6-Pack of Things To Do: Wednesday December 2 2020

If you love the holidays, this 6-Pack of Things To Do is gold, and if you hate the holidays, it might offer you a small way to find some joy this month.

GROOVY GOATS HOLIDAY EDITION: Consider the goat. Not one of nature’s more photogenic creatures. Not one of nature’s more charming creatures. And yet it possesses a strange sort of beauty when flanked by 700,000 LED lights. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium hosts an animal experience with goats during Zoolights. Meet their magnificent herd of goats up-close and personal in this one-of-a-kind holiday-themed private animal encounter for you and four other members of your household. Just like people, goats have personalities, and their herd has loads of character (and special festive holiday costumes that they will wear just for you). 4:30-5 p.m. daily, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, $100 member, $150 non-members, includes Zoolights admission for up to five people, register here, photo credit Katie Cotterill/Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

BEER FLIGHT: Every December — while the bartenders close down our Proctor District craft beer bar, bottle shop and restaurant for the night — Peaks & Pints co-owner Pappi Swarner grabs three holiday beers, heads upstairs to his office, cranks his computer speaks to an 11 and watches holiday Youtube videos. Obviously, he can’t perform his holiday tradition this year … and Peaks & Pints. No, his holiday hell now takes place inside his home, much to the chagrin of his wife and daughter. In the spirit of giving, we offer you the chance to share his joy. Today, he pairs the three Christmas season beers below with Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, the 1970 Rankin-Bass story of how Kris Kringle came to be Santa Claus while trying to get out from under the thumb of the Burgermeister Meisterburger in Sombertown. Pappi loves the tale, but he also has problems with authority, and believes The Man is holding him down. Anyway, Enjoy Peaks and Pints To-Go Christmas Beer Flight: Burgermeister Meisterburger. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 3816 N. 26th St., Basecamp Proctor, Tacoma

THE NUTCRACKER: Hello, holiday tradition! The Nutcracker ballet performance is a holiday forever classic. The Tacoma City Ballet did it up right and with a delightful twist. Did you know that there’s a “prequel” to The Nutcracker called Tale of the Hard Nut? Since the coronavirus cracked this year’s performance, watch last year’s performance in its entirety, which includes the prequel. In short: prepare to be dazzled, delighted and enchanted here, or watch below while sipping on a Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper from the Peaks & Pints cooler.

HOLIDAY LIGHTS: Sitting in the back seat of your parents’ car, gazing at holiday lights and watching them beam down, is a favorite feeling of most children. And for adults, too. Established 26 years ago, Fantasy Lights is a highly celebrated drive-thru display of awe-inspiring light exhibits held annually during the holiday season at Spanaway Park. The jaw-dropping two-mile drive includes more than 300 animated displays and thousands of holiday lights that evoke a profound sense of wizardry and reverence for people of all ages. Open tonight through Jan. 3, Fantasy Lights has added additional safety measures to keep you and their staff safer throughout your visit. 5:30-9 p.m. nightly, Spanaway Park, 14905 Bresemann Blvd. S., Spanaway, $15-$20 per vehicle

STAGE: If our stylist spent 10 minutes on our hair, or our favorite chef 10 minutes on our meal, we might be upset. But when we heard about University of Puget Sound Theatre Arts’ New Human Horizons 10-Minute Play Reading Festival, we were intrigued. It’s a reading of new plays selected from a large pool of submissions by the University of Puget Sound’s Theatre 200 classes. This festival highlights plays that engage in conversation with Sylvia Wynter’s notion of the Human as both bios and logos, magical, words made flesh. They have selected plays that re-imagine and re-present new ways of being, living, caring, and loving in the world. Nice. 6-7 p.m., UPS Stage Streaming, free ticket but registration required, flickr photo by Fredrik Alpstedt

WRITERS WORKSHOP: How many great works of literature have never actually made it out of a writer’s imagination and onto the page? As anyone who’s ever attempted to put pen to paper can attest, the act of writing sometimes feels just short of heroic. Creative Colloquy understands this: Through their workshops, the grassroots literary champion helps local scribes wrestle their ideas into reality by developing good habits as well as good prose. Tonight, they host writer, teaching artist, and educator Gloria Muhammad who will explore the themes of home, honesty, and meditation as a means of cultivating presence. 7-8:30 p.m., Creative Colloquy Zoom Room, free, registration required