story Smash: The Storytelling Game Show 
The Crow
2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica
Contestants spin the wheel and tell a true one- or two-minute story based on the topic. Judges critique, audiences laugh and a winner will be crowned. Created and hosted by Christine Blackburn. Guest judges include Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Blaine Capatch and Danny Zuker.
COST: $15; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 9:30 p.m.

Pon de Riri: Rave to Rihanna
Moroccan Lounge
901 E. 1st St., downtown L.A.
Rihanna is back with new music for the first time in six years, so dance the night away to RiRi tunes to celebrate.
COST: $15 - $20; MORE INFO

Friday, Dec. 23; 5 p.m. (doors)

Yuletide Cinemaland: Elf
Heritage Square Museum
3800 Homer St., Montecito Heights
Street Food Cinema screens the Will Ferrell Christmas flick, with guests also enjoying the Victorian atmosphere of the museum grounds. The event also includes tours of the homes, bars featuring mulled wine and cocktails, dancing, live piano sing-alongs, lights, vendors and food trucks, plus an appearance by Santa himself.
COST: Tickets $20 - $199; MORE INFO

Saturday, Dec. 24; 3 - 6 p.m.

L.A. County Holiday Celebration
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 
135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.
L.A.'s largest holiday celebration stages its 63rd edition year with a family-friendly afternoon of 22 performance troupes. Watch returning faves, including the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles; gospel singers Lorenzo Johnson & Praizum; and the all-women global soul ensemble Adaawe, who are joined by newcomers, including Latin jazz band Gabrielito y La Verdad and hip-hop dance ensemble Temper Tantrum. Seats are on a first-come, first-served basis, but people can come and go throughout the show. The line begins forming around noon. If you can't make it in person, the celebration streams live at pbssocal.org and kcet.org and on the free PBS app.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Through Saturday, Dec. 24; 6:30 p.m.

Las Posadas
Olvera St., downtown L.A.
Las Posadas has been an Olvera Street tradition since its founding in 1930, reenacting the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem with music, costumes and festivities. The procession starts and ends at the Avila Adobe, the oldest house in Los Angeles. At the end, each visitor is given a cup of hot champurrado and a piece of pan dulce. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the plaza with a children's piñata with the procession starting at 7:15 p.m.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Through Saturday, Dec. 24

Holiday Movies 
Melrose Rooftop Theatre
603 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood  
Watch holiday movies throughout the week atop the E.P. & L.P-adjacent rooftop. Films this week include: A Christmas Story, Home Alone, Bad Santa and Elf. There’s a dinner and a movie option for $65. Ages 21+.
COST: $30 - $65; MORE INFO

Ice at Santa Monica is back and open through Jan 16.

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Joel Marasigan / Downtown Santa Monica

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Through Monday, Jan. 16; noon - 10 p.m.

Winterlit: Ice at Santa Monica
Fifth St. and Arizona Ave., Santa Monica
Skate on the 8,000 square-foot rink, take in the Christmas lights or watch the menorah lighting at sundown through Dec. 25 (on the 1400 block of Third Street Promenade).
COST: $20 for all-day skate rental and skating; MORE INFO

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Sorin Gheorghita

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Unsplash

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Outdoor Pick

Mission Point Hike
Have time for hiking during the winter holidays? Try Mission Point in Granada Hills that’s challenging but not impossible. On a clear day, the 2,700+ foot peak of the Santa Susana range offers great views of the San Fernando Valley and downtown L.A. For the 5.5-mile out-and-back hike, start in O’Melveny Park and take the Bee Canyon trail.

Viewing Pick

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
The latest Knives Out film installment features Daniel Craig reprising his role as Det. Benoit Blanc solving another mystery with a whole new colorful cast of characters. This time, Blanc takes his detecting skills to Greece, discovering whodunit with his Southern charm and that "Kentucky Fried Foghorn Leghorn Drawl." The cast includes Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery drops Dec. 23 on Netflix.

The Cat & Fiddle offers a Christmas Eve fixed price dinner that features beef Wellington as an entree.

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Courtesty of Cat & Fiddle

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Dine and Drink Deals

Check out the 411 on restaurant, bar, and food happenings in SoCal this week:

• The Cat & Fiddle in Hollywood is open on Christmas Eve, offering its full menu and a Christmas Eve Prix Fixe Menu that features beef Wellington (vegetarian option available) or turkey. The Christmas Eve prix fixe menu is available for dine-in and takeout.
• Kinn in Koreatown offers a modern, eight-course Korean tasting menu for Christmas (Dec. 23 - 24 and New Year’s Eve (Dec. 30 - 31) weekends. Chef Ki Kim prepares a menu that includes caviar, squash ice cream and chungju rice wine; hen of the woods and sea urchin; butter-poached lobster; and truffle barley rice. Dinner is $175pp, and reservations are available through Resy.  
• On Saturday, Dec. 24, Bolero Restaurante at Europa Village in Temecula offers an a la carte dinner from 5 to 8 p.m. that takes diners on a culinary journey throughout Spain. Take part in the centuries-old tradition of dining and drinking together in Tapas style. Reservations required.
• On Christmas Eve, Chef Marcel Vigneron’s Lemon Grove in Hollywood offers a prix-fixe dinner for $95 per person. The menu includes honey pineapple glazed studded ham, spiny lobster risotto and banana bundt cake. The restaurant offers a buffet service for Christmas Day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ($70 per person).
• Outer Reef at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa in Dana Point offers a Feast of the Seven Fishes family-style dinner on Christmas Eve from 3 to 7 p.m. Chef John Tesar’s menu includes oysters, hamachi tartare, prawn crudo, mussels cioppino, scallops, lobster agnolotti and whole fish. $165 per person.
• Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen in Fullerton, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, offers several holiday food specials, including General Kahn’s cauliflower ($20), chicken lo mein ($20), chow mein ($20) and sweet and chili tiger shrimp ($22). The dishes will be available from Dec. 23 - 25 for dine-in and takeout. 
• MAMA Shelter LA’s main restaurant offers a holiday prix-fixe dinner menu on Dec. 24 and 25. For $85 per person, the menu features appetizers like cranberry bean ragu pork belly and a candied walnut chicory salad, main course options like honey nut squash risotto with wild mushroom and prime rib with garlic mash potatoes, and desserts such as bouche de noel, apple cobbler with bourbon maple ice cream, and eggnog panna cotta.  
• Genghis Cohen has partnered with Konbi to make their limited-edition Hanukkah ice cream for the third year running. "Thuggish Ruggish Cohen" is a rugelach-inspired ice cream featuring milk bread ice cream with chocolate fudge ripple and toasted, salted cracked almonds ($17/pint). It’s available for pick-up orders via ChowNow while supplies last.