December 7, 2019, Saturday - Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest Winners at the Mill City Museum

Time: 12:300pm to 3:00pm

Location: Mill City Museum, 704 2nd Street South

Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest Winners

Get inspired for holiday baking with an afternoon of activities celebrating the winner and finalists in the Star Tribune's annual Taste Holiday Cookie Contest. Rick Nelson of the Star Tribune kicks off the day in the Baking Lab with a presentation about the cookie contest, how it is judged and what makes a great holiday cookie. Taste samples of the winning recipes and enjoy hot cider and coffee from 1 to 3 pm. Vote for your favorite cookie to help select a winner for the visitor's choice award, which will be announced at 3 pm. Each year readers submit their favorite holiday cookie recipes with the winners and finalists announced in the December 5 Star Tribune Taste section. Included with $6-12 museum admission/MNHS members free.

December 7, 2019, Saturday - Mrs. Kelly's Tea Tasting (2 days)

Time: 9 am - 5 pm

Location: Mrs. Kelly's Tea, 77 13th Ave. NE

Mrs. Kelly's Tea Tasting

Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8

It’s been over two decades of Holiday Tea Tastings! Don’t miss this chance to try over 100 of Mrs. Kelly's most popular award-winning, local, freshly blended teas. There will be a qualified Tea Blender available to fill your special requests during the tasting weekend. Also peruse a hand-made display of tea related pottery, handmade soaps, Muddy Paws Cheesecakes, succulents and Ames Farm honey.

Come to find out what everyone else already knows about the second most popular beverage in the world. Learn something new, network and give back to your community. Get a jump-start on your holiday shopping and shop local all in one fabulous location. Admission is free, but there’s a suggested donation of $3 or a non-perishable food item. Donations will go to PRISM, Perspectives Kids Café, Little Kitchen Food Shelf and Eastside Neighborhood Services. No reservations are necessary.

December 6, 2019, Friday - Light Up the Night Gala at The Armory

Time: 6:00PM – 10:00PM

Location: Historic Minneapolis Armory, 500 S 6th Street

Light Up the Night Gala

A family of supporters, 800 strong, who believe in a vision to provide exceptional care without exception, will gather to celebrate the critical role Hennepin Healthcare plays in our community.

This year our signature fundraising event will sing the praises of nutrition and mealtime in building healthy families. All funds raised will support the Kitchen Table, a teaching kitchen within the Redleaf Center for Family Healing.

When open to the public in 2020, the Redleaf Center will provide comprehensive mental health and relationship support for mothers, fathers, and their children. The Kitchen Table will foster healing and nurturing through the power of food.

"We are family" and other disco anthems inspire the dress and music theme this evening.

Learn more about the Redleaf Center for Family Healing 

December 6, 2019, Friday - WCCO-TV’s Home for the Holidays Community Tree (2 days)

Time: 4 PM – 7:30 PM

Location: WCCO, 90 11th Street S

WCCO-TV’s Home for the Holidays Community Tree

This holiday season, WCCO is partnering with the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) to bring awareness and support to veteran homelessness. MACV provides comprehensive programs and supportive services to homeless veterans. One of MACV’s biggest programs provides transitional homes to help veterans achieve self-sufficiency.

In 2017, WCCO created the Home for the Holiday’s Community Tree. Over the years, WCCO viewers have decorated our studio tree with ornaments from around the state. Then, before the holidays, WCCO delivers the tree to one of MACV’s transitional homes. We’re honored to continue the tradition, but make this year’s Community Tree bigger and better than ever… literally! Kicking off with a lighting ceremony on December 3rd, the tree will stand 16 feet tall outside of WCCO for everyone to enjoy this holiday season.

This is where you come in! Hang an ornament from your hometown on Friday, December 6th or Saturday, December 7th to help decorate the tree. There will be hot chocolate, cookies, music, selfies, WCCO meet and greets and an opportunity to thank veterans in our community. Stay tuned for more details!

Can’t make it to the event? Send in your ornament to:
WCCO Television
Attn: Home for the Holidays
90 South 11th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55403

To learn more about Home for the Holidays or the Community Tree, visit http://wcco.com/holidays.

December 6, 2019, Friday - Minneapolis 12 Bars of Christmas

Time: 6p

Location: 420 N 1st Ave

Minneapolis 12 Bars of Christmas

Tickets

The event originated in 2004 and has grown to be the largest holiday crawl in Minnesota. Thanks to all of you we have raised over $115,000 for the Children's Hospitals of the Twin Cities. To join simply sign up for a shirt or wristband, put on your most festive holiday, and show up downtown on December 6th and join in the tradition that is the Twin Cities 12 Bars of Christmas (12BoC). 12BoC runs from 6PM to bar close in downtown Minneapolis.

December 6, 2019, Friday - 4th Annual Nordic Julemarket at Utepils (3 days)

Location: Utepils Brewing Co, 225 Thomas Avenue N

4th Annual Nordic Julemarket

Please join us for our 4th Annual Nordic Julemarket!

Come shop for the holidays with over 30+ Nordic-inspired vendors selling their gifts, arts, crafts, books, clothing, foods, home accessories, toys, imported goods, traditional wares, and more!

We will also have an exciting lineup of live musical entertainment, story-telling, dancing, traditions and hygge-style merriment!

Utepils Brewing Company will be pouring good beer all weekend and there will also be food trucks serving tasty food.

As always, Nordic Julemarket is FREE and open to everyone! Family friendly activities will be happening all weekend but this year we are also organizing a "Family Day" on Sunday, December 8th which will be more focused on festivities for all ages.

For more information as the event approaches, please visit our website: www.nordicjulemarket.com. And for anyone interested in becoming a vendor, please send an email to anja@nordicjulemarket.com.

This event is brought to you by InJoy Events & Outreach on behalf of the Nordic-American Community in and around the Twin Cities. We are grateful for the support of various cultural organizations and also grateful for our gracious hosts at Utepils Brewing Company. Please inquire for more information: anja@nordicjulemarket.com.

December 6, 2019, Friday - DIRTY WORKS: First Fridays at MCBA

Time: Happy hour 5–6pm; Class 6–8pm

Location: Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1011 Washington Avenue S

Join MCBA for Dirty Works, a series of casual classes, taking place on the first Friday of each month. Activities are designed for the bookishly curious and the creatively apprehensive; no experience needed. Great for beginners. $35 + $5 supply fee. Note: These tend to fill up early, so don’t delay!

Dirty Works: Origami Star Book With Laurel Jedamus

Friday, December 6, 6 – 8 pm

Create a small book that unfolds into a three-dimensional star. Start by making pages using a simple origami fold, then add covers to create a unique and decorative item that is both a book and an ornament.

Dirty Works: Screen Printing With Michelle Lee Lagerroos and Kirsten Olson

Friday, December 6, 6 – 8 pm

Learn the basics of screen printing with photo emulsion! Hand-pull a two-color print on a tote bag and paper.

Dirty Works: Carve and Stamp Wrapping Paper With Laura Brown Friday, December 6, 6 – 8 pm

Learn the basics of relief printing by carving your own stamp and creating a repeat pattern on paper. This is perfect for creating festive handmade gift wrap (and many other uses). Participants will leave with two 18×24-inch sheets of wrapping paper, ready for holiday gift-giving, and their own stamps for future printing and experimenting.  

December 6, 2019, Friday - Live in the River Room: 20th Bryan White Holiday Show

Time: 7 – 11 pm (music at 8 pm)

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 Main Stree SE

Live in the River Room: 20th Bryan White Holiday Show

A once-a-year ensemble of seasonal mystery, sure to inflame the olde holiday passions that lay a-flickering in your loins. Every performance delivered as though it may the last. Remarkably, it has continued its way into “cult status” and is recommended by everyone but the critics. Huzzah! With special guests Xavier Matos, Steele Arundel, Molly Maher, John & Paul, The Hammesmen and The Artful Dodger. $10 general admission.

December 5, 2019, Thursday - 17th Annual Holiday Cookie Contest Sampling

17th Annual Holiday Cookie Contest Sampling

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Be the first to sample cookies from our 17th annual Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest while helping to make a difference for those in need.

Bring a nonperishable food item to donate to Second Harvest Heartland and try the top five recipes, while supplies last, here at STrib HQ.

Plus, TASTE's Lee and Rick will be there to say hello and to sign their must-have book, "The Great Minnesota Cookie Book," featuring amazing recipes from past winners.

Brought to you by Lunds & Byerlys and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres and in partnership with Second Harvest Heartland. 

December 5, 2019, Thursday - Ancestral Origins at Southern Theater (thru Dec 8)

Time: 7:30p

Location: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave. S

The New Renaissance presents: Ancestral Origins

December 5 – 8

This is the fourth and final production in The Southern's AMPLIFY Series. AMPLIFY: to make larger, greater, stronger: to increase in strength. The AMPLIFY series gives artistic voice and platform to underrepresented stories in the arts. Ancestral Origins is an afrofuturist exploration of joy and beauty. Originally inspired as a ‘choreopoem,' a word coined by late playwright Ntozoke Shange, it’s “a vibrant interplay between movement and language.” Inviting the audience into an immersive world of interdisciplinary art, the story follows rebel scientists struggling to escape a post-apocalyptic future. Guided by a fragmented message left by their ancestors, they discover their music can open up doors to other realms and embark on an epic journey of self-discovery and transformation. 

December 5, 2019, Thursday - City Pages Cocktailian at The Depot

Time: 7:00PM - 10:00PM

Location: Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot, 225 3rd Ave S

City Pages Cocktailian

Toast the craft craze this holiday season at City Pages Fifth Annual Cocktailian on Thursday, December 5 at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot.

Featuring both neat sips of micro-distilled spirits and tastes of craft cocktails, guests will have the opportunity to indulge in premium samples from:
Prairie Organic Spirits - Tattersall Distilling - Loon Liquors - Panther Distillery - Prestige Wine and Spirits - Proximo Spirits - Isanti Spirits - Rockfilter Distillery - Royal Foundry Craft Spirits - The Dampfwerk Distillery Co - Bent Brewstillery - J. Carver - Isanti Spirits - Ron Zacapa - 11 Wells - Flying Dutchman Spirits - Prairie Organic - Tanqueray - Copperwing Spirits - 45th Parallel Distillery - 10,000 Drops Distilling

Stop by the hands-on educational demo area powered by Bittercube, enjoy bites from local restaurants, pop up retail vendors, music from DJ Shannon Blowtorch and more!

City Pages Cocktailian benefits YouthLink - get your tickets today! Tickets

December 5, 2019, Thursday - Reimagine Education at the Convention Center

Time: 7:30 AM – 11 AM

Location: Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Ave S

Reimagine Education

Much more needs to be done to make our schools better for each and every child. Together, Greater Twin Cities United Way, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and The Minneapolis Foundation have been asking students, parents, community members, school leaders and researchers what is working—and what isn’t working—in our schools.

On December 5, we’ll connect those voices and talk about the ways we can take collective action. We’ll also discuss the findings of the soon-to-be-released report, "Expanding the Vision of Reimagine Minnesota: A Collective Education Roadmap for Action." Join us and be a part of a movement for change.

This event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Go to www.minneapolisfoundation.org/reimagine to view the full agenda and register.

December 5, 2019, Thursday - First Thursday at the Northrup King Building

Time: 5p - 9p

Location: Northrup King Building, 1500 Jackson Stree NE

First Thursday at the Northrup King Building

What a wonderful place to find special and unique treasures. The is the largest Arts complex in Minnesota with over 300 Artists on Four Floors. Visit us during First Thursday, December 5, from 5 - 9 pm. It is an excellent opportunity to explore art, learn processes, and meet the Artists. Plenty of Free Parking!

December 5, 2019, Thursday - Not So Silent Night: Holiday Soiree & Market at Canopy

Time: 6p -9p

Location: Canopy Minneapolis Mill District, 708 Third Street S

Not So Silent Night: Holiday Soiree & Market

Deck the halls at our Not-So-Silent-Night holiday soiree and market hosted by I AM | Sarah Edwards at Canopy Minneapolis Mill District benefitting YouthLink MN! Get ready to sleigh on Thursday, December 5th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm. You’ll be able to shop for everyone on your holiday list at our pop up holiday market, and wrap gifts at the gift wrapping station! Don't miss out on "family portraits" in front of our Christmas tree by Ella Cochrane.

Check out your favorite local brands attending:
Six for Good, Presented by Essence One
Gigi’s Flair Emporium
Larissa Loden Jewelry
Poppy Stella Rose
Thumbs Cookies (by Robyn Frank)
Oktober Kissed
Just Dogs Gourmet MOA
Sigma Beauty
Still Kickin
Queenie & Pearl
Big Lovie

You'll be surrounded by all of the holiday cheer featuring the holiday market, drinks by Prairie Organic Spirits, delectable bites from Umbra Minneapolis, holiday music, and MORE TO COME!

To attend, bring a new item to donate that will benefit YouthLink MN. They work with homeless youth, ages 16-23. They’re are located in downtown Minneapolis, and serve youth across the Twin Cities. Their goal this holiday season is to be able to put together 300 backpacks filled with the items below. Many of the young people start out with only a backpack full of clothing, and it’s a wonderful gift for them to have something new over the holidays.

Bus pass $10
Hoodie sweatshirt
Headphones/earbuds
Portable phone chargers (apple & androids)
$10 gift cards to various food chains
Chapsticks
Lotion
Thermal pajamas
Travel bags
Wallets
Hygiene products
Hats and gloves

December 5, 2019, Thursday - Pints & Pottery at Inbound Brewery

Time: 6 PM – 8 PM

Location: Inbound BrewCo, 701 N 5th S

Pints & Pottery

Come drink beer and paint a Christmas ornament! Choose from campers, owls, llamas, 4 inch round, coffee cups, tree in pickup truck...

Grab your friends and bring your creativity to Inbound BrewCo for an evening of drinking beer and painting pottery!

On Thursday, December 5 from 6-8pm you will be painting your own ceramic ornament with use of glaze, stencils, idea sheets, and beer!

lncluded in your ticket price is one FREE beer, FUN, your choice of ornament, over 20 different glaze colors, use of brushes, instruction, firing, glazing and delivery. Pieces are individually wrapped for attendees & delivered back to Inbound Brewery within 5-7 days for pick-up!

Like my page for upcoming events, specials, and news: facebook.com/oddfrogcreationsOdd Frog Creations is a traveling paint-your-own-pottery studio specializing in helping customers create fun keepsakes or one-of-a-kind gifts.

December 5, 2019, Thursday - Winter Wonderland at 300 Clifton for CLPC

Time: 6p -10p

Location: 300 Clifton, 300 Clifton Avenue

Winter Wonderland at 300 Clifton for CLPC

300 Clifton is proud to continue the tradition of the Holiday Curry Dinner, with "Winter Wonderland at 300 Clifton". We invite all friends of the Loring Park Neighborhood to attend. There will be dinner, music, hot cider, and great conversation between 6pm and 10pm.

Thank you in advance for your $10 donation to the CLPC at the door. 

December 5, 2019, Thursday - Pryes Brewing Holiday Market

Time: 6 PM – 9 PM

Location: Pryes Brewing Company, 1401 West River Road N

Pryes Brewing Holiday Market

Minneapolis Craft Market is heading to Pryes Brewing Company on W River Road, for a series of cozy and warm Thursday evening markets on December 5, 12 and 19. Join us in the taproom to pick up all your handmade holiday gifts from local makers and enjoy a pint or two while you shop!

We'll be bringing a new lineup of makers each week from 6:00 - 9:00 PM, perfect for after work get-togethers with festive holiday cheer.

MAKERS:

December 5
AnJartica
Carver Junk Company
Fair Anita
Green Lakes Botany
Hazel & Willow Jewelry
Kate Leigh
Sweet Mana
The Wooly Bee
Wintercraft

December 12
AnJartica
Ballerina Botanicals Organic Skincare
Burn Boss
Curiosity
Fair Anita
Jeanne McGee Art
Sara Gardner Studio
Stateology
TyAnn Zeal Designs

December 19
BellaRose Bouquets
Burn Boss
Elements Jewelry Design LLC
Fair Anita
Green Lakes Botany
Hey Pupper
Roam Wild Designs
Squirrel
TyAnn Zeal Designs

December 4, 2019, Wednesday - Annette Peters Champagne Supernova Tasting hosted by 1010 Washington Wine & Spirits (at Aloft Hotel)

Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm

Location: Aloft Hotel, 900 Washington Avenue S

Annette Peters Champagne Supernova hosted by 1010 Washington Wine & Spirits

Everybody drinks more sparkling wine around the holidays.  Greeting guests for a dinner, popping a bottle on New Year's Eve, celebrating with family or just passing the day on a Saturday night or Sunday morning.  So why not come and learn about sparkling wines before you come upon these days.  We have secured the always dynamic and supremely informative Annette Peters to do a whole seminar on Champagne.  For the biggest wine nerd or the novice wine drinker this will be a great event to learn about Champagne and drink some fantastic examples.  Any time we can get Annette in front of a group of people to teach and spread her knowledge we think it is a can't miss event and this is no different.  

Tenative Tasting Lineup:
Domaine Thillardon Pet Nat
Tissot Cremant du Jura Rose
Bereche Brut Reserve
Ridgeview Bloomsbury 
Silley Blanc Coteaux Champenoise
Silley Rouge Coteaux Champenoise
Benoit Dehu Initiation Extra Brut Lot 16

December 4, 2019, Wednesday - Minneapolis Park and Rec Board Meeting

Time: 5:00pm

Location: Minneapolis Park and Rec Board, 2117 West River Road

Click here for a link to tonights agenda.

December 4, 2019, Wednesday - Talk of the Stacks with Dan Buettner at Central Library

Time: Doors open at 6:15pm; program begins at 7:00pm

Location: Central Library, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Mall

Talk of the Stacks with Dan Buettner

Join Minnesota’s own Dan Buettner, New York Times-bestselling author and award-winning journalist, producer, and explorer. His books include, "The Blue Zones," "Thrive," "The Blue Zones Solution," and "The Blue Zones of Happiness." His first cookbook, "The Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100," will release in December 2019.

Seating: This program is FREE and open to the public. Doors open at 6:15 pm for general admission seating. The program begins at 7 pm. Seating is limited. Overflow space with live feed will be available.

Accessibility: To request ASL interpreting, please contact friends@hclib.org at least one week prior to the event. Assistive listening devices and wheelchair accessible and companion seating are available at all Talk of the Stacks events.

The 2019 Talk of the Stacks series is presented by U.S. Bank with additional support from the Star Tribune.