Right Now Downtown

The holiday shopping weekends can put a real dent in the seasonal budget.  Fortunately, the downtown is packed with affordable festivities that’ll boost your spirits, if not your bottom line.

Holiday Concerts in the Crypt
Frankly, that title is better suited for a Halloween event.  Although creepy-sounding, the concerts really do feature winter holiday music from area high school choirs, orchestras and marching bands.  It’s a daily event, held in the Statehouse Crypt (hence the name).  The noon-hour shows are open to the public and kick-off on December 3 with a concert from the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band.

State Auto Insurance Nativity Scene
Barreling through congested traffic, it’s easy to pass over the nativity display at State Auto Insurance Company.  The scene appears on Broad Street every year, and it’s worth a twilight go-see at a pedestrian pace.  The nativity spans 140 feet with its 50 figures and is illuminated from the first Wednesday in December until January.

Lessons and Carols (First Congregational Church)
This ain’t your average church choir.  This annual concert at First Congregational Church attracts a standing-room-only crowd for a reason: the sound is so powerful and beautiful, Kleenex are required.  This year’s performance is December 16, 3:30 pm at 444 E. Broad St.

For those with a little fun money in the bank, The Short North’s Holiday Hop is this Saturday (December 1).  The stores and art galleries stay open late, and while some folks pack the wallet for Chihuly, plenty of visitors are browsers-only.

The King Arts Complex is hosting The Black Nativity for four nights starting Thursday, November 29.  Tickets are only twenty dollars, and that’s a steal for a Langston Hughes musical.

Gay can go both ways.

At least when it’s Gay Street.  After endless months of construction, the all-new Gay Street made its official debut on November 7.  No longer for the exclusive use of westbound traffic, the thoroughfare is now open to eastbound-ers too.

While downtown drivers appreciate the shift, the improvement actually has more impact on pedestrians.  The construction makeover also includes very user-friendly crosswalks, and those walkways are making jaunts across the road survivable for bipeds.

Pedestrians are also in a great position to admire the street’s cosmetic improvements.   The scene is prettier these days, especially when illuminated by the elegant old-school streetlights.  Project Manager Thomas Murphy says that the city is still working on the street’s aesthetics.  He pledged, “The work will continue for the installation of amenities.”  More trees, decorative fencing and art installations are all on the list.

As for Gay Street businesses, Tip Top Kitchen celebrated the re-opening with a “Gay Goes Bi” party.  The restaurant’s manager, Cabby Lawry, forecasts a bright future for the passageway.  She’s pleased with the changes: “It makes Gay more accessible as a destination street.  People can more easily find their way to Tip Top, as well as the other wonderful places in this area.”

Hollywood Movies have long celebrated the magic of Christmastime on downtown streets.  It’s brisk bundled walks, rosy cheeks, sparkling lights and good cheer.  That fairy tale scene becomes real this month in downtown Columbus.  Three big events are set to ignite the season.

The Statehouse Tree Lighting kicks things off at 5:30 pm on November 14.  The governor will join revelers for a celebration of all that is magical in this season – including carolers, model trains and cookies.  The event’s Civil War cannon might not seem terribly seasonal, but it booms at the moment of illumination for thousands of teeny holiday lights.

Holiday Pops continues the festivities with a short run from November 30 through December 2.  The Columbus Symphony will be playing all the holiday favorites at the Ohio Theatre and rumor has it that Mr. Claus himself will be making an early drop-in at the shows.  For tickets and show times, the symphony’s website is columbussymphony.com.

Having worked with illustrious characters like Octopussy and Dr. Holly Goodhead, it’s hardly surprising to find that James Bond is now working with The Nutcracker.  Sir Roger Moore will be providing the narration for BalletMet’s Nutcracker this year.  The beautiful ballet tradition will appear at The Ohio Theatre from December 8 through December 23 – so it takes us right up to the big day.  More information is available at balletmet.org.

Feeling crafty?  Then it’s high time to release your inner Martha Stewart at the North Market’s Gingerbread House Contest.  Bake it build it, and pimp it out with some sugary stuff to bring to the North Market on Saturday, Nov. 10.  The competition is part of a gigundo celebration called the Holiday Food Festival.

While the festival is officially celebrating the great flavors of the winter holidays, gingerbread contestants need not worry about the flavor of their houses.  Event coordinator Mary Martineau issued this reassuring ruling: “The judges are architects and designers, so (while we do trust their taste buds) they are judging the houses on visual appeal.”

Besides, the gingerbread masterpieces will be displayed at the North Market for two months; bite marks decrease property values.

The Holiday Food Festival kicks off at 9 am with cooking demonstrations and booths of season’s eatings.  The tykes can get into the house-building business in a gingerbread workshop hosted in the market’s Dispatch Kitchen from 11 am until 1 pm.  As for the serious Gingerbread House Contest, judging commences at high noon.  Contact Mary Martineau for details: 614-463-9664.