Lite + Brite: 51 Yuletide Austin Events 12/12

Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.

This week kicks off some of our favorite annual Austin holiday traditions, specifically the 37th St. Lights Show and the Museum of Human Achievement’s annual holiday musical. We go to both of these every year. They are peak examples of what we try to include in this newsletter: quirky, unpredictable, inimitable DIY events that are co-created by the community, for the community. Similarly (though not holiday-related), this weekend is Highland Collective’s Lamp Show, finally providing an answer to that age-old question: “What if art was lamps?” Elsewhere, Miniature horses will be visiting a public library, which may not be DIY but is adorable. (That link does not give enough information, but we’ve gone in the past and met these minis, so we can personally attest to the cuteness of the event.) Highlanders will be tossing cabers out in the forest. And, because we reference Kate Bush on our website and own a bushel of her albums, we are legally obligated to inform you that We Luv Video will be screening Kate Bush’s Christmas Special.

One of our other favorite holiday traditions is shopping for handmade goods. To help you do the same, we’ve added lots of new vendor markets to our guide—this weekend alone has 30 markets listed. And of course there are plenty of other ways to support Austin creatives, in addition to buying their wares at craft markets. Local gridlock influencer Evil Mopac offers a line of merch. So does local wrestler Luigi Primo. (He is a best wrestler, he makes a best pizza.) You could give a membership to a local DIY institution, like We Luv Video, the Museum of Human Achievement, Hyperreal Film Club, Almost Real Things, the Vortex, or Tiny Minotaur. Buy a gift certificate to an independent store who you want to still be here this time next year. Or, if you find value in what we do, gift a membership to Lite + Brite’s Patreon!

If you’re not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you want to be, click here. We do one newsletter a week, usually on Fridays, plus a bonus edition around the start of each month. If you enjoy this newsletter, please support us by contributing to our Patreon and by forwarding this email to your friends who enjoy things like listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.

Let’s do fun stuff!

—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com

EVENTS WE’RE EYEING

Friday 12/12

  • Light Show Opening Night on 37th St.
    Neighborhood light show w/cat elections + “Diagon Alley rumors”
  • Genre at Smelt House
    They had us at “mime-forward trauma-informed slut opera”
  • Butch Gardens at Nepantla
    DJs + drag performers “blur borders between celebration + performance”
  • Frigid Bitch Ball at Revenge
    “All-femme” masquerade ball juxtaposes frigidity + naughtiness
  • Rite of Passage at Tiny Minotaur
    Heavenly dungeon synth + ethereal live music meet live visual artists
  • Big Fat Hanukkah Party at Kitty Cohen’s
    Light a candle w/live music, Hanukkah tats, + Cambodian/Jewish fusion food
  • 20th Century Goth Club at Elysium
    DJs spinning pre-2000 goth, industrial, + dark dance music
  • Queer to Tell at Captain Quack’s
    “Queer Stories told by Queer People in Queer Businesses in Queer Austin”
  • Tammie Brown’s Holiday Sparkle at the Vortex
    RuPaul alum brings her festive Xmas drag show to Austin
  • Celtic Yuletide Festival + Highland Games at Sherwood Forest Faire
    Festive medieval celebration w/live music, archery, + storytelling
  • Krampus at House of Torment
    A big gaudy haunted house reworked with sinister Santa vibes
  • The E(Xmas)ist at Crashbox
    “A campy queer Christmas parody of The Exorcist”
  • A Tuna Christmas at Genesis Creative Collective
    A theatrical sendup of Christmas in small town Texas

Saturday 12/13

  • Mini Horses + Cocoa at Westbank Library
    This event is exactly what you want it to be (also it has balloons)
  • Lamp Show at Highland Collective
    Local artists gather to create artistic lamps + lamp-shaped art
  • Black for the Holidays at the Carver Museum
    Local Black vendors, art pop-ups, photo ops, + Black Santa pics
  • Winter Ball at Highland Lounge
    Ballroom performers + wrestlers tag team w/fashion + fierce action
  • A Nightmare Before Christmas Gothic Ball at Elysium
    Throw a little Halloween into Xmas w/costumes, vendors + goth DJs
  • Fat Bottom Cabaret at the State Theatre
    “POC burlesque, cabaret, debauchery + unapologetic joy”
  • Sins of the Syndicate at Empire
    Sinful zine release w/burlesque, live music, + vendors
  • Mrs. Roper Romp at the Dogwood
    Dress up to celebrate an unlikely 1970s style + feminist icon
  • Video Club Night at Austin Beerworks
    “Vintage TV/Movie holiday montages” w/contests, vendors, + puppets
  • Can I Kick It? at Republic Square
    Watch a martial arts film w/DJ creating a new hip hop + soul score
  • Chocolate Festival at the Thicket
    Live music, seasonal produce, + a mountain of chocolate
  • Xmas Mario Kart Tournament at Contracommon
    Holiday vendors pair up against MK tourney + photo ops
  • Nosferatu at Royal House Co-op
    Classic silent vampire flick re-soundtracked by live musicians
  • Best Fest at Better Half
    “Drag + beer ho-ho-holiday hoedown” inspired by lil’ 70s TX flick
  • Blood + Bookmarks at Bloody Rose Boutique
    Book fair w/“TX horror, fantasy, sci-fi authors, publishers + booksellers”
  • Story-oke at the Highball
    Sing a song + talk about it. Basically DIY VH1 Storytellers
  • Tammie Brown’s Holiday Sparkle at the Vortex
    RuPaul alum brings her festive Xmas drag show to Austin
  • Celtic Yuletide Festival + Highland Games at Sherwood Forest Faire
    Festive medieval celebration w/live music, archery, + storytelling
  • Krampus at House of Torment
    A big gaudy haunted house reworked with sinister Santa vibes
  • The E(Xmas)ist at Crashbox
    “A campy queer Christmas parody of The Exorcist”
  • A Tuna Christmas at Genesis Creative Collective
    A theatrical sendup of Christmas in small town Texas

Sunday 12/14

Monday 12/15

Tuesday 12/16

  • Biqtchin’ at Elysium
    Drag performances inspired by nerdiness + “video gaymes”
  • Home Alone in Concert at the Long Center
    Watch the holiday thievery classic w/live symphonic accompaniment

Wednesday 12/17

Thursday 12/18

  • Kate Bush Christmas Special at We Luv Video
    Kate Bush’s Xmas special from ‘79 w/original music + witchy dancing
  • Christmas Extravaganza at Hotel Vegas
    Vegas has resurrected Elvis + paired him with bands, vendors, tats, + dj
  • Buzzed Spelling Bee at the Liberty
    Sure you can spell gud, but can you do it after downing a few bevs?
  • Hell’s Hoes at Valhalla
    Burlesque performances set to + inspired by heavy metal
  • Weird Science Theater at Elysium
    Drag performers explore turn-of-the-century horror cult classic film
  • Queer Film Theory at the Highball
    “Basically, we ruin films for straight people + yell about the characters that made us feel gay”
  • Nerd Nite at Barrel O’ Fun
    Hear nerdy high-caliber talks on a variety of quantifiable topics
  • The Summer Sauron Turned Pretty at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Xmas play reimagines LotR as Livejournal fanfic w/sexy wizards
  • The E(Xmas)ist at Crashbox
    “A campy queer Christmas parody of The Exorcist”
  • A Tuna Christmas at Genesis Creative Collective
    A theatrical sendup of Christmas in small town Texas

NHA262
Pulse Racers

Mostly mechanical men with television eyes and lasers in their veins dodge, lunge, + cavort this week on No Humans Allowed, where we’ll have a blood-pumping synth-laden soundtrack to another imaginary action flick. Gear up + press play.

Stream Pulse Racers

Tracklist
Snapped Ankles – Smart World
Trans Am – Television Eyes
Romain FX – Letting Your Mind Go ft. Himaart
Geinoh Yamashirogumi – Requiem (Tallac Remix)
Cassius – Somebody
Bell Towers – Overload
Mental Cube – Chile of the Bass Generation
Anatolian Weapons – 2020 Acid Jam
Spiritual Sky – Sky My House Band (Captain’ Edit)
Nuclear Daisies – Body Turns Blue
Holy Fuck – Luxe ft. Alexis Taylor
Dennis Coffey – Wings of Fire (Betty Botox Edit)

No Humans Allowed is Brian Blackout’s award-winning, weekly robots-themed radio show on internet station KPISS.fm. Machine vibes 4 machines. Songs for robots, androids, mandroids, cyborgs, AIs, cylons, skinjobs, roombas, wifi routers, smart devices, anything colored Bondi blue, and virtual assistants. Humans not required. Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm, with over 200 episodes now streamable in the archives on topics like and Beach Simulations, Roomba dance parties, undersea adventures + Cyber Texas.

PATREON THANKS

A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers James Gray, Emily Heddleson, Andrew Creswell, Robert B., Roman Gonzalez, Nick Ivons, Molly Fonseca, Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Gino Scaramuzza, Erica Speegle, Jarrett Holtz, Thomas Refferson, Bones Malones, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Alexander Freed, Kristen Backor, and Timon A. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Mailchimp fee” and “spend hours researching Austin events when technically we should be working.”

If you’d like to support us on Patreon and get access to exclusive member-only benefits, you may do so here.

SOCIALS

Recent weeks found us attending a dance party in a storage unit, marching in a Greek mythology-themed Halloween parade thrown by a bat crew and a rat crew, and watching a troupe of gigantic leftist puppets from New England. Follow Lite + Brite on Instagram to keep up with our adventures. We’re now on Bluesky too. Yay federation! And come chat with us and the rest of the L+B community on our Discord server (where we sometimes post stuff early too).

ABOUT US

How do we choose which events to feature?

Honestly, it’s pretty random. We might include anything in Austin that we, personally, would conceivably want to go to, generally excluding normal concerts, comedy shows, and movie showtimes because there are many other good resources for finding those. (We especially recommend Showlist for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, Concept Animals’ ATX Art for You for gallery openings + artist talks, ATX Theatre for plays, and the 60+ Weirdest Things in Austin for exactly what it sounds like). This list is by no means exhaustive; it’s just stuff that caught our eye this week. If you have an event that you want us to consider including, send it over.

Who are we?

We are Leila + Brian. We make this newsletter. We do our own events, most often No Lights No Lycra, + also BYOT, a party where we share very good YouTubes (here’s a playlist from the last one). We go very hard seeing bands at SxSW (here are playlists of our favorites from 2025). We once got called “local Austin couple” by KXAN. We do some other stuff here and there. We love going out to creative events in Austin, and we want you to join us. Visit us at liteandbriteatx.com, and support us on Patreon if you like what we do.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, CHAMPIONS

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