It’s one day until Christmas and Hanukkah. As you settle in with your loved ones, check out these holiday-themed stories from WTTW News. 

2024 Chicago Holiday Events Guide

Ice skating ribbon at Maggie Daley Park. (Courtesy of Maggie Daley Park)

From light shows to theater, themed bars and dance spectacles, there’s something for everyone to enjoy this holiday season. We’ve rounded up some of the season’s highlights in Chicago and the suburbs.  There are a number of ice skating options in and around Chicago, including McCormick Tribune Ice Rink (through Feb. 2), Maggie Daley Park (through March 9), Parkway Bank Park (through Jan. 26) and select Chicago Park District locations throughout the city. Want to visit the official Chicago Christmas Tree in Millennium Park? You still can! This year’s tree is a 53-foot Colorado blue spruce from Logan Square and will be perched in the park until Jan. 8. 

Look Who’s Reporting for Santa Duty. Field Museum Takes a Dino-mite New Approach to the Holidays

Máximo the titanosaur gets into the holiday spirit at the Field Museum. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

In a first for the Field Museum, the exhibits staff has outfitted four of its dinosaur replicas (OK, three dinosaurs and one pterosaur) in Santa hats to celebrate the festive season. The “hatting” took place Dec. 3, with a distinctive red-and-white cap even perched atop “Sue in the Flesh.” The museum has, in the past, opted against involving its dinos in holiday shenanigans, given the scientific importance of the Field’s collection. No actual fossils were included in the Christmas display, staff emphasized. The dinos will stay decked for the holidays through the new year. Sue in the Flesh will go back on tour Jan. 16.

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The Art of the Crèche: Nativity Scenes Shine in Annual Show at Loyola Museum of Art

“Art and Faith of the Crèche,” an exhibit at LUMA, explore various interpretations of nativity scenes. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

In “Art and Faith of the Crèche,” creed and creativity go together like Christmas and cookies, but you don’t have to be a believer to appreciate the beauty of the nativity sets on display at Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA). Then LUMA hosted a photography show earlier this year, and now the museum is back with its annual holiday presentation centered on the crèche (which rhymes with “fresh” and comes from the Latin word for “crib”). Of course, nativity scenes, or crèches, are a group of figures that represent the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable in Bethlehem. There are Wise Men, the Holy Family, camels, donkeys and the odd elephant or zebra. This exhibition shines light on a glorious grouping of 60 crèches. They come from LUMA’s collection of more than 700 nativity sets.

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Where's your favorite place in the city or local neighborhood to go to look at holiday lights and decorations?

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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry