The Best Things To Do In Columbus This Weekend (November 13th–15th)

Santa lights the 56-foot tree at Easton around 7pm Friday, the first of three holiday openers this weekend.

WonderLight’s Christmas opens the same night at the Hartford Fairgrounds, and Clippers Holiday Lights has its opening night at Huntington Park on Saturday with a drone show at 7:45. Ohio State hosts Northwestern at noon Saturday on FOX. The weekend also has Paul Shaffer hosting a Ray Charles tribute for the Palace Theatre’s 100th birthday, Little Big Town at Mershon, John Summit at the Schott, the Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, a Gilmore Girls weekend in downtown Delaware, the Hot Chocolate Run, and much more. Here’s your weekend.

This Weekend At A Glance

Friday, November 13th

🎄 Grand Illumination At Easton

Easton turns on its holiday lights Friday. The night runs from 5 to 8pm around the Town Square, and around 7 Santa helps light the 56-foot tree and the two million lights strung across the rest of Easton. The Mistletoe Market is open all three hours with local makers and small businesses, and there’s live music. Dos Hermanos has Mexican hot chocolate and churros, Cheryl’s Cookies and Le Macaron are there, and The Coffee Camper pours out of a 1967 Serro Scotty camper.

Location: Town Square, Easton Town Center
When: Friday, 5–8pm; tree lighting around 7pm
More info: Easton Town Center

🚗 WonderLight’s Christmas Opens In Hartford

Friday is opening night for WonderLight’s Christmas, the drive-through show at the Hartford Fairgrounds with more than a million LED lights timed to music that plays through the car stereo. It’s open every night through January 3rd, holidays included, from 5:30 to 10pm. A car with up to eight people is $35, and limos and activity vans are $50. Buses and RVs aren’t allowed. Pets can come if they stay in the car.

Location: Hartford Fairgrounds, 14028 Fairgrounds Rd., Hartford
When: Fri–Sun, 5:30–10pm
Cost: $35 per car
More info: WonderLight’s Christmas

🎤 Little Big Town At Mershon Auditorium

Little Big Town brings the For the Art of It Tour to Mershon on Friday night, and Mae Estes opens. Doors are at 6:30 and the show is at 7:30. Mershon doesn’t allow bags beyond a small clutch, and day-of parking may be available in the Arps Garage or the Ohio Union North Garage.

Location: Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N. High St.
When: Friday, 7:30pm; doors 6:30pm
More info: Mershon Auditorium

🎧 John Summit At The Schottenstein Center

The Schott turns into a dance floor Friday for John Summit, with ALOK and Jackie Hollander opening. Doors are at 5:30 and the show starts at 7. The arena recommends it for ages 18 and up, and bags and purses of any size stay home. General admission ticket holders pick up pit wristbands at the Southwest Rotunda on the Lane Avenue side starting at 8am.

Location: Schottenstein Center, 555 Borror Dr.
When: Friday, 7pm; doors 5:30pm
More info: Schottenstein Center

🎵 Music Of The Knights At The Davidson Theatre

The three knights are Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney, and the Columbus Symphony plays their songs twice on Friday, at 10:30am and 7:30pm. Memory, Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Hey Jude are on the pops program.

Location: Davidson Theatre, Riffe Center, 77 S. High St.
When: Friday, 10:30am & 7:30pm
More info: CAPA

🎸 The Wood Brothers At Newport Music Hall

WCBE presents The Wood Brothers at the Newport on Friday, with Amelia Day opening and doors at 7pm. A dollar from every ticket goes to The Nature Trust of British Columbia, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service matches it with two more.

Location: Newport Music Hall
When: Friday, doors 7pm
More info: PromoWest

☕ A Weekend In Starz Hollow In Downtown Delaware

More than 40 downtown Delaware businesses are in on this two-day Gilmore Girls weekend, which starts at 4pm Friday. Friday has a candle bar at 1854 Market Hall, a town-wide Knit-a-thon and two rounds of trivia. Saturday has a vendor market on West Winter Street from 11am to 4pm, a Mrs. Kim look-alike contest at 2 and a Luke look-alike contest at the downtown gazebo at 5. Three cast members are coming. John Cabrera and Todd Lowe of Hep Alien appear at the ticketed events, and Emily Kuroda, who played Mrs. Kim, leads a candle-making session that’s sold out. Saturday night’s Church Tour at Ohio Wesleyan’s Gray Chapel is a panel plus a live set by Graysilk, with tickets from $55, and Miss Patty’s After Party from 9 to 11pm is 21 and over. It’s a fan-run event from the nonprofit Late Night Delaware, and A Weekend in Starz Hollow isn’t affiliated with Warner Bros.

Location: Downtown Delaware
When: Fri from 4pm; Sat through 10pm
More info: Schedule

👗 Fashion Week Columbus Runway Shows

Fashion Week Columbus wraps up with two runway shows. The Curve Runway Show is Friday from 6 to 9pm at the Columbus Museum of Art, and the 17th annual Finale Runway Show is Saturday from 6 to 10pm at Prototype: The Experimental Museum. This year’s theme is A Work of Art.

Location: Fri: Columbus Museum of Art, 480 E. Broad St.; Sat: Prototype, 540 Maier Pl.
When: Fri 6–9pm; Sat 6–10pm
More info: Fashion Week Columbus

🖼️ Culture: Black Fine Art Expo At The King Arts Complex

The KBK Foundation and the King Arts Complex put Black fine artists from Columbus and beyond in one building, alongside galleries and Black fine art dealers from across the country. The organizer lists the hours as noon to 8pm Friday and Saturday. It’s free, but registration is required, and parking is free too. Malcolm Jenkins and Michael B. Coleman are on the lineup.

Location: The King Arts Complex, 835 Mt. Vernon Ave.
When: Fri & Sat, noon–8pm
Cost: Free with registration
More info: Registration · King Arts Complex

🛍️ Clintonville Arts Guild Holiday Art Sale

The Clintonville Arts Guild has been around since 1972, and its annual holiday sale of members’ handmade work opens at 5pm Friday at the Whetstone Community Center and runs until 4pm Sunday. There are more sales like it in the holiday craft shows guide.

Location: Whetstone Community Center, 3923 N. High St.
When: Fri from 5pm through Sun 4pm
More info: Clintonville Arts Guild

🎨 Franklinton Fridays

It’s the second Friday of the month, so it’s Franklinton Fridays. The stops include the Promenade Gallery, the Bridge Gallery, Chromedge Studios, The Photo Lab and Strongwater Food & Spirits, and the Franklinton Arts District backs the whole thing.

Location: 400 West Rich, 400 W. Rich St.
When: Friday
More info: 400 West Rich

🎭 Eureka Day At The Riffe Center

A mumps outbreak hits a progressive California elementary school, and the parents have to decide what to do about it. That’s Jonathan Spector’s comedy Eureka Day, which Time Out New York called “comic gold.” Allie Moss directs it for The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio in Studio Two, where it runs through November 22nd.

Location: Studio Two Theatre, Riffe Center, 77 S. High St.
When: Fri & Sat 8pm; Sun 2pm
More info: CAPA

🤘 Speak Of The Devil At Shadowbox Live, Last Shows

Shadowbox Live’s show built on the music of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath has two performances left, Friday at 7pm and the last one Sunday at 2. There’s no Saturday show. Seats are cabaret tables sold by the table, for one to six people, and food and drinks are separate. Shadowbox says to arrive 30 minutes early to eat.

Location: Shadowbox Live, 503 S. Front St.
When: Fri 7pm; Sun 2pm
More info: Shadowbox Live

🖌️ Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition At Polaris

All 34 of the Sistine Chapel frescoes are reproduced at life size in the former Forever 21 at Polaris, and Sunday is the last day of the opening special that takes $7 off a ticket. A visit takes 60 to 90 minutes with a free audio guide on a phone. The entrance is outside, not from inside the mall. The exhibition is here through December 27th.

Location: Polaris Fashion Place, 1500 Polaris Pkwy.
When: Fri & Sat 11am–8pm; Sun 11am–6pm; last entry an hour before closing
More info: Polaris Fashion Place

Saturday, November 14th

🏈 Ohio State vs. Northwestern At Ohio Stadium

Northwestern is at the Shoe for a noon kickoff on FOX. It’s the last home game before Michigan comes to town on November 28th. The Ohio Stadium game-day guide covers parking, gates and what can come in.

Location: Ohio Stadium
When: Saturday, noon kickoff
More info: Schedule

✨ Clippers Holiday Lights Opens At Huntington Park

Clippers Holiday Lights is new this year, a walk around the concourse through more than a million lights, with fire pits, a mailbox for letters to Santa and a $5 train ride around the warning track. Saturday is opening night, with Santa, the Broadway Grinch, the mascots and a drone show over the ballpark at 7:45pm. The mascots are back Sunday. It runs 43 nights through December 31st. Tickets are $12 in advance and $13 the day of, everyone 3 and older needs one, and sales stop at 8pm each night. The way in is the Center Field Entrance near Neil Avenue and Nationwide Boulevard. The rest of the season’s displays are in the holiday lights guide.

Location: Huntington Park, Center Field Entrance
When: Sat & Sun; drone show Sat 7:45pm
Cost: $12 in advance, $13 day of
More info: Columbus Clippers

🎹 Palace 100: The Genius Of Ray Charles

Ray Charles played the Palace more than once, and the theater is marking its 100th birthday with a night of his music. Paul Shaffer hosts, with Patti Austin, Aloe Blacc, Blessing Offor, Lisa Fischer and Columbus native Billy Valentine singing, and Jackson Dean and Etienne Charles were added to the bill. Gregg Field put the cast together, and both he and Shaffer performed alongside Charles. The band is made up of musicians from Columbus Jazz and the Columbus Symphony.

Location: Palace Theatre, 34 W. Broad St.
When: Saturday, 7:30pm
More info: CAPA

🎅 The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show At The Southern Theatre

BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon have been doing a holiday show for nine years, and Entertainment Weekly called them “the reigning queens of Christmas.” This year’s is a new show, with new songs, dance numbers and costumes, and it’s at the Southern for one night.

Location: Southern Theatre, 21 E. Main St.
When: Saturday, 8pm
More info: CAPA

😂 Michael Kosta At The Lincoln Theatre

Michael Kosta, an Emmy-winning host of The Daily Show, was a professional tennis player before he was a comedian, and wrote a memoir about it called Lucky Loser. His Big Dad Energy Tour stops at the Lincoln on Saturday night. It’s for ages 13 and up.

Location: Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St.
When: Saturday, 8pm
More info: CAPA

🏒 Blue Jackets vs. Flyers At Nationwide Arena

Philadelphia is in town Saturday, and the puck drops at 7pm.

Location: Nationwide Arena
When: Saturday, 7pm
More info: Blue Jackets schedule

🎁 Not Your Mama’s Craft Market At Polaris

More than 100 makers and artists from around the Midwest fill the lower level of the former Forever 21 at Polaris and the corridor outside it on Saturday and Sunday. It’s open from 11am to 5pm both days, and admission is free. Parking is free, and the mall says to park near Barnes & Noble and The Cheesecake Factory.

Location: Polaris Fashion Place, 1500 Polaris Pkwy.
When: Sat & Sun, 11am–5pm
Cost: Free
More info: Not Your Mama’s Craft Market · Polaris Fashion Place

🎅 Santa Arrives At Easton And Polaris

Saturday is the first day for Santa photos at both malls. At Easton, Santa’s Workshop is in the South District next to Levi’s, open 10am to 8pm Saturday and noon to 6 Sunday, and Easton strongly encourages reservations. At Polaris he’s in Center Court on a new white Winter Wonderland set from 11am to 8pm Saturday and noon to 6 Sunday. Kids 12 and under get a holiday squishy toy while they last and a coupon for free hot cocoa from Pure Imagination Chocolatier. Both take walk-ups.

Location: Easton Town Center, South District; Polaris Fashion Place, Center Court
When: Sat & Sun
More info: Easton · Polaris

🎮 TORG Gaming Expo At The Convention Center

TORG is 10 this year. The expo has tournaments in Smash Ultimate and the Pokemon card game, a pong championship, voice-actor guests, cosplay, an indie developer village and free play, and people bring their own games to trade with vendors and each other. Tickets at the door are $5 more than buying ahead.

Location: Greater Columbus Convention Center
When: Sat 9am–6pm; Sun 9am–3pm
More info: TORG

👕 Columbus Ohio Vintage Expo At The Lausche Building

Sixty-plus vendors bring vintage clothing, Y2K, decor, jewelry and vinyl to the Lausche Building at the fairgrounds on Saturday. Getting in at 11am costs $10 and includes re-entry, general admission from noon to 3 is $5, and it’s free after 3. Kids 12 and under are free, parking is $10 a car, and pets are welcome.

Location: Lausche Building, 717 E. 17th Ave.
When: Saturday, 11am–5pm
Cost: $5; free after 3pm
More info: Ohio Vintage Expo

🐯 Be My Neighbor Day At Main Library

Daniel Tiger and Katerina Kittycat are at Main Library on Saturday morning for a meet and greet. WOSU hosts it with the library, and there’s a hot chocolate station, a mitten matching game and kindness buttons to make. It’s free, but WOSU requires registration ahead of time. Families are asked to bring new coats, hats and gloves for Columbus City Schools students. Parking in the library’s attached garage is free.

Location: Main Library, 96 S. Grant Ave.
When: Saturday, 9–11am
Cost: Free with registration
More info: WOSU

🎷 PBJ & Jazz: New Basics Brass Band At Main Library

The same morning at the same library, the New Basics Brass Band opens the new season of PBJ & Jazz, the free hour-long concerts for young kids and their families. Story time is at 11 in the Children’s Area and the band starts at 11:30 with New Orleans second-line funk, jazz and soul. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cookies are free while they last.

Location: Main Library, 96 S. Grant Ave.
When: Saturday, 11:30am; story time 11am
Cost: Free
More info: Columbus Jazz

🐻 I Want My Hat Back! At Columbus Children’s Theatre

Columbus Children’s Theatre’s SandBox Series is made for kids 5 and under, and this one is based on Jon Klassen’s picture book. Each show is 30 minutes of storytelling, movement, music and games. There are five a day this weekend, at 9, 10 and 11am and 1 and 2pm, and it plays again November 22nd. Every child 1 and older needs a ticket.

Location: Columbus Children’s Theatre, 177 E. Naghten St.
When: Sat & Sun, 9, 10 & 11am, 1 & 2pm
More info: Columbus Children’s Theatre

🍂 Autumn Fest At North Market Bridge Park

More than 25 local vendors set up indoors at North Market Bridge Park on Saturday morning with fall products.

Location: North Market Bridge Park, 6750 Longshore St., Dublin
When: Saturday, 10am–1pm
More info: North Market

🍿 Weird Movie Night: 1999 Kirsten Dunst Marathon At 934 Gallery

Dick, Drop Dead Gorgeous and The Virgin Suicides all came out in 1999 and all star Kirsten Dunst, and ToyHaus Studio is showing the three back to back at 934 Gallery. It’s free and it’s outside if the weather holds, with folding chairs out, so a camp chair helps. Rain moves it indoors.

Location: 934 Gallery, 934 Cleveland Ave.
When: Saturday, 5pm–midnight
Cost: Free
More info: 934 Gallery

Sunday, November 15th

🏃 Skechers Hot Chocolate Run

The 5K goes off at 7:30am Sunday and the 10K and 15K at 8:30, all from McFerson Commons. The longer courses run through the Brewery District, German Village, the Arena District, Victorian Village and the Short North, so expect downtown road closures in the morning. The finish-line party is by the Union Station Arch, where every finisher gets a mug with fondue, things to dip and hot chocolate. Packet pickup is Saturday from 10am to 6pm at the convention center.

Location: McFerson Commons, 218 West St.
When: Sunday, 5K 7:30am; 10K & 15K 8:30am
More info: Hot Chocolate Run

🏛️ Free Sunday At The Columbus Museum Of Art

General admission at the Broad Street museum is free every Sunday, with no registration needed. On the walls right now are Clare Rojas: Returning, Queer Constellations: Photographs from the Aronowitz Family Collection, and Group f.64 and Its Influence, the modernist photography show that closes December 13th.

Location: Columbus Museum of Art, 480 E. Broad St.
When: Sunday, 10am–5pm
Cost: Free
More info: Columbus Museum of Art

📚 Thao Thai With Christopher Purdy At Main Library

Thao Thai lives in central Ohio, and her novel Banyan Moon was a Read with Jenna pick in July 2023. WOSU’s Christopher Purdy talks with her Sunday about the new one, The Seekers of Deer Creek. Seating starts at 1:30, the conversation at 2, and Gramercy sells books for the signing at 3. The library asks people to register.

Location: Main Library Auditorium, 96 S. Grant Ave.
When: Sunday, 2pm
More info: Columbus Metropolitan Library

🎼 Dan Tepfer: Natural Machines

Dan Tepfer improvises at a Steinway Spirio player piano that he’s programmed to answer him in real time, while a second program turns what the two are playing into animation. Rolling Stone called it “fascinating and ingenious.” The Wexner Center presents it Sunday at 3pm in Timashev Recital Hall, about 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $45, $42 for 55 and over, $35 for members and $15 for students.

Location: Timashev Recital Hall
When: Sunday, 3pm
Cost: $45; students $15
More info: Wexner Center for the Arts

Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo and Butch Bando’s Fantasy of Lights both open Friday, November 20th, and Conservatory Aglow opens the next night. Everything else this month is in the November things-to-do guide.

Have fun, Columbus!

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