Nutcracker, Nonsuch and Blue Meanies: CBC Manitoba's top picks for Dec. 21-23

'Tis the weekend before Christmas — and all kinds of things are stirring in Winnipeg.

Three of CBC Manitoba's on-air personalities share their top picks for the Dec. 21-23 weekend.

Colton Hutchinson's pick: Nonsuch tours

Ahoy! Time to travel back on the seas of time and rediscover Manitoba's early history through the portholes of the Nonsuch merchant ship at the Manitoba Museum.

Capt. Zachariah Gillam sailed into Hudson Bay on the Nonsuch in 1668 looking to trade furs, in a financially successful trip that spurred what would later become the Hudson's Bay Company.

A replica of the ship has been a staple of the Manitoba Museum since the 1970s, and the Christmas school holiday is always the best time to go give it a visit.

The museum opens up the cargo hold on the ship for an in-depth tour, giving you a chance to see all of the ship's inner workings and get a complete sense of how a 17th-century voyage would have operated. 

Cargo hold tours of the Nonsuch are taking place at the Manitoba Museum on a few dates over the holidays:

• Saturday, Dec. 22 and Sunday, Dec. 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Monday, Dec. 24 from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
• Dec. 26 to Jan. 6 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ismaila Alfa's pick: Blue Meanies at the Pyramid

I want to send you to see the Blue Meanies!

On Friday night, you can take a trip through the '90s at the Pyramid Cabaret.

Now don't get confused. The band started as the Blue Meanies in 1990 but had to change their name to the New Meanies in 1996, after they were signed to Virgin Records — all because there was another band called the Blue Meanies.

This band was big — they recorded their 1998 album Three Seeds in Los Angeles and their tune Letting Time Pass was in pretty heavy rotation on radio. If you were alive in the 1990s, there's a HUGE chance you've heard it!

The band — made up of Damon Mitchell (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jeff Hondubura (guitar, vocals), Sky Onosson (bass, vocals, keyboards) and Jason Kane (drums, percussion) — is back on stage Friday night for the Blue Meanies Christmas Show at the Pyramid. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Shannah-Lee Vidal's pick: The Nutcracker

There are many things that say the holiday season is here: eggnog, coloured lights, and The Nutcracker.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is once again presenting the holiday staple, featuring sugarplum fairies and dancing mice, set to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

I saw The Nutcracker for the first time this week, and found out why it's such a family-friendly favourite. There was laughter and cheers from the audience.

The RWB's version is set in Winnipeg in 1913 at Christmastime, and begins with a kids' hockey game. The local theme continues with a number of Winnipeggers in walk-on roles, such as actress Nia Vardalos and Blue Bomber Thomas Miles.

RWB's The Nutcracker is on now at the Centennial Concert Hall until Dec. 29. Tickets are available online.