Plenty of ways to celebrate holidays this year

Thanksgiving is the official start of the Christmas Holiday season, which we all know is a time for family fun, kids fun and grown-up entertainment.

Which means there’s plenty to do over the next four weeks and a lot of diversity as well. As is appropriate for a traditional time of year, the majority of offerings are familiar and comfortable.

Also, they are eagerly awaited. A couple of December events are The Victorian Streetwalk that happens along Broadway in Saratoga Springs starting at dusk on Wednesday Nov. 30 and the Victorian Stroll which takes place noon to 5 p.m. throughout downtown Troy on Sunday December 3. Each is a wonderful way to kick off the season in a historic community.

Two other traditional family events return this year. Melodies of Christmas is at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady December 15- 18, and Magic of Christmas, the Albany Symphony’s salute to the holidays takes place at the Palace Theatre on Sunday Dec. 3.

It doesn’t have the history of the other two events, but The Many Moods of Christmas presented by Albany Pro Musica at Troy Music Hall on December 17 promises to be a special afternoon of music the entire family will enjoy. Another pleasant event of seasonal music is the Mendelssohn’s annual holiday concert at the Egg on Dec. 15.

You cannot get more traditional than attending the ballet “The Nutcracker.” Northeast Ballet offers two days of the masterpiece at Proctors Dec. 2-3, while Albany Berkshire Ballet offers two performances at the Egg on Dec. 9. Proving good things come in threes, the third area Nutcracker is presented by the Moscow Ballet at Albany’s Palace Theatre on Dec. 6.

What story is more related to Christmas than is the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol?” There are two offered this year. The Theatre Institute at Sage offers theirs at the Schacht Fine Arts Center on the campus of Russell Sage College in Troy Dec. 1-14. Home Made Theatre presents their rendition of the Charles Dickens classic on weekends from Dec. 8-17.

But there are other theatrical delights over the holiday season. Classic Stage Company offers “A Miracle on 34th Street” at Proctors Dec. 1-10, and Park Playhouse offers a student-driven production of “Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at Cohoes Music Hall Dec. 14-17.

There are a couple of plays at Proctors that are expressly for kids. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is on Nov. 26 and “A Garfield Christmas” is Dec. 22.

There are also theater productions available without a holiday theme. The charming musical “She Loves Me” is at Capital Rep Nov. 24-Dec 24. “Finding Neverland,” a musical that explains how Peter Pan came to be, is at Proctors Dec. 5-10. And, as coun- ter-programming, a sexy comedy “See How They Run” is at Curtain Call Theatre in Latham Dec. 1-31.

One popular event that isn’t returning is the train excursion, “The Polar Express” which operated out of Saratoga Springs for several years. It’s been replaced by “The Train to Christmas Town” which leaves from Stony Creek Ranch Resort in Warrensburg through Dec. 27. Good news is that Yankee Trails popular family bus experience “Santa’s Magical Express” is back and running Thursdays to Sundays out of Rensselaer.

Not everything is traditional. There are Celtic celebrations of dance and song at the Troy Music Hall. Disney on Ice presents “Frozen” at the Times Union Center and the amazing Trans- Siberian Orchestra extends the Christmas holiday through Dec. 27 at the Times Union Center.

And, before you know it we’ll be looking for something to do to celebrate the New Year.