The best things to do in Philly this weekend and next week

📅 This calendar is updated every Thursday at noon with the best events for the week. You can always find it at inquirer.com/calendar

🚨Note: Coronavirus cases are higher than ever in the Philadelphia region and throughout the country as a whole. Even where indoor activities are allowed, we recommend doing as much as possible outdoors, socially distanced and masked, because indoor activities are inherently riskier for virus spread.

Get the most recent guidelines where you are: Philly, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

✨ A Longwood Christmas (Holiday / in-person / outdoors kid-friendly) One of the area’s most popular holiday displays returns for the season. Timed ticketing, masks and social distancing are all required in the majestic Longwood Gardens. Wander the grounds and find half-a-million twinkling lights, seasonal plants, holiday music, fountain shows and more. (Free-$30, Nov. 20-Jan. 10, longwoodgardens.org, map, add to calendar)

🎄 Chestnut Hill’s Circle of Trees at Woodmere Art Museum (Holiday / virtual / free / kid-friendly) The holiday season starts in Chestnut Hill with an online celebration led by Santa who will read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to online guests and then turn on the holiday lights at Woodmere Art Museum. Registration is required. (Free, Nov. 21, 6 p.m., chestnuthillpa.com, add to calendar)

✨ Shady Brook Farm Holiday Light Show (Holiday / in-person / outdoors / kid-friendly) Yardley’s Shady Brook Farm is bedecked with more than three million lights this year. You can enjoy the magic with a drive-through light show. You can also buy a Christmas tree, get your holiday shopping done and more. (Drive through, $25-$35, wagon ride, $15-$18, Nov. 21-Jan. 10, shadybrookfarm.com, map, add to calendar)

🛍️ Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market (Shopping / in-person / outdoors) Shop local at Dilworth Park’s open-air holiday market. Browse handmade art works, home decor, clothing, gifts and more from more than 50 local makers at the shopping pop-up. The market is open daily — other than Christmas Day — through Jan. 1. Masks and social distancing are required. (Free, Nov. 21-Jan. 1, madeinphila.com, map, add to calendar)

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🎤 First Person Arts StorySlam: Not Today (Performance / virtual / storytelling) Anyone who has ever found themselves on someone’s bad side (so, everyone) will enjoy this StorySlam, with tales about crossing the line and putting your foot down. Winners of past StorySlams share their best stories, and the audience picks a favorite. ($10-$25, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m., firstpersonarts.org, add to calendar)

🍿 Jiu Jitsu (Movie / virtual) Nicolas Cage has made a number of ... interesting movie choices over the years. Here he stars in a sci fi-action flick about a battle between an ancient order of jiu-jitsu fighters and an alien invasion. (Rated R. Premieres Nov. 20 on VOD and streaming services)

🍿 The Real Right Stuff (Documentary / virtual) National Geographic looks at the first American astronauts, including Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper and John Glenn. (Rated TV-14. Premieres Nov. 20 on Disney+)

📚 Griot Tale Saturdays! Stories for Little Ones at Franklin Square (Storytelling/ in-person / kid-friendly / outdoors) On Saturdays this month, Franklin Square teams up with the African American Museum for outdoor, socially distant afternoon storytelling. The event honors griots, African storytellers and oral historians who pass tales down to future generations. (Free, Nov. 21, 28, 4-5 p.m., aampmuseum.org, map, add to calendar)

🛍️ Christmas Village Preview Weekend (Shopping / in-person / outdoors) While Love Park’s Christmas Village may look a little different this year, the holiday market still promises festive ornaments, holiday gifts, jewelry, decorations and fine European food and drinks. Before officially opening for the season on Thanksgiving, the market opens for a two-day preview this weekend. (Preview weekend: Nov 21-22, Christmas Village: Nov. 26-Dec. 4, phliachristmas.com, map, add to calendar)

🧘🏽 Fairmount Park Conservancy Presents Virtual Greenhouse Yoga (Fitness / virtual / free) Stretch your way into Sunday with a free, all-levels vinyasa yoga class. Register online for the free class and practice your flow in your own home. (Free, Nov. 22, 10-11 a.m., myphillypark.org, add to calendar)

👨🏾‍🍳 Thanksgiving: Old Traditions and New Celebrations: Jose Garces (Food / virtual / free) Renowned Philly chef Garces leads a virtual cooking class, where he makes one of his favorite meals and discusses his career, restaurants and non-profit Garces Foundation. The event is free to attend but registration is required. (Free, Nov. 23, 7-8:30 p.m., ibx.com, add to calendar)

📜 The Penn Museum Presents Thanksgiving Myths and Indigenous Memories (Lecture / virtual / free) In honor of Native American Heritage month, the museum presents a free, online talk about the myths associated with the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth and the first encounters between Native Americans and the settlers, all broadcast on Facebook live. (Free, Nov. 24, 5:30 p.m., penn.musuem, add to calendar)

🎬 Hillbilly Elegy (Movie / virtual) Ron Howard directed this adaptation of the best-selling J.D. Vance memoir about a Yale law student returning home to Appalachia. Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Haley Bennett and Gabriel Basso star. (Rated R. Premieres Tuesday, Nov. 24 on Netflix)

🍿 Happiest Season (Movie / virtual) Clea Duvall wrote and directed this rom-com about a lesbian woman’s desire for acceptance during a secret-filled family Christmas visit. Featuring a cast of familiar faces including Dan Levy, Mary Steenburgen, Aubrey Plaza, Victor Garber, Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, and Alison Brie. (Rated PG-13. Premieres Nov. 25 on Hulu)

🍿 Uncle Frank (Movie / virtual) Set in 1973, Frank (Paul Bettany) takes a road trip down south to attend the funeral of the father he tried to get away from. He’s joined on the trip by his teenage niece and his gay lover. With Sophia Lillis and Peter Macdissi. Written and directed by Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under, True Bood). (Rated R. Premieres Nov. 25 on Amazon Prime)

🦃 Thanksgiving (Holiday / dining) With guidance that we not spend the holiday with people outside our household (even outdoor dining is not allowed), it’s going to be an unusual Thanksgiving. And while it may be less than ideal, the holiday can still be delicious. Tons of restaurants throughout the area are offering takeout meals and outdoor dinners for those interested in staying out of the kitchen this year. (Nov. 26, inquirer.com, add to calendar)

🌟 Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show at Franklin Square (Holiday / in-person / outdoors / free) Ooh and ahh at more than 100,000 twinkling lights at Franklin Square’s Electrical Spectacle Holiday Light Show, which returns for the holiday season on Nov. 19. The show, set to festive music recorded by the Philly POPS, starts at 5 p.m. nightly and occurs every 30 minutes. (Free, through Dec. 31, historicphiladelphia.org, map, add to calendar)

💃 Pennsylvania Ballet Digital Season (Dance / virtual) Pennsylvania Ballet artistic director Angel Corella curated a four-performance showcase of exciting ballet, which is available for streaming now. (Free registration is required to view the performances — donations are encouraged, through Nov. 25, paballet.org, add to calendar)

🇵🇷 Raúl Romero: Onomonopoetics of a Puerto Rican Landscape (Art / in-person / ongoing) Taller Puertorriqueño presents an immersive exhibit that transports viewers to Puerto Rico through sound. Sounds of the island’s tiny coquí frog can be heard throughout Fairhill’s El Centro de Oro, emanating from sculptures that celebrate Arecibo’s famous observatory. (Free, through Jan. 10, tallerpr.org, add to calendar)

⛸️ Ice Rink at Dilworth Park (Fall event / in-person / outdoors / kid-friendly / ongoing) Dilworth Park marks the holidays with the return of its popular ice skating rink, which, in addition to skating, has super Instagrammable views of Center City and City Hall. This year, the winter park’s food-and-drink cabin becomes an open-air restaurant with a range of food and cocktails, with winter decor and toasty heat lamps. Masks, social distancing and timed tickets required. ($5-14 for skating; $10 for skate rental, through Feb. 28, centercityphila.org, map, add to calendar)

🧘🏿 Spirits Up! Black Wellness Festival (Festival / virtual / multi-day) For three weekends this month, Spirits Up!, a local organization dedicated to Black liberation and healing, presents a virtual Black wellness festival featuring Black and indigenous music, poetry and art, along with online meditation and yoga classes. ($15-$75, Nov. 20-22, spiritsup.life, add to calendar)

🎥 Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (Film / virtual / multi-day) The film fest celebrates its 40th anniversary with a full slate of independent films, some fresh off of the festival circuit. This year’s all-virtual lineup includes bold new Jewish cinema, along with virtual happy hours, filmmaker spotlights, panels, and more. ($15 for a ticket; $180 for a 1-week pass, through Nov. 21, pjff.org, add to calendar)

Calendar contributors include music critic Dan DeLuca (music), Howard Gensler (movies), and Jane M. Von Bergen (theater).