Do This! Nutcrackers, tubas and dreidels
• The Jacksonville Symphony is all in on the Christmas season, with five performances of holiday staples scheduled for this weekend. The First Coast Nutracker Suite, an abbreviated version of the traditional performance, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Times-Union Center s Moran Theater. $26-$67. An also-abbreviated Handel s Messiah Suite is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, across the hall at Jacoby Symphony Hall. $25-$75.
• Oompah! Tuba Christmas, the event where amateur tuba, sousaphone, baritone and euphonium players gather to play holiday songs, starts at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach. It s free to watch. Show up at 9 a.m. if you want to play.