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Oddbird Art & Craft Winter Fair: In these emotionally challenging times, an institution like Oddbird is such an oasis. A perfect place to one-stop solve some give-and-take obligations, the selection of holiday gift possibilities is super-wide, generally non-generic, and, in many cases, delightfully affordable.
Throw on top of this it’s all locally made by dozens of artisans and you can almost feel the tension melting away from catastrophizing about long Black Friday lineups.
Art, clothing, toys, bath goods, jewelry, books, furniture — you name it — and all very portable. If you want a drinking game, pop one back every time you see something with a bird on it — the market’s logo doesn’t count.
Most excellently, Oddbird runs over two weekends, kicking off with 5-9 p.m. Friday, then 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday — same formula next weekend.
Details: Friday-Sunday, then Dec. 6-8 at Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre (8426 Gateway Blvd.), $5 entry fee, kids 12 and under free
Nicolas Rage: If you’re up for some sweet sonics, “semi-pro alternative pop-punk band” Nicolas Rage headlines a killer show Friday at Starlite.
Emo/poppy-punk local act Darryl Saves Lives and The Carpoolers shake the cold off, this one will be a blast!
Confronting his own past, he’s up against an entire Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.
If not that, Starship Troopers plays at 9:30 p.m.