Palmetto Health Foundation

Honor or remember loved ones this holiday season by donating to Lights for Hospice. Your gift of $30 purchases a symbolic light. For gifts of $125 or more, you will receive a keepsake ornament. Proceeds benefit Palmetto Health Hospice patients and their families. Donations can be made by visiting http://www.palmettohealthfoundation.org or by calling 803-434-7275.

You and your toddler are invited to drop in to EdVenture Children’s Museum for arts and crafts, music, movement and stories. For families with children ages 4 and younger. Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. Free with paid admission.

Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens

Over half a million lights turn the Riverbanks Zoo into a magical place. Holiday Village, bonfire, and photos with Santa!

See images of the recovery process of a World War II bomber that had been at the bottom of Lake Murray, South Carolina for more than 62 years until it was finally recovered in 2005.  Photographs, artifacts from the plane and a computer with multiple images of the entire recovery process will be on display. 

Join this great group of moms who work to increase community awareness and riase funds to support EdVenture Children’s Museum. Discovery Council meets the first Monday of the month at 9:30 a.m. Free childcare provided. Contact Mandy Wren at 400-1141 or mwren@edventure.org.

This class introduces participants of all levels to the tradition of the Flemish oil painting technique. Participants learn the logical steps of the art of still life. The class addresses the choice of materials and supplies, preliminary studies, charcoal drawings, underpainting, glazing and varnishing. Participants learn how to overcome the basic challenges of painting in oil from life and rendering three-dimensions out of two-dimensions. The class will not meet on November 26. Supplies not included. $195 or $160 for members. To register, visit columbiamuseum.org, e-mail gjackson@columbiamuseum.org or call 803.343.2187.

This event is open to the public. The morning session will be from 10 am to 12 pm and will be an information session about rain gardens and their benefits. The afternoon session, from 1 pm to 3 pm, will be a rain garden installation at the creek adjacent to the Cayce Public Safety Office. Rain gardens use earth as a natural filter for pollutants found in stormwater, which runs off impermeable surfaces such as roads and driveways. Fertilizers, vehicles, and other manmade pollutants make their way into nearby streams and rivers and eventually contaminate main water sources. Some plants effectively absorb nutrients and help break down these harmful pollutants while also serving as a beautification tool for urban centers. The event has an "early bird" registration of $10 and the fee will be $15 after November 28th. This fee includes a box lunch. The workshop will be led by members of the Clemson Extension Service. For more information please contact Bill Blackston at 803.359.8515 ext. 116.

Come celebrate the season at Inglewood Manor, 6:30 pm. Oyster Roast, Low Country Bog and delicious appetizers will be served (members & their accompanied friends only).

Come tour the Governor's Mansion and Lace House that will be decorated for the holidays! Free admission and no reservations are necessary. 4-7 pm. Call 737-1710 for additional information.

The Junior League's 23rd Annual Holiday Market

The Cayce Historical Museum welcomes visitors to celebrate the holidays in the days of old. This free holiday open house will feature entertainment by The Black Bottom Biscuits and the Museum will be beautifully decorated for the holidays.

View the Robert Mills House, Hampton-Preston Mansion, and Manns-Simon Cottage decorated by candlelight each night. Also, enjoy live music, carriage rides throughout the Robert Mills Historic District, and activities on the grounds of our house museums. The evening tours also feature vignettes of 19th and early 20th-century families and guests. Tickets can be purchased at the Robert Mills Carriage House, 1616 Blanding Street. Visit the Historic Columbia Foundation for more information

Come out for a Festivus Parade, Shop and Stroll with Merchants, Tree Lighting ceremony, Festivus Pole revealing, A.C. Moore Chorus Performance, Airing of Grievances Tour, Holiday sales and specials, Free Pictures with Santa at the fountain, Feats of Strength to benefit Harvest Hope and more!

St. Paul's Lutheran Church's gift to the Columbia Community. Show is Free. There will be a Dinner Theatre on Friday 5th Dec. Cost of Dinner is $5 Presented by The Saint Paul's Players. This is a Theatrical Performance for the entire Family.

The grounds of Cayce City Hall will be filled to the max with thousands of drive-thru twinkling lights and huge light displays! You'll see Santa's Express, Toyland, Victorian Carolers, Mr. & Mrs. Snowman and more! Visit the City of Cayce for additional information.

Outdoor Festival reminiscent of the “Christkindlmarkt” of Germany and the open air markets of another time. A tent “village” at the church will appear overnight, sparkling with Christmas lights, beckoning to young and old alike to participate in the magic of Christmas. We will have games for children, entertainment, plays, Christmas music, a selection of international foods, gift items and crafts, and of course, pictures with Santa! This will be a festival for family, friends, and community. Our Christ Child Celebration will begin the Christmas season by reminding us of the true spirit of Christmas.

How would you like to take your children or grandchildren for a ride on a real passenger train, visit a red caboose or an authentic dining car? Well, you can...all with Santa Claus on board! Visit the SC Railroad Museum for departure times and additional information.

Mary Hostetler Hoyt, baroque violin, and Jerry Curry, harpsichord depict Lord Middleton. Middleton calmly gazes from our imposing portrait by George Romney and lived when London was at the center of Europe’s musical culture. Handel was producing his oratorios, such as Messiah, and the young Mozart was amazing audiences both as a performer and composer. This concert features the music of Handel, Mozart and their competitors, played on the instruments used while England ruled the waves. Free with admission or membership.

Featuring early jazz, the jazz that developed in the South, and especially in New Orleans, shortly after the turn of the last century and then spread throughout the world. It captures the joyous and adventurous spirit of America better than its descendants.

The Kershaw-Cornwallis Mansion is decorated in Yuletide splendor while guides in period clothes explain Colonial Christmas. Visitors experience writing with a quill and see demonstrations of traditional skills and crafts.  (803)432-9841

How would you like to take your children or grandchildren for a ride on a real passenger train, visit a red caboose or an authentic dining car? Well, you can...all with Santa Claus on board! Visit the SC Railroad Museum for departure times and additional information.

The Lower Richland Community invites you to an exciting experience – a visit to the past – to the downtown 1920’s Village of Hopkins! In the 1920’s, the Village of Hopkins was thriving with general stores, gin mills, industries, residences and a Town Hall! Having benefited from local residents’ memories and knowledge as well as extensive research, SERCO has taken on a labor of love to recreate a similar atmosphere. Visitors will be able to enjoy free samples of homemade food items, the “Blues” with Mr. Drink Small, dine and dance at the local “tavern/café” and shop for those last-minute unique and homespun holiday gifts from local vendors. A museum displaying artifacts, maps and photos of the historical era will be housed just across from where a busy rail road depot and telegraph office were once located on Old Hopkins Road. Carnival rides and an antique car show will add to the festive atmosphere. The Hopkins Village will operate from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., Saturday, December 13, 2008. Also, for the second year, SERCO presents a uniquely “taste-filled” and musical holiday tour of historical sites in the Lower Richland Corridor on Saturday, December 13, 2008. Departing from the site of the old Hopkins Train Depot and guided by a local historian, guests will first travel by bus just to the edge of the Congaree Swamp. There, stopping in at the original church structure of “Mt. Maria” Baptist Church – founded 1872, guests will be greeted by the warmth of carols and hot cider. The tour proceeds next to the historical Kensington Mansion, built in 1854. Viewing the interior’s beautiful décor will be enhanced by the melodic sounds of a string quartet and tastes of hot chocolate. St. John’s Episcopal Congaree Church, located on Elm Savannah Road, has stood since 1858 and is as architecturally beautiful inside as she is on the outside. Guests at St. John’s Episcopal Congaree are in for treats of music and refreshments. The Congaree Baptist Church, Bluff Road, was constructed in 1857 and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tour guests will be graciously greeted there by songs of the season and more tasty treats. The bus tour will begin at 11:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. The cost is $5.00 for Adults and $2.00 for Children under twelve (12) years old. Free parking and shuttle rides to the hub of Hopkins Village will be available. For further information, please contact Mrs. Mary Barber Kirkland at 803/695-7669. Persons interested in the bus tour are reminded to call ahead to reserve seats.

Winter Fest kicks off with the Jack Frost Jubilee on Dec. 13 and continues through Jan. 4 with holiday-oriented family activities. Highlights include a special movie night, multicultural celebrations, musical performances, seasonal Star Labs, holiday crafts and, of course, several visits form “the right jolly old elf’ himself. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org

A day of family fun with hayrides with Santa, concerts, storytelling, seasonal crafts and multicultural activities. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

Talented singers and musicians from area schools perform on Dec. 13. Rhodann Richardson and Remnant present the warm sounds of gospel music on Dec. 14. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

The "jolly old elf" will be making his list and checking it twice at the State Museum. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org

Decorate an ornament to take home and enjoy other seasonal crafts every day during Winter Fest! For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

Make a "tree cookie" ornament on the afternoon of Dec. 14. 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Create a beautiful holiday card ornament/gift box from recycled materials on Dec. 19 at 2 and 2:45 p.m. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

Encounter real live animals and learn how they prepare for the winter in "This is My Home." For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org

Lecture begins at 5:45 p.m. Cash bar will be available. Guests $25 at the door - guest fee can be used towards the purchase of a new membership. Members free. Kids Plus! membership admits two adults and their children. Individual membership admits one free. All other membership levels admit two free. Please bring your membership card. RSVP to rsvp@columbiamuseum.org or 803.799.2810 by December 11 to attend.

Discover the importance of healthy habits during the holidays. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org

A wintery trip through the seasons, constellations and moon phases. $3 per person. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

The exhibition Eye to the East offers visitors an in-depth understanding of Chinese art. Dr. Turner’s collection is exceptional in that it covers a broad historical span with excellent examples from many periods. The approximately 70 works in the exhibition range from rare painted ceramics and bronzes of Neolithic times (ca. 8000 – 2000 B.C.) to superb ceramics, vessels, tomb figures and Buddhist sculpture from the Golden Age of China, the Tang dynasty (618-907). Beautiful works from almost every intervening period (Han to Sui dynasties 206 B.C. – A.D. 618, and Jin through Yuan dynasties 906 – 1368) are also included. Dr. Turner’s donation to the Columbia Museum of Art of this collection is the only public collection of Asian art created for the Asian market in South Carolina.

A musical exploration of the season by the Puppet Playhouse. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

A day of "Who-liday" fun. Make Grinch tree decorations or create a mask of the Grinch, Max or the Whos of Whoville, listen to the beloved Dr. Seuss story and watch the cartoon classic at 2 p.m. Finish up with cookies, punch and a visit from Santa. For more information call (803)898-4921 or visit www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.

In this emotionally taut narrative, Li Qi Ming travels from his small village to the city of Wuhan, determined to fulfill his wife’s last wish of seeing her son. But instead of finding his son, he discovers his daughter working as a karaoke bar escort, forcing him to come to terms with their long-estranged relationship and the tenuous future of his family. Director Wang Chao uses Li Qi Ming to represent the painful reality of thousands of parents who last lost contact with their children through rural exodus and political upheaval in China. Free courtesy BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.

Celebrated EdVenture's 5th Birthday with free admission to the SC State Museum and Columbia Museum of Art for EdVenture Members.

Come early to this family friendly New Year's Eve event and make your own party hats and noisemakers in preparation for the countdown to noon. Enjoy bubble wrap popping, learn the words to Auld Lang Syne and join in a line dancing celebration with a local DJ.

Columbia's New Years Eve celebration features live entertainment, theatre, children's rides, face painting, karaoke, and a fantastic firework show. Sponsored by Columbia Action Council.