The holiday season brings some cheer to Baltimore

This holiday season, take a time-out from studying to enjoy the celebrations, free food and entertainment the city has to offer

By: Alex Vockroth

Posted: 12/4/08

The holidays are seldom filled with merriment and good cheer for college students who spend December living in the bowels of the library, never to see a single twinkle of light. But Baltimore is a city that loves Christmas (and various concurrent winter holidays), so as long as you are here, dear Hopkins students, you owe yourselves a break from B-level to enjoy the season.

If you just can't pull yourself too far from those marathon study sessions in your library carrel, there are enough festivities on and around campus to put you in the holiday mood. The Hopkins-owned Evergreen Museum & Library will live up to its name this season with "An Ever Green Evening." On Dec. 11, Christmas (and piney fragrances) will be in the air at the museum for a showcase of trees decorated by some of Baltimore's top interior decorators, landscape artists, architects and furniture makers. Walk through this winter wonderland for free just up the road at 4545 N. Charles St.

Oh, you're too busy to take the shuttle up the street, you say? That's no problem at all, because the holidays are within walking distance of campus, too! No matter how overloaded with work you are, there's no excuse good enough for not trekking over to Hampden to see the annual "Miracle on 34th Street." Every year, residents of the stretch between Keswick Road and Chestnut Avenue threaten to blow the power grid with dazzling holiday decorations that would make Clark Griswold turn green.

Legions of Baltimoreans come out every December to take in the view, and just being among them is guaranteed to send you back to the blissful, exciting, worry-free holidays you enjoyed when you had time to enjoy them. The parking situation is the only downside to this event, but since you can just fall off of the edge of campus and land in Hampden, even that's not an issue. The lights on 34th will be sparkling and blinking from now until New Year's.

So what was Christmastime like in this neck of the woods before Hopkins took over? Well, find out by visiting the Homewood House Museum. On Monday between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., the historic building will travel back in time to an early-19th-century Christmas during "Homewood by Candlelight." Flickering flames, eggnog and period music will make you feel right at home with the Carroll family.

Free tonight? Well, not any more, you're not. Thursday evening, Baltimore hosts its equivalent to the Rockefeller Center tree lighting with "A Monumental Occasion." OK, so maybe the City's promotions team isn't too creative with the whole naming thing, but tonight's lighting of the George Washington Monument at Mt. Vernon Place will still be a great time. The night kicks off at 6 p.m. with performances by the Maryland Opera Studio Chorus and the tour cast of A Chorus Line, vendors offering food and hot drinks and plenty more to keep you entertained.

At 7 p.m., Mayor Sheila Dixon takes the stage with former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey, this year's honorary lighter, for the countdown to flipping the switch. The 37th-annual ceremony will end with a fireworks display as Baltimore welcomes in the holidays.

Since you'll already be in the vicinity, after the lighting, scurry over to Peabody's Griswold Hall for "Sounds of the Season." The Peabody brass ensemble will be performing this free concert accompanied by organist Donald Sutherland under the direction of James Olin. And it's free.

Been yearning for those holidays back in your home colony, sneaking down the stairs in your night shift trying to catch a glimpse of St. Nicholas on Christmas Eve by the light of your oil lamp? Relive those days at the Fells Point Olde Tyme Christmas celebration! The festivities begin on Saturday as St. Nick arrives at the Broadway Pier via tugboat.

Then, spend the day enjoying the harmonious tunes of carolers, buying goods from the local merchants and enjoying a steaming cup of hot cider. The celebration will continue the following weekend, Dec. 13, with the annual Figgy Pudding 5K Fun Run, the Great Fells Point Eggnog Contest and plentiful food, music and shopping. What would the holiday season be without a parade? Well, we don't have to worry about that question in Baltimore, because on Sunday, Mayor Dixon will lead the annual Christmas parade.

The Mayor will be joined by the Baltimore Marching Ravens in addition to a slew of other performers and local community groups. The parade begins at 2 p.m. at Poly/Western, from which it will cross Cold Spring Lane, continue south on Falls Road to 36th Street (Hampden's the Avenue) and follow 36th down to Chestnut Avenue, ending at Chestnut and 37th Street.

If you're willing to trek a little farther and you love animals, bright lights and kettle corn, head o the National Zoo in D.C. for ZooLights! The zoo opens up on weekends trhrough Dec. 14 and every evening from Dec. 18 until Dec. 30 for this annual celebration. In addition to the copious light displays, many of the animal houses will be open and various musicians and theater groups will perform throughout the park. For more details visit http://www.nationalzoo.si.edu.

Theater fans, take note: Nutcrackers abound in the Baltimore-D.C. area this season. This Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon, Towson University faculty and students take the stage for "A Wintry Mix," a multi-genre concert with special guest Rungiao Du from the Washington Ballet. Get tickets at htttp://www.towson.edu/cofac.

Traditional productions of the classic ballet will take place at the Baltimore School for the Arts, the Chesapeake Arts Center, Goucher College and D.C.'s Kennedy Center.

Other holiday stage productions include the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at First Mariner Arena, running through this weekend. The Baltimore Shakepeare Company takes on Christmas for "Every Christmas Story Ever Told," running nightly at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 5 p.m. through Dec. 21. The Stoop storytellers are getting in the spirit, too. Performers will tell holiday-themed stories, and a marching band and carolers will bring additional good tidings. Find out more about the Dec. 15 show at http://www.stoopstorytelling.com.

The holidays are purported to be the most wonderful time of the year, and with all these fesitivities in and around Baltimore, even Hopkins students have some fun this season.