NOWOMAHA / LOCAL FIELD NOTES
Council Bluffs’ holiday weekend: Winterfest lights, the Nutcracker and an ornament workshop
From Friday night in Bayliss Park to a sensory-friendly Nutcracker on Sunday, Nov. 20-22 is the weekend Council Bluffs turns on the holidays.
Council Bluffs turns on the holidays the weekend before Thanksgiving, and you can do the whole thing without crossing the river.
Friday, Nov. 20: Winterfest in Bayliss Park. The city’s Winterfest starts downtown when the food trucks open at 5 p.m. Activities begin at 6 with the holiday lighting ceremony in Bayliss Park. Dress for an evening outside.
Saturday, Nov. 21: ornaments, then the ballet. At 11 a.m., PACE hosts Family Ornament Making at the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center on South Sixth Street. Registration is required, so sign up through PACE before you go. That afternoon, American Midwest Ballet opens its Nutcracker at the same building, with performances at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 22: a sensory-friendly Nutcracker. American Midwest Ballet marks its Sunday performance at the Hoff as sensory-friendly, for audiences who do better with a more relaxed setting. The company has not posted that show’s time on the pages we checked, so confirm it with the PACE box office.
If you miss the Council Bluffs run, the same production moves to the Orpheum in Omaha Dec. 4 through 6.
Every event here is on our calendar with a link to the organizer’s own page.