Oh no! Your family is coming into town for the Holidays but you’ve been so busy with office Christmas parties that you forgot to plan anything! Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with some of our favorite events happening before the New Year. Grab your friends and family, go explore and have some fun!

Photo Credit: 100 Gardens

100 Gardens Aquaponics Tour
Dec. 21 at 10:30am
Myers Park High School

Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes. But, when you hear the word “aquaponics,” the creativity bells might not start ringing in your head. Oh, but, you’d be wrong. 100 Gardens, third place winner in the 2018 SEED20 competition, takes a wildly creative approach to inspire youth toward sustainability. They do so by teaching them to create their own aquaponics gardens to raise fish and grow vegetables while reducing negative environmental impacts. The nonprofit’s goal is to build 100 gardens at 100 local schools to educate tens of thousands of students.

This Saturday, December 21 at 10:30am, 100 Gardens will be giving a tour of their aquaponic garden at Myers Park High School. It will be a great way to see how getting creative with education can lead to greater change in the future. For more information, click here.

Grab a Beer & Save Your Bacon at the Last-Minute Market
Dec.  21 from 11 am to 4 pm
Triple C Brewing Barrel Room

With only six shopping days left before Christmas, you may be starting to panic. No worries, our pal, Jordan Dollard, Chief Retail Strategist at Esther and Elsa Retail, is ready to rescue you. She’s arranged for 30 local retailers to be on hand with gifts suitable for everything from White Elephant presents to the main event under the tree. Plus, you know, food trucks and beer. Consider our sleigh bells officially rung. Find a complete list of vendors here.

End your year (and decade) on a high note:

Girl, they’ll put your record on, they’ll play your favorite song!
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night
December 19 – Birdsong Brewing

We’d love to get a handmade bracelet for Christmas… hint, hint.
Fine Art Fridays: Textiles
December 20 – Harvey B. Gantt Center

The best time to wear an ugly sweater is all the time. (Please go and sing the SpongeBob sweater song.)
Ugly Sweater Holiday Karaoke
December 20 – Divine Barrel

We can’t help FALLING for Clara’s Trip! 
Clara’s Trip: A Cirque & Dance Nutcracker Story
December 20-22 – Booth Playhouse

Shop at the pop ‘til you drop ‘cause you just can’t stop!
VTGCLT Pop
Now through December 22 – Metropolitan

It is a universal truth that the best way to start off a holiday is with a parade.
Chanukah Parade to SouthPark Mall
December 22 – Friendship Circle of Charlotte (6619 Sardis Road)

If you need a little bit more Christmas after the big day is over, the Peanuts have you covered.
A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage
December 27 – TheBOplex

Party like it’s 1999 during the last week of the 2010s.
The Purple Madness – Tribute to Prince
December 28 – The Fillmore Charlotte

It’s that magical time of year where people actually go to the NASCAR Hall of Fame… well, they really just go to the ice skating rink outside of it but that still counts, right?
Holiday on Ice
Now through January 5, 2020 – NASCAR Hall of Fame