Noel Night, holiday dinosaurs and winter markets to light up metro Detroit this weekend
Experience the essence of the season as festive celebrations unfold across metro Detroit. More than 100 institutions will participate in a district-wide open house in the Detroit Cultural Center and Midtown area Saturday. Plus, enjoy holiday lights and art in Birmingham; a holiday light show at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester; festive fun in Sterling Heights; and a prehistoric twist with dinosaurs at Oakland Mall in Troy.
Here are five things to do for the weekend of Dec. 1-3.
49th Annual Noel Night
This longstanding holiday tradition, produced by Midtown Detroit, Inc., returns to Detroit’s Cultural Center and Midtown district with more than 100 institutions including the College for Creative Studies, Detroit Public Library, Detroit Institute of Arts, Magic Stick, Michigan Science Center, MOCAD, and Wayne State University, along with the local small business community opening doors to the public during this free holiday open house.
Activities will include shopping at local businesses and pop-up winter marketplaces; family make-and-take crafts; visits with Santa; food trucks and beverage stands; ice scraper demonstrations and performances by more than 80 area music, theatre, and dance groups.
Featured performances will include Abigail Stauffer and The Wisdom, Alice McAllister Tillman, Audivi, Brooklyn Qawwali Party, Chris Bathgate, Detroit Youth Choir, Frontier Ruckus and others.
Noel Night takes place Saturday from 5-9 p.m. at venues north of Warren Avenue in the Cultural Center, and 5-10 p.m. at venues south of Warren Avenue in Detroit.
Birmingham Winter Markt
This annual event will feature local artists, vendors, food, holiday lights, ice sculptures, live entertainment, complimentary carriage rides, a children’s activity area, warming stations and more.
A tree lighting ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and will feature FM 95.5’s Mojo and Shannon, Santa, live caroling and the lighting of a 41-foot holiday tree with more than 40,000 lights.
The event takes place 4-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at Shain Park in downtown Birmingham.
Winter Wonder Lights
This self-guided outdoor holiday light show features unique light displays across the grounds of Meadow Brook Hall. Enjoy fun concessions such as glow-in-the-dark cotton candy and food from the outdoor café, selfie stations, bonfires and more.
The Winter Wonder Lights experience includes touring a portion of the house.
The event runs through Dec. 30 at Meadow Brook Hall and Gardens at 350 Estate Drive in Rochester. Advance ticket purchases are required. Tickets are $22.50 for ages 13 and up; $12.50 for ages 3-12; 2 and under are free.
Canterbury Holiday Dinosaur Wonderland
Oakland Mall has partnered with Canterbury Village to bring this prehistoric twist experience as animatronic dinosaurs from Canterbury Village join in Christmas celebrations with lifelike dinosaurs and a forest of twinkling Christmas trees for this walkthrough experience.
See all your favorites – Velociraptors, Pterodactyls, Stegosauruses, Triceratops, Brachiosauruses, T-Rex and more.
The event runs through Dec. 24 at Oakland Mall, 412 W. 14 Mile in Troy. Tickets are $9.99; kids 2 and under are free.
A Sterling Christmas
This 46th annual event will have tree lighting, holiday music with caroling, visits with Santa, a petting farm, refreshments, pony rides, horse-drawn wagon rides, train rides, ice skating, warming fires and more.
5:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday at Dodge Park, 40620 Utica Road in Sterling Heights. Free to attend, but non-perishable food donations will be collected for the Department of Public Works' Ken Stempowski Memorial Food Drive.
Brendel Hightower is an assistant editor at the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bhightower@freepress.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Noel Night, winter markets, lights: Metro Detroit things to do
