Festivals of Lights and Trees, Trolley Rides, & Rare Antonioni

Simsbury Celebrates

On Nov. 27, the town of Simsbury hosts its annual holiday celebration. New this year are carolers costumed in the style of Dickens' England, performance by the Airborne Jugglers, a Festival of Firs at First Church, and a gingerbread house exhibit at Scout Hall. Other events include a performance by the Gaelic band Mac Talla Mor, cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus, dreidel- and Hanukkah-card crafts, soup and snacks at the United Methodist Church, an ice carving demonstration, and, if funding is secured, the traditional fireworks display. For a complete calendar of events, including locations and times, visit www.simsburycelebrates.com.

As part of the celebration, the Phelps Tavern Museum opens its doors from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., and revelers are welcome to come in and warm themselves by the fire. 

Simsbury Celebrates is held in the center of town. It starts around 4:30 p.m. and ends around 8:30 p.m. The Phelps Tavern Museum is at 800 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury. For more information, visit www.simsburyhistory.org or call 860-658-2500.

Winterfest in East Windsor

Ride a trolley car or in an open-air "electric sleigh" on a magical 3-mile ride through a tunnel of lights as the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor welcomes one and all for its annual Winterfest. Join the motormen in singing traditional Christmas carols. Back at the visitor center, enjoy hot cocoa amid the festive decorations and seasonal model train displays.

Winterfest begins Nov. 26 and runs Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 19, then resumes Dec. 26 through 30. Hours are 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission costs $10 adults, $6 children ages 2 to 12, children under 2 free, and $7 seniors. The museum is at 58 North Road, East Windsor. For reservations and more information, visit www.ct-trolley.org or call 860-627-6540.

Hill-Stead's New Evening Tours

What would it have been like to be home for the holidays with the Pope-Riddle family of Farmington's Hill-Stead Museum? Find out on Nov. 26 when the museum hosts a special evening tour. Costumed interpreters lead visitors through festively decorated rooms and tell stories about Hill-Stead holidays at the turn of the 20th century. Tours are every half hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $6 members; $12 members-to-be. The final tour of the day at 6:30 p.m. concludes with a glass of champagne. It costs $10 members; $16 members-to-be.

Tours are by reservation only. Call Sharon Stotz at 860-677-4787 x140 or email her at stotzs@hillstead.org.

Pevar Home for the Holidays

Local guitar hero Jeff Pevar, who grew up in Hartford and now lives on the West Coast, usually reappears in these parts around the holidays. On Nov. 26, he and special guests play a show at Infinity Hall in Norfolk. Pevar, who also sings, composes, and produces, has worked with talents including Ray Charles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne. Pevar recorded and toured extensively as part of the band CPR with David Crosby and Crosby's son, James Raymond.

Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets start at $25. For reservations or more information, visit www.infinityhall.com or call 866-666-6306. Infinity Hall is at 20 Greenwoods Road West, Norfolk.

Festival of Lights Moves to Bushnell Park

There's something new in Hartford this holiday season. The city's traditional Festival of Lights has been moved from Constitution Plaza to the more central Bushnell Park. The swell sights start on Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. at the XL Center where a Zamboni-riding Santa Claus leads revelers down Trumbull Street to the park. There, at 5:45 p.m., the trees are lit, and free hot chocolate is served. For those who feel a bit like Santa Claus themselves, U.S. Marine Corps volunteers will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the Toys for Tots program. The Hartford Parking Authority declares Nov. 26 after 5p.m. "Freebie Night." Free parking is available at the Morgan Street, MAT and Church Street garages, and your parking voucher entitles you to 20 percent off your food bill at participating restaurants. For details, visit www.hartfordparking.com.

Also brand new for this year's festival is an ice rink, which opens Dec. 10 in the heart of the park. Created using synthetic ice, it accommodates around 75 skaters at a time. Skates are available free of charge. Rink hours are Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. The rink remains open until Jan. 6.

Atheneum's Festival of Trees

It's Christmas time in the city . . . How do we know? The Wadsworth Atheneum's 37th annual Festival of Trees begins Dec. 2. Fanciful, fabulous and romantic trees decorated by more than 200 creative artists and individuals from throughout the community are on view at the museum. All trees and holiday items are for sale. The festival, which is orchestrated by the Atheneum's Women's Committee, is accompanied by daily musical entertainment in the Atheneum's Aetna Theater, holiday films, and family activities throughout the museum. Admission is $13; $11 seniors; $8 students; $3 children; and $3 museum members. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more.

The Festival of Trees opens Dec. 2 with a Phoenix After Hours preview party from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event features first peek at the trees (and first opportunity to buy them), deejay Jon Eastman spinning holiday tunes, light food, refreshments, and a book signing with Judith Ivie, author of Drowning in Christmas. At 8 p.m., the museum hosts a screening of Love Actually. Tickets to the preview party cost $8; $3 for employees of the Phoenix and Atheneum members. The festival continues from Dec. 3 through 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (except Dec. 6 when the museum is closed).

The Wadsworth Atheneum is at 600 Main St., Hartford. For more information, visit www.wadsworthatheneum.org or call 860-278-2670.

One Delicious Documentary

We know you may be expanding the waistline a bit over the Thanksgiving holiday and perhaps the last thing you want to do is think about more food, but Kings of Pastry is not to be missed. The critically acclaimed film is the work of two of cinema's great contemporary documentarians, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. It goes behind the scenes to capture the three-day never-before-been-filmed Meilleur Ouvrir de France (Best Craftsman in France) competition between pastry chefs. The winners earn France's highest baking honor. "Critic's pick!" writes David Edelstein in New York magazine. "You'll bite your nails and lick your lips." Variety scribe Alissa Simon calls the film "Gripping, even for non-foodies. It's not revealing too much to say that a disaster precipitates some of the pic's most affecting moments."

The 84-minute film screens at Real Art Ways in Hartford from Nov. 26 through Nov. 28. Real Art Ways is at 56 Arbor St., Hartford. For more information, visit www.realartways.org or call 860-232-1006.

Antonioni's Le Amiche at Cinestudio

Our friends at Hartford's Cinestudio are justifiably excited about this one, a rare chance to see a fully restored print of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1955 film Le Amiche ("The Girlfriends"). A sort of Italian Sex and the City, it follows a designer (Eleanora Rossi Drago) who leaves Rome to open a boutique in Turin where she quickly becomes the confidante of a group of women who take more sustenance from their friendships than they do from the men in their lives. Le Amiche was never released in the United States, so don't miss the opportunity to see this film by the Italian master and director of Blow Up, L'Aventura, and La Notte. Writing about Le Amiche, New York Times critic A.O. Scott says it is "Impossible to stop watching. The impressive elegance of Antonioni's camera movements still has the power to amaze."

The film screens from Nov 28 through 30. Cinestudio is on the campus of Trinity College, 300 Summit St., Hartford. For more information, visit www.cinestudio.org or call 860-297-2463.

A Conversation With Nora Ephron

Humorist, novelist and Academy Award-nominated writer/director Nora Ephron makes a visit to New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre. Ephron, whose credits include I'm Sorry About My Neck and the screenplay for When Harry Met Sally, discusses her new book I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections. The event is Dec. 4 on the theater's Mainstage. Advance registration is necessary, and the event is highly likely to sell out. A pre-event wine and cheese reception begins at 2:30 p.m. followed by Ephron's talk at 3 p.m. Read To Grow board chair Roxanne Coady will interview Ephron.

Tickets cost $75 and include a copy of the book. Premium seats, which include a personalized copy of I Remember Nothing and proximity seating, cost $125. Sponsorships are available. Proceeds benefit the programs of Read To Grow, a Branford-based nonprofit literacy organization that works to build literacy and provide books for Connecticut children beginning at birth.

For tickets, call Read To Grow at 203-488-6800, or register online atwww.readtogrow.org. Long Wharf Theatre is at 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven. For tickets or more information, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.

Yale Rep Presents Bossa Nova

A young misfit, the almost 30-year-old character Dee Paradis, is torn between the expectations of her elegant and strong-willed mother and a former lover's ideas of authenticity in Kristen Greenidge's award-winning new play Bossa Nova. The production opens Nov. 26 and plays through Dec. 18 at Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven. Francesa Choy-Kee, Emily Dorsch, and Ella Joyce are featured under the direction of Obie Award winner Evan Yionoulis.

Tickets range from $10 to $85. Yale Repertory Theatre is at 1120 Chapel St., New Haven. For tickets and more information, visit www.yalerep.org or call 203-432-1234.

Editor's Note: Everyone makes mistakes... even us! If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give Local Editor Jessie Sawyer a ring at 860-356-6339 or shoot her an e-mail at Jessie.Sawyer@patch.com.