Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 7:30 p.m.

The Presidential Lecture Series of the University of Tulsa is known for bringing renowned and celebrated voices to students and the public. It’s next guest, Michael Tilson Thomas is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony, principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and both founder and artistic director of the New World Symphony. They don’t come much more accomplished than Thomas, who has made more than 120 recordings of work from Bach to Carl Ruggles and won numerous awards for it, including 10 Grammys, a Peabody Award and the National Medal of Arts. Here him discuss his career and ideas at Tuesday’s lecture, free at the University of Tulsa Lorton Performance Center, 550 S. Gary Place. Go to www.utulsa.edu for more information.
 

Opens Friday, Nov. 23

Snow tube riding is not always encouraged in urban zones, except when it’s Downtown in December. The largest manmade slope opens again as just one of many attractions at the annual winter festival, which opens Friday, Nov. 23. Yes, the streets and scenic canal are brilliant with thousands of lights strung around Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, Automobile Alley and throughout the avenues of commerce making the perfect backdrop for outdoor ice skating, festive runs, free water taxi excursions, the outdoor winter markets and more. Activities run through Dec. 31 and include Santa sightings, the SandRidge Tree Lighting Festival and plenty for families to share together. This year, it’s as if the North Pole has landed in the City. Go to www.downtownindecember.com for more.

Opens Friday, Nov. 23

“Winter people” seem to be a rarity these days as many Okies enjoy the milder months by the lake, at backyard barbecues and in rolling green parks. Yet, it’s undeniable how reassuring it can be to pull on that wool pea coat for the first time again or to slip into a pair of warm knit socks or to hear the crackle of lit kindling in the once dark fireplace. Winterfest beckons to all beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 23, when the ice rink opens on Second Street between Denver and Frisco avenues. Live entertainment is scheduled for the weekends, and carriage rides are available most evenings from 6-9 p.m. Refreshments such as hot cocoa and coffee will be on hand. No wonder Segway Santa plans to make so many trips. The lights of Winterfest, as well as the soaring tree, remain on through Jan. 6, which means there’s plenty of time to be part of one of Tulsa’s newest seasonal traditions. Go to www.bokcenter.com for details and a complete schedule of activities and Santa appearances.

Saturday, Nov. 24, at 2:30 p.m.

You’ve seen the signs pertly planted into neat flowerbeds or slapped onto the bumper of a Ford half-ton pick-up. Oklahoma is scene to many houses divided by the rivalry between the state’s two largest schools: Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. Outside of sweatshirt paraphernalia, orange logo Christmas ornaments and Sooner-red doggie parkas, there are few physical traits to mark a person’s Cowboy/Sooner leanings. No wonder families and friends find themselves in conflict when it’s time to play ball. Bedlam is about to break out once more as the schools spar at the OU’s Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, 180 W. Brooks, Norman. Tickets start at $99 and can be purchased at www.soonersports.com.

Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m.

Last week, country music star Carrie Underwood was named one of the lead nominees for the People’s Choice Awards. Oklahomans made the Checotah native their choice a long time ago when the American Idol winner entered a successful recording career apart from TV show. Underwood returns to the BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. Show is at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 21. Doors open at 6 p.m. for this stop on the tour to promote her hit album, Blown Away. Special guest Hunter Hayes opens for Underwood, and tickets run $46-$66 each. Want to see if Carrie stays on top? The 2013 People’s Choice Awards airs on CBS at 8 p.m. Jan. 9. We already know that the answer is most definitely “yes.” Purchase concert tickets at www.bokcenter.com.

Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 22-25

Some of the biggest names in BMX bike racing are headed to Tulsa for four days of dirt-flying action. The USA BMX Grand Nationals Pro Series Finale and the 2012 Presidents Cup Race of Champions Pro UCI Series begins Thursday, Nov. 22, at the QuikTrip Center at Expo Square,4145 E. 21st St. Tickets are $10 for ages 7 and over. The series runs through Sunday, Nov. 25. If you think bicycles are only for the pavement or park trails, you’ll soon learn that bikes are just as at home in the air. For the schedule, go to www.usabmx.com.
 

Opening Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Prophesy holds true for 9-year-old Ralphie in this stage version of the popular holiday movie, 1983’s A Christmas Story. Encore! Theatre Arts brings the hilarious story of Christmas to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center’s Liddy Doenges Theatre, 110 E. Second St., opening 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28. Nostalgic and familiar, A Christmas Story has become a favorite across generations, which means little has changed over the decades at the holidays. Children still hope their good behavior will bring them a big present from Santa, exhausted parents still want to make even the smallest wishes come true and the days leading up to Christmas can still be filled with excitement, which is a comforting thought. And, fortunately, that leg lamp will never come into vogue. The show continues its run through Saturday, Dec. 1. Tickets are $16, available at www.myticketoffice.com.
 

The weekend

It’s always an exciting time when homes, parks and business are suddenly outlined against the long evening in a luminous show of color and wintry scenes. These scenes become the magical backdrop for families and friends to enjoy the hours counting down to the holidays. And it all begins with one of the biggest. A few displays begin the day before Thanksgiving. Look for the particularly fine Chesapeake Energy Holiday Lights Display at the company’s OKC campus at NW 63rd Street and Western Avenue from Nov. 20-Jan. 5. Lights are on from 5 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. the next morning. Broken Arrow’s Rhema Bible Church and college light up 1025 W. Kenosha St. between Nov. 21-Jan. 1 nightly from 5:30-11:30 p.m.
On Thanksgiving evening, expect to find more addresses plugging in, including Utica Square’s Light On, 21st Street and Utica Avenue, Tulsa, at 6:30 p.m.; and Garden of Lights in Muskogee’s Honor Heights Park, West Shawnee and North 40th streets, at dusk.
Others begin after the holiday, including the happenings of Guthrie’s Territorial Christmas Celebration (www.thepollard.org) in full Victorian elegance (Nov. 23-Dec. 23); Woolaroc Wonderland of Lights (www.woolaroc.org) at Bartlesville’s Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve (Nov. 23-Dec. 23); and the North Pole Winter Wonderland Holiday Exhibit at the Myriad Botanical Gardens (www.myriadgardens.org) in OKC (Nov. 25-Jan. 1). If the lights are on, you’ll always feel at home.
For more on these displays and to find others in the many towns across the state, check out www.travelok.com of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.
 

Friday, Nov. 23, at 8:30 p.m.

No matter how much or little you plan to pile onto your plate this Thursday, count on having Thanksgiving-themed meals through Black Friday and the weekend. Add this to your stuffing: Cain’s Ballroom’s 7th Annual Leftover Turkey Show is back with favorites Jason Boland and the Stragglers plus the Turnpike Troubadours. Show is at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23. Tickets are $19-$29 each and available online at www.cainsballroom.com. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show is open to all ages. Quickly becoming a tradition in its own, Leftover Turkey is just the thing to expend all that energy taken in the day before. With that kind of fuel, these guys should count on playing well into the night. Cain’s Ballroom is located at 423 N. Main St.
 

The weekend

The crowds will be at the malls and department stores in droves Friday. It’s a great time to view spectacular Western art at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 N.E. 63rd St., Oklahoma City. The annual Small Works, Great Wonders exhibit, which opened last week, continues through Jan. 6 with its collection of portraits, landscapes, sculpture and fine art by Prix de West invitational artists. The work is also for sale, and proceeds go to the museum. While there, check out two other exhibits, both closing Sunday, Nov. 25. This is the last weekend to see more than 100 new paintings, drawings and sculptures in the 47th Cowboy Artists of America Show. Faces of Bettina Steinke also concludes its showing of works by the portrait artist behind one of the museum’s most popular works, Father and Daughter at the Crow Fair. The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day). Admission is $5.75 (ages 4-12 years)-$12.40 (adults). For more, visit www.nationalcowboymuseum.org online.