5 things to do this weekend, including winter solstice celebrations and 'Comrade Sisters' at the MFA

Christmas is (almost) here, and for me, that means it’s time to reacquaint myself with my favorite holiday performances — that awkward David Bowie and Bing Crosby "Peace On Earth"/"Little Drummer Boy" duet and Patti LaBelle’s disorganized (if not chaotic) White House Christmas concert. It’s also time to take a break from work and maybe find some new ways to mark this holiday season. From solstice stargazing to photographs of the women of the Black Panther Party, there’s something to enjoy even if you don’t celebrate the holiday that prompted LaBelle to scream “Where are my background singers?!”

How does starting the longest night of the year with a guided hike or yoga practice sound? There are events across the state to help you mark the day. Several Mass Audubon locations will hold special programming. The Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster will host a solstice hike (with ADA-accessible paths) from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Belmont’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary will host a guided yoga session from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for those who want to ease into the nighttime. The Trustees also has a flurry of nature-centric activities, including a stargazing gathering Friday night at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Many events are free and open to the public, but some require tickets or reservations. Check individual events for details.

If you’ve ever been to a holiday concert and left thinking, “I wish there was more fiddle, ukelele and glockenspiel,” then you’re in luck. This Thursday at Club Passim and Friday at Natick’s Center for the Arts, Wintery Songs in Eleventy Part Harmony will share selections of classic Christmas songs (think 1700s as well as mid-1900s) as well as re-interpretations of pop music of today. The band is led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Jenna Moynihan of Berklee college, who will be joined by Hannah Read, Casey Murray, Eleanor Buckland, Rose Polenzani and Jennifer Kimball, each of whom sings and plays at least two instruments. Tickets to Club Passim’s two Thursday shows are $30, and the Friday show in Natick costs $28.

Short films for short attention spans. In general, that doesn’t necessarily mean films for children, but it does in this instance. The ICA will present two selections of short films this Saturday and Sunday, both aimed at family audiences. At 11 a.m., the museum will show several films from 2022 and 2023 mostly between seven and 13 minutes long, with one three-minute film. The ICA says these films are for ages 5 and up and will be either dialogue free or in English. The second collection — “¡HOLA CINE!” — will begin at 1 p.m. The films are for a slightly older audience of ages 8 and up, and the films in this afternoon matinee will be either dialogue-free or in Spanish with English subtitles. Kid Flicks is free with museum admission, and children under 18 are admitted for free. If you can’t make the screenings this weekend, the program is also being offered on Saturday, Dec. 30, and Sunday, Dec. 31.

A newly opened exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston displays 27 photos of women of the Black Panther Party taken by journalist Stephen Shames. In one photo, a woman holds up a stack of Black Panther newspapers at the foot of an escalator in the 8th Avenue bus terminal in New York City. Another photo takes us to a scene in Palo Alto, California where a different woman holds a bag marked with the name of one of the party’s survival programs: “People’s Free Food Program.” The images put a spotlight on the women who are often overlooked in history’s retelling of the Black Panther story. General admission to the museum costs $27.

Looking for something to do with the kids before nap time on Thursday? The skaters from Disney on Ice will visit Boston Common’s famous Frog Pond from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Spectators are welcome to watch as the performers skate alongside high school students from the Boston area. After the free event at Frog Pond, the performers will head to Boston University’s Agganis Arena for a 17-show run of “Disney On Ice presents Into the Magic” that starts later in the evening and runs through Jan. 1. Disney has been marking 100 years of animation in 2023, and the production at Agganis will feature characters new and old. Most shows begin at either noon or 4 p.m. and tickets start at $20.