WEEKEND TEN
1 NOSH Some of the best edible decorations around will be on display at the Gingerbread Extravaganza, 1-4 p.m. Sunday in the state Capitol rotunda. The annual event, sponsored by Treatment Homes, features a visit from Santa, a display of Holiday Coloring Contest winning submissions and the gingerbread houses. Spectator admission is free. Call (501) 372-5039 or visit treatmenthomes. org.
2 NOG Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock, hosts the 12th Ever Nog-off, a friendly competition to name the best eggnog in town, 5-8 p.m. Friday during Second Friday Art Night. Guests will sample a variety of nogs, ranging from traditional recipes to contemporary innovations, then award to their favorite the People’s Choice Award. A panel of local celebrity judges will select the winner of the Taster’s Choice Award. At the same time: the opening reception for “Eclectic Color: Diverse Colors for a Diverse World,” abstract works by Rex Deloney, plus music by the Charlotte Taylor Band. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9351 or visit HistoricArkansas.org.
3 NUTCRACKER Ballet Arkansas will once again turn the Robinson Center Performance Hall stage into the Land of the Sweets as its annual production of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s classical holiday ballet The Nutcracker returns to West Markham Street and Broadway, 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Thirty-nine members of the Arkansas Symphony, with Geoffrey Robson conducting, will be in the pit in the newly rebuilt center. Tickets are $25-$70, with student and military discounts. Call (501) 666-1761, Extension 100, or visit arkansassymphony.org/concerts-tickets/nutcracker-2016.
4 NOCTURNAL Christmas can be crazy and busy, but it gets even wilder at the Little Rock Zoo’s Holidays in the Wild, 6-9 p.m. today-Sunday. For the second weekend, visitors can take enchanted train rides, meet Santa, do crafts and listen to music. There is also an interactive light show. Tickets in advance are $10, $8 for members. Gate tickets are $12 and $10. Call (501) 666-2406 or visit littlerockzoo.com.
5 NOT LAST WEEK Thanks to last weekend’s rain, the Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday Parade was postponed and rescheduled for 3-5 p.m. Saturday. The parade, with floats, bands and dancers, starts at Second Street and Broadway and ends at the state Capitol. Admission is free. Call (501) 9045228 or visit holidaysinlittlerock.com.
6 NUCLEUS The big man himself gets scientific at the Museum of Discovery, 500 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, at Santa’s science lab, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. There will be science demonstrations, hot cocoa, pictures with Santa and visits with the museum’s animals. Admission is $10, $8 for children 1-12. Call (501) 396-7050 or visit museumofdiscovery.org.
7 NIMBUS 2001 The Arkansas Arts Center in MacArthur Park, East Ninth and Commerce streets, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, will turn its studios into a Harry Potter Holiday Wonderland for youngsters 8-14 (costumes encouraged). Activities include sorting “students” into houses, making wands and Golden Snitch ornaments, a Horcrux Hunt through the galleries and a rousing game of Quidditch. Cost is $56, $45 for members. Call (501) 372-4000 or visit ArkansasArtsCenter.org/museumschool.
Have a magical Christmas at Barnes & Noble’s Harry Potter Magical Holiday Ball, 7 p.m. Friday, 11500 Financial Center Parkway, Little Rock. Guests are invited to dress as a Harry Potter character or in holiday wear for dancing, music and activities. Call (501) 954-7646 or visit barnesandnoble.com.
8 NIRVANA The Arkansas Chamber Singers will, musically, bring “Heaven Down to Earth” for its annual Christmas concerts, 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday at the Old State House Museum, 300 W. Markham St., Little Rock. The program ranges from serious stuff in Latin (“Ave Virgo Gloriosa” by Richard Dering, “Dixit Maria” by Hans Leo Hassler) to standard carols and hymns (“Sing We Now of Christmas,” “The Cherry Tree Carol,” “The Holly and the Ivy”). John Erwin conducts. Admission is free. Call (501) 377-1121 or visit ar-chambersingers.org. (Subsequent performances: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Trinity Presbyterian Church, 4501 Rahling Road, Little Rock, and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15, Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church, 1003 N Tyler St., Little Rock. Tickets are $15, $10 students in advance, $18 and $12 at the door.)
9 ‘(O HOLY) NIGHT’ The Little Rock Wind Symphony, conductor Israel Getzov and guests, present a Christmas concert titled “Christmas Ornaments,” featuring “musical merriment with a twist of folly,” 7:30 p.m. today, Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. Soprano Christine Donahue sings “O Holy Night” and, with the Wind Symphony Jazz Combo, a “Man With the Bag”/“Santa Baby” mash-up. Also featured: children’s choirs from Roberts Elementary School and Second Presbyterian Church, McCafferty School of Irish Dance and the annual singalong. Tickets are $10, $8 for adults 65 and older, free for students. Call (501) 666-0777 or visit lrwindsymphony.org.
10 NOEL Historic Washington State Park north of Hope celebrates the season Victorian-style with the annual Christmas and Candlelight, 1-8 p.m. Saturday. The park’s historic buildings are fitted out with period decorations, and candlelight tours begin at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 plus tax, $6 for children 6-12. Call (870) 983-2684 or visit historicwashingtonstatepark.com.