Arts and Entertainment

Author Jon Waterman opens readers to sharing his appreciation and the need to safeguard a world that grants us so many gifts.

The Dark Daze music festival on Friday and Saturday hopes to attract alternative music lovers of all ages for a sober celebration centered on music — and community — that splits from the mainstream.

This year’s seasonal specials include sequels to the Hallmark Channel hit “Christmas on Cherry Lane,” a docuseries following what happens when a letter to Santa is dropped in the mail, and the stop-motion classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

No one needs us to remind you about the obvious holiday movies playing on repeat on cable, but perhaps you are looking to go beyond the obvious this year.

Fueled by FOMO and inspired by social media, a new generation explores an old craft.

There are solstice celebrations and holiday classics during the last weekend before Christmas.

While the first two editions cover Russell’s life before he reached Alaska, the next installment will focus on his year living in a rural village.

The band is the sixth act to be announced as part of the ConocoPhillips Alaska Concert Series.

Their lists include poetry, graphic art, plus books about fishing, nature and history.

The series includes works from a number of esteemed Alaska creators, including Kelly Moneymaker and Princess Daazhraii Johnson.

There are fests, films, tours and plenty of holiday options onstage.

The production came to Anchorage in 2009.

New editions of books by John Dickson Carr, Tom Mead and Edna Sherry remind me why I loved them the first time.

A lawsuit alleges Jay-Z raped a minor with Sean “Diddy” Combs at an awards show after-party nearly 25 years ago.

The book is the culmination of more than two decades of research and also examines the role that the art form plays in contemporary Tlingit society.

The Golden Globe awards, which are no longer presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are still in comeback mode after years of scandal and organizational upheaval.

Holly Miowak Guise’s book details that Alaska Natives, far from being passive participants in a war brought to them, actively protected their lands and cultures — leading to strengthened tribal connections and greater equality.

California-based co-directors Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt said the festival features well over 100 films.

The Anchorage International Film Festival is happening all weekend, plus there are holiday concerts, performances of the Broadway musical “Mean Girls” and First Friday events on tap.

The joint venture between the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and the Nederlander Organization also has “Beetlejuice” and “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” on this season’s slate.

Filmmaker Ben Sturgulewski thought he had a completed short film. Then the American military’s withdrawal from the country changed the lives of many of the people profiled in the movie.

The book is the final novel in Fairbanks author Kris Farmen’s “Seasons of Want and Plenty” trilogy.

There’s “The Nutcracker,” other live performances and fights at Sullivan Arena, plus a downtown tree lighting for the whole family.