November 19
ONCE UPON A TIME
Love a juicy tale? Head to Oberon in Harvard Square at 8 p.m. Monday to hear 10 storytellers, whose names are drawn from a hat, compete in the Moth StorySLAM. The winner advances to the GrandSLAM championship. Tickets, sold online only, start at $8. 617-547-8300; themoth.org
November 23
CHAIN GANG
Inventive types of all ages construct their own wacky kinetic sculptures at MIT Museum’s annual Friday After Thanksgiving Chain Reaction event, and then the Rube Goldberg contraptions, some 30 to 40 of them, get linked together in a giant loop of cause and effect. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for kids. 617-253-5927; mit.edu/museum/programs
Items used in past years’ contraptions include:
> feathers
> a box of sugar
> a tambourine
> a stuffed crow
> little plastic soldiers
> a drying rack
> a jar of honey
> an R2-D2 toy
> a straw hat
> a Dremel tool
> a duck
> a rabbit
> an infant
November 23-January 31
HISTORY WALKING
Freedom Trail guides get decked out in their 19th-century best for Historic Holiday Strolls that start the Friday after Thanksgiving. Tours begin at Faneuil Hall and end with a hot chocolate or a glass of wine and — what else? — Boston cream pie at the Omni Parker House, 3:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays (after November 22). Reservations required; $29 for adults, $19 for children. 617-357-8300; thefreedomtrail.org
istockphoto
November 24
ANYTHING BUT SHRILL
Some 150 tubas and the people who play them will gather at Faneuil Hall Marketplace Saturday to perform the annual free Boston Tuba Christmas concert at 2 p.m. bostontubachristmas.com
bob noble
November 24-25
IT’S RAINING SANTA
Showing off his daredevil side, Santa makes his annual pre-Christmas appearance via parachute at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday (winds permitting) in Quincy’s Merrymount Park. The town’s big Christmas Parade takes place at 12:30 p.m. the next day on Hancock Street. 617-376-1396; quincyma.gov
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