Things to do and watch during a cold Christmas week in Sioux Falls

That was quite the storm last week, wasn’t it?

It turns out when the National Weather Service says a “major winter weather event” that will last several days is on the way, it’s worth paying attention.

Hopefully by now you’ve dug out of the snow and can focus on the holiday week ahead. There are plenty of festive things to do in Sioux Falls, and you can see the full list of events at our SiouxFallsLive.com calendar.

And even though there’s no “major winter weather events” on the horizon, it’s not going to be pleasant outside, unless you are a polar bear.

See that and more below in our list of things you need to know this week in Sioux Falls:

Casinos creating mad dash for city’s remaining liquor licenses

Want to get into the business of video lottery casinos? You need a malt beverage license.

The Sioux Falls City Council recently set a cap at 186 licenses in the city. And with the city having about 30 left to hand out before the cap is reached, there’s a mad dash for the remaining licenses — and thus the ability to open a casino.

There are more than 30 applications for new licenses on the city council’s agenda Tuesday, Dec. 20, with several other transfers and renewals.

Things could get interesting.

It’s going to be a cold Christmas

Brrrrr humbug!

If you have relatives coming to town over the holidays, you’ll want to tell them to bundle up.

It will be cold leading up Christmas.

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls says it’s going to start getting “much colder” on Tuesday, and wind chills will reach the negative-20s on Tuesday and Wednesday and go into the negative-30s on Thursday and Friday.

“Please be prepared for pre-holiday travel concerns with wind chills potentially as cold as minus-45,” the NWS said.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas, the high could be just a few degrees above zero, with the low reaching negative figures, not including wind chill.

Holiday events for the family — and one for adults

Get in the holiday spirit this week with a pair of classic Christmas story performances in Sioux Falls: “A Christmas Carol” and “The Nutcracker.”

The Premier Playhouse is performing “A Christmas Carol” for the second straight year at the Orpheum Theater. The play runs 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday (Dec. 20-23) with additional shows after Christmas Dec. 27-30.

A cast and crew of about 100 is putting on the almost three-hour show that is adapted from Charles Dickins’ famous novel by Crispin Whittell.

The Playhouse describes the performance as “a play with a heartwarming message of togetherness and holiday joy combined with exciting special effects and larger-than-life production designs.”

Tickets are $30-$35 and are available at siouxfallsorpheum.com .

Main Stage Ballet and Dance Academy will perform “The Nutcracker” at the Washington Pavilion at 7 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23.

This will be the sixth time the ballet and dance academy has performed “The Nutcracker.” The most recent performance was in 2018. Tickets are $25-$34 and are available at washingtonpavilion.org .

For those looking for something a little more modern, Club David is hosting a “Christmas spectacular” on Dec. 23. Comedian Zach Dresch hosts the event, which runs from 9 p.m. to midnight and costs $10. There will be performances by Blake Rave and the Unmentionables, Granola, O.L.I., The Brassholes, the Shirks and more.

In the mood for more Christmas? Drive on over to the 1800 block of S. Hawthorne Ave. for the “Myers Crazy for Christmas Display.” It’s two blocks of inflatables, synchronized lights to music and Santa’s mailbox, where kids (and adults, too) can write a letter to Santa and get a response. The event is daily this week from 6 to 9:30 p.m. except for Christmas Eve.

School’s out for Christmas

The little rascals are coming home.

The holiday break begins for Sioux Falls-area students later this week.

Students in the Sioux Falls School District and Brandon Valley are out starting Thursday, Dec. 22, while students in the Harrisburg, Tea and West Central districts have days off starting Friday, Dec. 23.

Conference play starts in Summit League basketball

The road to the Summit League basketball championships starts this week as conference play begins Monday night, Dec. 19.

The South Dakota State women are picked to finish first this year after falling to South Dakota in the 2022 championship game, thus securing a berth in the WNIT. USD, meanwhile, went on quite a run in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16. But they are picked to finish second this year partly due to losing several key seniors.

Both SDSU and USD start their conference seasons at home, with the Coyotes playing Kansas City and SDSU playing Oral Roberts. On Wednesday, SDSU hosts Kansas City and South Dakota hosts Oral Roberts.

There’s historically been more parity in the men’s Summit League ranks, and Oral Roberts is picked to win for the first time since 2011-12.

The Jacks, who return Luke Appel and Zeke Mayo, are picked second and USD, with A.J. Plitzuweit back after injury, is third.

Both USD and SDSU start conference play on the road, with the Coyotes visiting Kansas City and SDSU playing Oral Roberts on Monday. They switch opponents for Wednesday’s road game.

Sioux Falls seeks public input to redesign website

The city’s website is getting a facelift, and the public is invited to give their opinions.

The public website will move to a new content management system in 2023, and the city is using it as an opportunity to give the site a fresh look.

A survey is open until Thursday, Dec. 22, at siouxfalls.org/redesign . The survey asks residents how often they use the website, how they use the site and what can be done to make it easier to navigate, among other questions.