🥂Your guide to New Year’s Eve | The Mummers Day Parade, new movies to watch, and more

Hey y’all!

This week is a snooze. I admit that I’ve barely left my couch and am mostly in pajama mode. Did you have a good Christmas? My table was filled with the best Puerto Rican dishes, from pernil, to arroz con gandules, to pasteles. What did you eat? Let me know!

This weekend, celebrate NYE at a fun concert, watch great new movies, explore a recently opened gallery focused on Latino artists, and catch the Mummers Day Parade.

— Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

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I’m listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing the question we face every year-end: What are you doing New Year’s Eve? We’ve got some answers. There are tons of great concerts around town to celebrate the arrival of 2024, including hometown groups Disco Biscuits and Low Cut Connie. Find the right sound for you.

🎥 Couch time: If you’re bored with the slow pace this week, there are some stellar new movies worth your time, from the lighthearted anime The Boy and the Heron to Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon. From in-theater to streaming, here are six great titles to watch.

⚜️ New Year’s Day: The legendary Mummers Day Parade returns with lots of feathers, elaborate costumes, string bands, creepy masks, and so much more. From road closures to parking restrictions, here’s what you need to know about the very Philly celebration.

🛍️ Second-hand gems: Beloved East Kensington thrift-antique shop Thunderbird Salvage has opened a second location nearby with a holiday pop-up where you can buy clothes by the pound and land unique and discounted finds.

🎨 New art gallery: Esperanza Arts Center just opened in Hunting Park with a focus on showcasing Latino arts and culture in Philadelphia. Puerto Rican artist Tato González’s large and haunting show “Sueño de Reyes,” or “Dream of the Kings,” dedicated to the three kings from the Bible, is the center’s first exhibit.

🍽️ Get a rez: It’s the hardest question to answer, especially when family is in town for the holidays: Where are we going to eat? Here are the best spots for NYE dinner and New Year’s Day brunch.

🎊 Make some noise: Get out those party horns, noisemakers, and silly 2024 glasses for one of these NYE parties around Philly.

📅 My calendar picks this week: Dance at a Bridgerton-themed “Diamond of the Season” ball, catch fireworks at Cherry Street Pier, and celebrate Kwanzaa at AAMP.

If you’re looking for a family-friendly play with incredible puppet props, catch Roald Dahl’s The BFG at the Arden (running through Jan. 21). The classic kids’ story about a young girl who befriends a big friendly giant and winds up surrounded by giants, including those who eat humans like Bloodbottler and Bonecruncher. Eight puppets, created by Sebastienne Mundheim (we are working on a piece on her, do keep an eye out!), perch atop each actor for a giant effect. The BFG himself (played by Matteo Scammell) stands at 24-feet-tall and he helps Sophie (Jessica Money) save English children from these scary giants. Find out more here.

👠 One and two and kick: The Rockettes are an institution at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. We went behind the scenes with Taylor Shimko, a dancer from Bucks County, to experience a day in the life of a Rockette.

💿 AOTY alert: What was your favorite album this year? My two faves were Bad Bunny’s brash and cheeky Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana and Sufjan Stevens’s stunning and soul-crushing Javelin. Inquirer pop music critic Dan DeLuca rounded up his top albums of the year, from SZA’s SOS to Speedy Ortiz’s Rabbit Rabbit. Here’s what else he loved.

🍾 Take out the flutes: The bubbly will be flowing this weekend, so we have a recommendation for an excellent and affordable Champagne you can snag for NYE.

🥩 Restaurant recs: Pulitzer-prize winning playwright James Ijames told us his favorite places to eat around Philly, from Barclay Prime to River Twice.

The word “Mummers” comes from which ancient Greek text?

A) Aesop’s Fables

B) Medea

C) The Iliad

D) Metamorphoses

📮 To let me know which of the above is correct, write me back.

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This week, I’ve been watching some wild classics about murder — nothing heartwarming, but certainly jaw-dropping — including Dead Ringer (1964), Dial M for Murder (1954), and Strait-Jacket (1964). What are you watching? Let me know!