Holiday Happenings

Photo: Chicago Festival Association

Ready or not, the holiday season will officially begin this Thursday at 8 a.m. sharp. Be part of the annual tradition, whether in person or at home, as the 76th Annual McDonald's® Thanksgiving Parade marches down State Street. If you've never seen the Parade live, the sheer scale may be difficult to imagine (even with a 50" plasma). Here are some fun facts about this year's parade:

1934: The year the Parade was founded to lift people’s spirits in during the Great Depression

5,280 feet: the length of the Parade route

425,000: spectators expected to attend 76^th McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade

65,500 cubic feet: the amount of helium used to inflate 12 giant parade balloons

6 hours: the time it will take to inflate all 12 giant parade balloons

408: people needed to handle the balloons throughout the Parade route

Almost 1,000: people volunteer at the 76^th McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade

4,000: participants in the 76^th McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade

2,462: high school and college students marching in the Parade

8,818 miles: the minimum total distance traveled by the visiting units in the Parade

Over 1,154 miles: the distance that the Central Florida Marching Brigade will travel to be in the Parade – more than any other unit except Santa Claus who is joining us from the North Pole!

Over 150 hours: The combined travel time that all visiting units will put in to be part of the 76^th McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade

10: different ethnic groups participating in the Parade this year

568: horses’ legs in 76^th McDonald’s® Thanksgiving Parade

45: members on the “poo crew” who work to pick up after all the horses in the Parade

The McDonald's® Thanksgiving Parade is a larger-than-life experience, and you can be a part of it! A limited number of VIP Packages are available, which entitles you to TV zone seating, a light continental breakfast and more. Whether you line up along State Street or receive VIP treatment for a day, don't miss a second of the action! Over 100 acts, including equestrian units, inflatable balloons, ethnic performers and a special appearance from Santa Claus will help make Thanksgiving and the holidays merry. WGN will broadcast the entire Parade in high from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Not an early riser? CLTV will rebroadcast the Parade at 2 p.m. For more information and a complete list of entertainers, balloons and floats, visit chicagofestivals.org.

Photo: Chicago Sinfonietta

The holiday season begins earlier every year. If you're not in the holiday spirit by mid-December, then check out a concert that goes beyond Jingle Bells and Rudolph. The Chicago Sinfonietta blends holiday traditions from around the world into a joyful multicultural singalong for its second annual holiday concert. The Global Holiday Celebration will feature the holiday favorite Joy to the WorldAfrican Sanctus; Adolphe Adam’s O Holy Night; Chip Davis and Calvin Custer’s and arrangement of Silent Night; Donny Hathaway’s soulful holiday standard This Christmas; and George Frederic Handel’s classic “Hallelujah!” chorus from Messiah followed by the gospel arrangement from A Soulful Celebration. (featuring Nicole Mitchell on wooden flute, Vikas Deo on sarod, Tatsu Aoki on shamisen, and Steve Gibbons on Gypsy violin); David Fanshawe’s Traditional favorites Feliz Navidad and O Hannukah will round out this festive program. For tickets call 312-236-3681 ext. 2 or visit http://www.chicagosinfonietta.org/. Children's tickets are only $10, while general admission tickets are $25.

Thomas Nicholas & Megan Quiroz, photo by Herbert Migdoll

The Joffrey Ballet's The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition for a reason - it's one of the few holiday performances with near-universal appeal. Children and their parents delight in Clara's adventure to the Land of Snow. With lavish sets, costuming and choreography, The Joffrey Ballet's interpretation of The Nutcracker is much more than a show. Clara's Christmas is a prelude to your own Christmas or holiday celebration.

Robert Joffrey's The Nutcracker is a reflection of Chicago as well as the holiday spirit. The Joffrey Ballet welcomes nearly 120 young dancers from the Chicago area, Indiana and Wisconsin to participate as snow trees or soldiers, every year. In the Auditorium Theatre lobby, Providence-St. Mel School Choir, the Oak Park and River Forest Children’s Choir, Barrington Children’s Choir, and Palatine Children’s Choir will serenade the audience with selections from Tchaikovsky's Snow Scene as well as popular holiday songs. Single tickets, priced from $25 to $115, are available for purchase at The Joffrey Ballet’s official Box Office located in the lobby of Joffrey Tower, 10 E. Randolph Street, as well as the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University box office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by telephone at (800) 982-2787 or online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/.

Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker 2008 from Sasha Fornari on Vimeo.

For an...unconventional holiday performance, don't miss Jackie Hoffman's premiere of Whining in the Windy City: Holiday Edition. In town for four nights only, Hoffman skewers our most beloved holiday celebrations, showbiz and (of course) children. Full of stand-up comedy and original musical numbers, Whining promises to counteract even the most saccharine sources of holiday cheer. Fed up with the holidays already? Catch Jackie Hoffman tonight at the Royal George Cabaret, in her first of four performances. Deliciously directed towards audiences 18 and older, tickets are priced at $25 and are available by phone at (312) 988-9000, online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_homeA_header_search&q=jackie+hoffman&search.x=0&search.y=0 or in person at the Royal George Theatre box office.