This weekend: Ebenezer Scrooge, movies and, of course, Christmas

With the sun setting before 5 p.m., a hyper-contagious variant of COVID-19 making the rounds and a winter storm drenching the region, you won’t hear us calling you a party pooper for curling up on the couch with a hot toddy and your favorite holiday movie.

But just in case you do want to head out into the cold, wet streets of San Francisco, we have a few suggestions for you this holiday weekend.

1 Taylor St.
Fri., Dec. 24 & Sun., Dec. 26
@ Golden Gate Theater

This holiday classic is ripe with metaphors that transcend time. Turns out the selfish life choices of a miserly old merchant are as salient in 2021 as they were in Victorian England. Jack Thorne, one of the playwrights from the much-discussed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, worked on this recent musical adaptation. Golden Gate Theater is a gorgeous venue that will play host to none other than Weird Al Yankovic come June of 2022. The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is bringing in the heat already!

428 11th St.
Fri., Dec. 24 @ District Six

If you are alone this Christmas Eve, or if your holiday company enjoys a chance to grab a $3 Tecate and grab street food from businesses like Nucha Empanadas, hit this open-air block party. Formerly known as Fridays at District Six and Friday Night Market. Now dubbed “The Friday Nightcap,” this get-together is hosted by  District Six, loosely defined as a “creative event space” and “continuously evolving experience.” Whatever you call it, all that really matters is it’s free to get in the door and they’ll be serving al pastor. 

150 Golden Gate Ave.
Sat., Dec. 25 Online

For the second year in a row, Tenderloin nonprofit St. Anthony’s is hosting its annual Christmas donation online! It’s a better year than ever to support folks in the neighborhood given the news that Mayor London Breed, and the Board of Supervisors, are taking the situation in the Tenderloin more seriously. Rather than driving in the cold on the big day, you can help the organization buy bulk remotely by chipping in on goods like socks, rain gear, and even holiday hams.

3117 16th St.
Sat., Dec. 25 @ Roxie Theater

With his radical acceptance of the poor and sex workers—and his disdain for predatory capitalism—Jesus Christ was quite the revolutionary. Why not celebrate JC’s birthday learning about one of the highest-profile battles for democratic values in recent memory: Hong Kong’s struggle to keep Xi Jinping’s authoritarian ruling party at arms length. Revolution of our Times plays at the Mission District theater and is hosted by NorCal HK Club (北加州香港會), the US HongKongers Club (香港人會館), and the Hong Kong Affairs Association of Berkeley. If this documentary is sold out, you can try for Paul Thomas Andersen’s new movie Licorice Pizza (starring one of the three heroines of HAIM) or the ridiculous and well-reviewed Red Rocket. Discounted or free tickets for members, about $8 for the rest of us.

406 Clement St.
Sat., Dec. 25 @ Neck of the Woods

While not quite an opening, hitting this weekly party for the holidays after its 14-month hiatus is a godsend for fans. The show, DJd in part by Milan “BeatsMe” Hawthorne, returned to Neck of the Woods— a Clement Street institution since 1973—in November. During the closure, the club has been upgraded with a new sound system sure to reinforce T-Boz, Chilli and Left Eye’s message to all the bustas.

Golden Gate Park 
Sun., Dec. 26 @ Music Concourse

In partnership with the month-long Alterverse Festival of Poetry and Light, the Museum of the African Diaspora has assembled a bill of top-tier local talent in honor of the first day of Kwanzaa. Four Bay Area poets will be sharing their work including James Cagney, author of Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory, one of the local nonprofit’s most popular books.