The holiday season is here and Atlanta's diverse creative community is ready to celebrate with an impressive variety of performances! With so much to choose from there really is something for everyone. Feeling traditional? Go see the Christmas Carol at the Alliance Theater or the Nutcracker Ballet at the Fox. Looking to validate your holiday cynicism? Head to Little Five Points for Santaland Diaries and the John Waters Christmas (one night only, one man show). Prefer a little nostalgia during the holidays? Make plans to be at the Plaza theatre for a screening of It's a Wonderful Life. Comedy? Dad's Garage offers a fun twist on the Christmas Carol. Scary? Krampus Crawl cannot be missed. Excuse to dance the night away? Annual Merry Y'all Tide with Blair Crimmons and the Holiday Hootenanny at Terminal West. ( I don't think I can twist O's arm to join me for all of these so if someone wants to join me for a girls' night out just say the word!)

11/21-11/24 Urban Nutcracker at the Ferst Center. "Urban Nutcracker" takes place on Atlanta’s own Sweet Auburn Avenue in the 1940s. "Urban Nutcracker" is to "The Nutcracker" as what "The Wiz" is to "The Wizard of Oz."

11/22-12/31 Santaland Diaries at Horizon Theater. The annual performance of beloved NPR satirist, David Sedaris's tale of working as an elf in Macy's Santaland.

11/25-12/23 Invasion: Christmas Carol at Dad's Garage.  Every evening the audience will choose a new "invader" (who a is complete surprise to the cast and can be anything from a big purple monster to Paula Deen) to infiltrate the world of Scrooge. It's up to the cast to keep the story on track, but because this year will be bursting with even more improv flavor than last year, things are guaranteed to get even nuttier than a Cornish game hen!

11/29-12/29 Christmas Carol at the Alliance Theater.

12/5-12/29 Nutcracker Ballet at the Fabulous Fox Theater

12/6 It's a Wonderful Life at the Plaza

12/7 Krampus Crawl in Little Five Points.  Krampus is the rarely mentioned counterpart to Santa. While Santa is bringing treats to good boys and girls, Krampus is punishing the bad ones. The horned beastly creature is pretty scary and the costumes that accompany his pub crawl are well done. This event is not for the young or conservative!

12/7 5th Annual Merry Y'all Tide with Whiskey Gentry and Blair Crimmons & the Hookers.  (Same night as Krampus Crawl - really interested in seeing how these two subcultures interact on the streets of L5P!)

12/12 John Waters Christmas at Variety Playhouse. An unforgettable one man show! John Waters pokes fun at the holiday season with adult-appropriate humor, effectively “putting the X in Xmas”.

12/14 Gremlins at the Center for Puppetry Arts. (Asking yourself how Gremlins relates to Christmas? Gizmo was a Christmas gift! Aw, poor little mogwi.)

12/21 Kingsized Christmas with the Big Mike Gier and the Dames Aflame. The all-ages 90-minute show features Holiday favorites by the likes of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, Heat Miser, The Grinch and more!

12/22 3rd Annual Atlanta Holiday Hootenanny at Terminal West. Featuring: Randall Bramblett, John Cowan, Col. Bruce Hampton, The Mosier Brothers, Grant Green Jr., Caroline Aiken, Count M'Butu, Donna Hopkins, Jeff Sipe Trio, Yonrico Scott, Mark Van Allen, Bobby Miller, Jeff Autry, Diane Durrett, Gaurav Malhotra, Leah Calvert, Ralph Roddenbery.