December 20th-23rd Toronto Christmas Market @ Distillery District. This annual event captures all of the tradition, heritage and charm of a European Christmas Market, while showcasing hundreds of unique and local handcrafted products. Admission is free during the week and $6 Friday through Sunday.

WEDNESDAY

6:30 pm 28th Annual Kensington Market Winter Solstice Parade @ Kensington Market. Kensington’s Winter Solstice Parade celebrates the longest night of the year with hand-made lanterns, roving giant puppets, stilted dancers, fire breathers and spinners, and more.

7 pm Music Bingo @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A FREE weekly event combining the love of music with the traditional bingo format. Each player receives a Music Bingo card which consists of an assortment of songs. Instead of calling out numbers, they play the music! Singing along encouraged.

8 pm Drake Trivia @ The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. Teams of four or less put their random knowledge to the test as hosts Megan Griffith-Greene and Jeromy Lloyd fire off questions ranging from sporting records and celebrity scandals to geographic discoveries and culinary lingo. $2 to participate and the winning table gets an $80 Drake gift card (plus bragging rights)! Click here to reserve with OpenTable, or show up early to ensure a spot for your team.

THURSDAY

9 pm Material Thursday: A Festive 80s Dance Party @ Bovine Sex Club, 542 Queen St. W. 1980s pop and rock all night with DJ Crunch Bandicut.

9 pm Christmas for Corpses @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Tired of the jingles and jangles? The Christmas carols? Kehdo, Ebony, and Wasserman bring you their own bells and whistles at this spooky dance party.

10 pm Get Lo @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Bangs & Blush bring you the ULTIMATE ’90s til now dance party, GET LO! They’ll be playing all the shit you wanna hear from the ’90s to today.

10 pm Soul, Funk & What? @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Soul and funk that will have you dancing the night away, all spun on 45s. Maximum party time!

FRIDAY

7 pm Winter Clothing Swap @ Brooklynn, 1186 Queen St. W. Early Nighter teams up with RAGSPIN for a winter clothing swap you can dance to! Bring cool clothing and accessories in good condition to swap. Leave with something. Leave everything. Have a few cocktails. Dance a little dance. Maybe put back a candy cane or two. Remaining items will be dropped off at local shelters. Complimentary admission with clothing item for swap, $12 without.

10 pm Doo Lang @ Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave. A pre-holiday pop-up with DJ Misty playing all the feel-good vintage R&B, girl groups, and soul you can shake your tail feather to!

10 pm The LAST Birthday Sex @ Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. One last throwdown with Diego Bros and DJ Blackcat. ’90s/00s RnB and hip-hop throwbacks (and some newness).

10 pm Foxtrot @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. Psych, glam, mod, rawk, and indie tunes with DJ Weird Dad.

10 pm Elf 2000s Dance Party @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, so sing along to all the 2000s music you can handle at Sneaky Dee’s! Christmas-themed drinks all night. $5 advance tickets available online.

10 pm DJ Digital’s Hair Metal Record Collection @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Bring your favourite metal records or dig through DJ Digital’s crates. You pick ’em, he’ll play ’em!

10 pm Fuck It @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Guilty pleasures dance party with Bangs & Blush! Drake, Hanson, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Missy Elliott, Venga Boys, Bieber, Will Smith, Spice Girls, Eminem, Jay-Z, Disney music, and more. $5 with student ID, $10 without.

10 pm Get Buck @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. DJ Nino Brown spins hip-hop, soca, RnB, and dancehall. Deep grooves that transcend.

10 pm Beam Me Up Disco @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. A disco jam that celebrates the underrated and the obscure of funk, jazz, soul, boogie, rare groove, reggae, gospel, proto-house! It’s an evening of tuneful transcendence, supplied by residents Patchouli Brothers (f.k.a. A Digital Needle) and Cyclist. $10.

10 pm DJ Your Boy Brian @ The Rec Room, 255 Bremner Blvd. Known for getting crowds off their feet, local favourite and party lord Your Boy Brian seamlessly blends all genres into a feel-good party mix.

11 pm Get Good @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Diggy The DJ plays all your favourite bangers. $10.

SATURDAY

10 am Wima’s Woman Made Holiday Market @ Trinity-St Paul’s United Church & Centre for Faith, Justice & the Arts, 427 Bloor St. W. A market celebrating, encouraging, and supporting women entrepreneurs. Featuring handmade arts and crafts, clothing, jewellery, edibles, and more from over 40 vendors + special performances. All proceeds donated to Hygiene On Wheels, an initiative that provides showers, clothing, haircuts, and job services to the homeless on a mobile bus. PWYC ($5 suggested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds). Until 2 pm.

8 pm DJ Skate Nights: 1 LOVE T.O. @ Harbourfront Centre (Natrel Rink), 235 Queen’s Quay W. Celebrate our city in all its winter glory as DJ DLUX spins funk, hip-hop, R&B, and house. Skate and helmet rentals available. Until 11 pm.

10 pm Fancy Footwork @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. What do you get when you have Daft Punk vs. Blondie? Chromeo vs. Parliament? AlunaGeorge vs. Duran Duran? This party brings together the best of indie dance, nu-disco, disco, funk, and new wave, spun by DJs Mista Jiggz and Mike Don’t. $10.

10 pm Medicine @ Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave. Vinyl dance party with DJ Nico and Johnny Trash! All genres and styles of psych, from the 1960s (Doors, Can, Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Nuggets) to the 1980s/1990s (Chameleons, Ride, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine) and 2000s/2010s (LCD Soundsystem, MGMT, The Oh Sees, The Black Angels).

10 pm Holiday Disco Blow @ Dundas Video, 831 Dundas St. W. La Casa Tropical and We Freak get you ready for the holidays with a disco dance party.

10 pm Expansions @ The Rec Room, 255 Bremner Blvd. Beam Me Up DJs Cyclist and The Patchouli Brothers celebrate house music’s creative ascendancy from disco and the impetus to all modern dance music.

10 pm Link Up @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. DJ Kid Ka$h spinning the best in top 40, hip-hop, RnB, soca, and reggaeton. Tunes for all headtops.

10 pm Nora Noise @ Lucky Shrike, 850 Dundas St. W. An interstellar voyage through 60 years of sonic debauchery with DJ Nora Noise from Rome. RnR, surf, exotica garage rock, psych, punk rock, glam, soul, and more.

10 pm Worst Behavior @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. This Saturday, be on your worst behavior. Bangs & Blush play past and present bangers all night long from Drake, The Weeknd, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Nelly, TLC, Missy Elliott, and more! $5 with student ID, $10 without.

10 pm Voodoo Xmas Party @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Electro, Caribbean, funk, minimalism. Working the root: Andycapp, Alister Johnson, Iced Misto, and Shams.

10 pm Love Shack @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Cheap drinks, cheap thrills, and rock ‘n’ roll all night long with DJ DangerCat.

10 pm Tiki Disco Saturdays @ Miss Thing’s, 1279 Queen St. W. Post-dinner Saturday night party in the Coconut Room, with special guest DJs to make you MOVE! No cover before midnight.

11 pm Racks & Bands @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Jay Jolliffe and guests take you on a rollercoaster ride through the biggest songs in hip-hop and RnB. $10.

SUNDAY

7 pm Free Screening: Black Christmas @ TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W. Join TIFF for a special, free screening of Bob Clark’s creepy, atmospheric Toronto-shot thriller about an unseen killer stalking the inhabitants of a sorority house on Christmas Eve.

~ For event submissions, email Caitlyn Holroyd at caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com