Four-time GMA Dove Award nominees who won the trophy for New Artist of the Year in 2010, the Nashville-based contemporary-Christian ensemble Sidewalk Prophets bring their sixth-annual “Great Big Family Christmas” to Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on December 15, with frontman David Frey saying, "This year is going to be our fullest Christmas tour schedule yet, and we can’t wait to get out there and make new memories with fans across the country.”

Capturing the simple soul of the artist's music through guitar, fiddle, and upright bass arrangements, tribute artist Layne Yost's John Denver Christmas celebrates the holiday season at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on December 13, with Yost, Carol McDowall, and Jon Shimoda providing stories woven within the music that give insight into Denver's remarkable life and legacy.

Lauded by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as "a beautiful present for theater-goers" and by The Daily Beast as "a brilliant show that you should see immediately," a historical a cappella musical drama All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 returns to Moline's Black Box Theatre December 13 through 22, this landmark show also praised by the New York Times as "a beautiful musical recounting of a World War I cease-fire of gifts, poetry, and melody."

Appearing in a special Silvis Public Library program on December 14, Emmy Award-winning area filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle will host screenings of the entire short-film collection in their beloved Hero Street documentary series, the Celebrating History: Hero Street Documentary Film Series Centennial Event celebrating the eight young men from Silvis' block-and-a-half-long Second Street in Silvis collectively lost to World War II and the Korean War.

On December 14 and 15, one of the Quad Cities' most adored holiday traditions returns to Davenport's Adler Theatre when the professional talents of Ballet Quad Cities perform Tchaikovsky's holiday dance classic The Nutcracker. This eagerly awaited family experience boasts original choreography by Artistic Director Courtney Lyon, live musical accompaniment by Orchestra Iowa, a cast of 60, and the return of popular guest artist Domingo Rubio, the longtime portrayer of the company's dancing Dracula.

On December 17, a legendary comedian and one of his most iconic entertainments will be celebrated at Davenport's Adler Theatre in the touring sensation A Live Conversation with Chevy Chase, with the famed comedy star of Saturday Night Live, Community, and Fletch sharing stories and taking part in a Q&A session alongside a 35th-anniversary screening of his beloved holiday film National lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

A two-evening celebration of the Swedish tradition based on the legend of Saint Lucia, Queen of Light, the 2024 Lucia Nights Festival in Bishop Hill will, on December 13 and 14, deliver a seasonal treat featuring live music, a barn dance, a chili supper, a tree-lighting ceremony, carriage rides, and more.

Lauded by Broadway World as an adults-only entertainment that sends "audience members off with a warm smile and probably exhausted from laughter," author Matthew Lombardo's one-woman comedy sensation Who's Holiday enjoys a six-show run at Rock Island's Circa '21 Speakeasy, this spiky December 5 through 20 treat also hailed by the New York Times as "a raunchy riff on a yuletide tale that dirties up Christmas while ultimately reveling in its spirit."

With her most recent booth Guts a number-one bestseller on lists for the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly, an award-winning author and cartoonist serves as the virtual guest in The Magic of Raina Telgemeier, a December 10 event hosted by Illinois Libraries Present and presented by the East Moline and Silvis Public Libraries.

A quintet of entertaining works by a lauded Tony nominee enjoys a December 6 through 8 staging at Scott Community College's Black Box Theatre, with director Kevin Babbitt's Five of Fives treating audiences to a brisk night of theatre that finds nine gifted student actors enacting numerous roles created by lauded playwright David Ives.

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