Seven Great Bay Area Holiday Activities

If you’ve seen the music video for Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” set in a Macy’s department store, you know good ol’ American big-business holiday consumerism is totally alive and scary. But you live in the Bay Area, where the holidays can be celebrated differently — with less Nintendo and more letterpress prints. In fact, it can actually be difficult to sift through the season’s alternative, locally produced offerings. So we’ve done it for you. Here’s a list of our favorite early-December Bay Area activities.

Win a gingerbread house competition at the Swedish Christmas Fair, Dec. 3, 9am – 4pm
At least once in your life, you should build a gingerbread house while eating an open face shrimp sandwich. Thank goodness the Swedish Christmas Fair gives you this opportunity. The best thing about this fair’s gingerbread house competition is that the house doesn’t have to be a house at all! Your saccharine creation can even be, the website says, a box. I’m not sure gingerbread boxes will fare well in the silent auction held at the end of the day, but at least the judging is silent, so your shaming won’t be too public. There will also be glogg, saffron buns, and waffles with strawberry jam. Yikes. (St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco.)

Watch the Calistoga Tractor Parade, Dec. 3, 7-9pm
While usually only farmers covet tractors, the big mechanical lunks are really hard to resist when they’re covered in Christmas lights, rolling charmingly along the main street of a small Northern California town. Don’t blame me when you discover a John Deere deliveryman on your doorstep this weekend — he’s just braved the city streets to bring you the tractor you purchased the night before in a love-blind haze at the tractor parade. They weren’t even supposed to sell the tractors, but you were so persistent.(On main street, Calistoga.)

Browse the Bazaar Bizarre, Dec. 3, 12-6pm and Dec. 4, 11am-6pm
Since I love alliteration, putting nouns before adjectives, and words that sound like other words (homophones, if you’re into literary terms), Bazaar Bizarre is my kind of event. Oh, and I also love locally produced arts and craft shows. This weekend, you should first wander through the endless warehouse full of giftables made by indie artists and designers. Then, you should watch a laser-cutting demonstration or make a Mason jar snow globe. Then, in SCRAP’s sculpture workshop, reuse items intercepted on their way to the trash — they promise Easter eggs and buttons. And if you aren’t too pooped, pose for a photo with the Bazaar Bizarre Yeti (if it really exists). (Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco.)

Support a local artist at Root Division’s Misfit Toy Factory, Dec. 10, 7-10pm
For some, avoiding the malls this year is a statement against rampant consumerism. For others, it’s a statement against a kid spilling an ICEE on your shoes in the line at Forever 21. Either way, stick to your boycott and check out Root Division’s Misfit Toy Factory. At this live art-making event, you’ll watch your gifts grow from mere scraps and threads into elephants and airplanes (the stuffed variety). They’ve got some pretty cool art-makers participating — including Root Division’s resident artists. (Root Division, San Francisco.)

Get holiday nails at Party Nails Pop-up Salon at Shotwell’s, Dec. 11, 4-7pm
I’ve been a nail-biter since my nails were mature enough to take the abuse. I’ve tried everything to quit — deep breathing, gum chewing, Sriracha sauce — but nothing worked until I discovered Taylor Watson’s nail art. When Taylor adorned my nails with elegant monochrome chevrons, I got so many compliments that I didn’t bite my nails for a week. I still look back on those days fondly. So I wasn’t surprised to hear that the nail diva herself is hosting her first pop-up salon this month at Shotwell’s. Don’t miss the debut. Taylor’s prices are a steal, she has excellent nail-side manner, and she’s even agreed to do holiday nails. But I recommend asking for the space nails. (Shotwell’s, San Francisco.)

See the results of the boat decorating contest in Half Moon Bay, Dec. 10-31
Each December in my hometown, my neighbors lovingly applied Christmas lights to a dusty boat that chilled in their driveway all year. I don’t think the boat ever saw open water. I’m pretty sure my neighbors had forgotten it was a boat and believed they were decorating a surprisingly smooth and hollow hedge. But that was Sacramento. Boaters in Half Moon Bay, on the other hand, totally get it — they decorate their boats on the water! And because they actually spend time on the water, they know what water creatures look like, and they craft their lights into sparkling jellyfish and twinkling seahorses. At the opening event at 6:30 on Dec. 10, a seafood company will be giving out stuffed animals (an odd freebie, but still nice?) and hot cider. (Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay.)

Eat Guinness gingerbread ice cream and mulled wine sorbet at Humphry Slocombe
While this might be the only holiday list ever written to include ice cream, everyone knows the traditional winter shun of all things cold doesn’t apply to Humphry Slocombe’s treats. Loyal customers will eat the celebrated stuff in the darkest of winter (OK, I know the SF version of winter is no big deal to you East Coast folks, but our coats aren’t as fluffy!). And if you’re overdosing on rich holiday drinks but know you’ll miss them immediately when they’re gone, stock your freezer with a few pints of mulled wine sorbet and let it be your methadone. (Humphry Slocombe, San Francisco.)