Holiday events December 2023

A list of some of our favorite things in our region this December:

Christmas Tree Sales that Benefit Area Programs: Community Roots, a nonrofit garden center in Dayton, carries a large selection of fresh cut and live fir trees. And Community Roots’ gift shop is stocked with unique items such as local crafts and honey to fill your gift-giving needs. Proceeds benefit community programs such as food pantries. Location: 209 Dayton Valley Road. Hours: Monday through Saturday 10 am – 7pm and Sundays from 11 am - 6 pm. Phone:  350-9250.

Jolabokaflod: Get ready for the Jolabokaflod (“Christmas book flood”), a tradition of exchanging books as gifts on Christmas Eve and spending the night reading and drinking hot chocolate. There are free books for all ages on bookshelves inside the local post office and in the Little Free Library box outside the post office Silver City. 

Friday, December 1: Carson City's 35th Silver and Snowflakes Festival of Lights. Tree lighting on the capitol grounds includes carols by children’s choirs and the appearance of Santa and the Grinch (and photo ops) and free carriage rides. The children begin the program with singing at 5:30 pm. The Tree Lighting Ceremony, with remarks by the Governor and the Mayor, is from 5:30pm-6:15pm. Other groups will be caroling at McFadden Plaza Stage (across from Legislative grounds). 

Saturday December 2: Silver City's annual Holiday Fair is 10am-5pm at the Silver City Schoolhouse. Live music, beverages, local, handmade treasures. 

Saturday December 2 and 3: St. Mary’s Art Center Holiday Faire from 10am-4pm, Virginia City. The Faire continues on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 10am-3pm. 

Saturday December 2 and 3: Senior Center Craft Fair from 10am-5pm, Virginia City.  The Craft Fair continues on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 10am-3pm. 

Sunday, December 10 Holiday Treat Concert: The Carson City Symphony will be joined by the Carson Chamber Singers and the Victorian Dancers. Showtime is at 4 p.m. at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William Street. Blood donors at Vitalant's Carson City Donor Center from Dec. 2 through Dec. 9 may receive a complimentary ticket to the concert. For tickets and more information, see CCSymphony.com or call 883-4154.

Saturday, December 16 Silver City Christmas Party: Hosted by the Silver City Volunteer Fire Department, which will provide ham, turkey and beverages. Bring your favorite side dish or dessert. There will be a special appearance by Santa Claus, who will bring gifts for children on his list (add your child’s name to the sign up sheet at the post office). Event will be at the Schoolhouse. 

Through December 21 at Western Nevada College’s Bristlecone Gallery: CCAI's exhibition, "It Started with Willows" can be seen during gallery hours Mon-Fri 8am-7pm. The Carson City show presents contemporary paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures from the Great Basin Native Artists collective and historic working Native baskets from the Lloyd Chichester Collection.

Arts News and Notes Fall 2023 Silver City Nevada

Call for Artists for the Holiday Fair in Silver City: Show and sell your art and crafts at the Silver City Schoolhouse during the annual holiday event, December 2, 2023. Email evangeline@evangelinepresents.com for details. 

New Edition of Neon Nevada by Former Silver City Folks: On November 9, 2023 from 6pm-8pm at the Nevada Museum of Art, Sheila Swan and Peter Laufer, authors of Neon Nevada, will discuss the influence of neon signage on Nevada’s unique culture. Stay for a book signing of their expanded 2023 edition after the talk. Peter Laufer and Sheila Swan began documenting the state's neon decades ago when they were living in Silver City. About Neon Nevada: First published in 1994, Sheila Swan and Peter Laufer take readers on a journey across the state on a quest to discover Nevada’s neon. Full-color photographs and historical commentary bring the state’s hues of neon to life through the year 2022 in the newly updated and expanded edition. The updated edition of the book was released on Oct. 24, 2023. 

Rick Shea and Tony Gilkyson play the Silver City Schoolhouse on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 7PM! Rick Shea and Tony Gilkyson, seasoned guitarists and songwriters with well known resumes (Shea with Wanda Jackson, R.E.M and others, Gilkyson with Tom Waits and Bob Dylan) team up. $15-$25 donation at the door. RSVP: evangeline@evangelinepresents.com This is a benefit for the Silver City Preservation Society. "Gilkyson is a fine guitarist and an equally fine songwriter with an eye for the ironic and darkly humorous." - Los Angeles Times "Shea is.. a hauntingly nostalgic vocalist, imperative guitarist and literate, detail rich songwriter, do yourself a favor" - Sing Out Magazine. The event is at the Silver City Schoolhouse (community center) at 385 High Street, Silver City, NV 89428.

SMAC Fall Exhibition: St. Mary’s Art Center’s fall exhibition includes art by Scott MacLeod, a former artist-in-residence in Silver City, plus art by Honey Coughlin, Shaun Griffin, Edw Martinez, Fredric Hobbs, and many others. The exhibition is on view until Nov. 26, 2023. See SMAC’s website for hours. 

Annual Holiday Fair December 2: Join Silver City for its festive holiday celebration and shopping event on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 from 10am-5pm. Handmade fine art, pottery, beadwork, metal work, jewelry, photography, textiles and more from local artists! Enjoy mimosas, hot cocoa, music and a festive atmosphere while you peruse the wonderful offerings. There will also be an art raffle and a bake sale with delicious baked goods from Comstock bakers. Proceeds benefit the Silver City Preservation Society, a 501c3 nonprofit. The event is at the Silver City Schoolhouse (community center) at 385 High Street, Silver City, NV 89428.

Silver City Displays: At the U.S. Post Office in Silver City you'll find a changing display inside of the large glass cabinet on the south wall. Past exhibits have featured the local community garden and gardeners, musicians of Silver City, publications by Silver City locals, artifacts saved from the fire that destroyed the original Schoolhouse in 2004, and many more. 

Silver City Reads: Borrow books at the Silver City Volunteer Library (located inside the Silver City Schoolhouse), which is now open on Saturdays from 2:30pm-5pm. You can also take and keep (or exchange) books that you find at the Silver City Little Free Library (located outside the post office) and the bookshelves inside the post office. 

Alice Cazenave of London, UK, who was an artist-in-residence in Silver City Oct-Dec. 2022, writes, "As part of my PhD fieldwork, I've been tracing the mobilisation of silver used in analogue photographic industries. This time last year I spent two months living in [Silver City, Nevada.] Across only two decades around the 1870s, these sites extracted nearly 7 million tonnes of silver. The toxic legacy of that extraction is extreme and the site is now a U.S National Priorities Superfund site...Whole mountain sides were honeycombed by corporations searching for silver...My time there was spent making photo-chemistry out of the plants that help restabilise the ground. I also spent time with some of the communities living there today, as well as mining corporations that were active in the region. Every evening I went up to Tommy's to look at the view of the Sierra Nevada. He built his house on a pile of mining tailings. He drank beer and I drank tea and those moments were simple and special. I'm so grateful for those I've met along my journeys following silver." Earlier this year Alice presented some of her research at the Photographic Histories Research Centre, De Montfort University during a conference titled "Photography in Its Environment." She has exhibited some of the work she created during her artist residency in Silver City at exhibitions, including one in Silver City, Nevada ("Desert Treasure") as well as in Birmingham, England ("Beyond Silver").  Alice's website is https://www.alice.cazenave.co.uk/

SILVER PALOOZA: The annual Silver Palooza Music and Art Festival in Silver City is scheduled for July 2024 at the Silver City Park, Schoolhouse and stage.