Silent night? Not when it’s the season for Christmas music – and there’s plenty to choose from this weekend. Other happenings include a soiree combining music, burlesque and comedy; a bumper book fair; Thebarton’s Greek fest, and the opening of a new exhibition where you can meet bizarre-looking Permian monsters.

Carols by Candlelight

Around 30,000 people are expected to converge on Elder Park on Sunday for this popular annual event (now known as the Woolworths Carols by Candlelight), so you’d be well advised to arrive early to secure a prime position. Gates open at 2pm, with activities such as kids’ crafts and cooking demos from 3pm, then the community carols from 7.15pm, followed by the main concert which will be headlined by 2012 X Factor winner Samantha Jade and pop group The Collective. Folded-note entry donations will support three SA children’s charities.

George Street Greek Festival

Eat, drink, dance – that’s what the poster for Thebarton’s annual celebration of all things Greek urges, and who are we to argue? The festival, organised by the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia, will include Greek food and drinks, music, dance and kids’ activities. It runs from midday until 12am on Saturday and from 11am-10pm on Sunday.

Life Before Dinosaurs

Before dinosaurs, there were Permian Monsters – strange sharks, giant insects and reptiles that inhabited the earth some 290 million years ago. Now you can meet these bizarre creatures in a new exhibition opening tomorrow (Saturday) at the South Australian Museum. Life Before Dinosaurs – the Permian Monsters features fossilised skeletons and full life-size models, alongside a collection of artwork by palaeoartist Julius Csotonyi. Visitors can also dig for fossils in pits throughout the gallery.

ASO & James Morrison Play Christmas

All ye olde Christmas faves – “Jingle Bells”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” et al – will get an airing alongside jazz classics from the likes of Duke Ellington and Mel Tormé in this concert by the James Morrison and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra tonight (December 13) at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre theatre. “The styles vary from swinging to funky, but no matter what we do with the song, it’s always unmistakably Christmas,” says jazz legend Morrison, who will be joined by Carl Dewhurst on guitar, Phil Stack on bass and Gordon Rytmeister on drums.

Christmas Proms

Carols will also get an airing at the always-popular Christmas Proms at the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Festival Theatre this weekend. Described as “a feel-good show for everyone”, with sing-a-longs encouraged, this year’s Proms promises some special guests alongside the Adelaide Art Orchestra and conductor Timothy Sexton. There are matinee and evening shows today (December 13) and tomorrow.

Graduate Singers

Adelaide community choir the Graduate Singers is celebrating the festive season with two concerts featuring, you guessed it, carols and other Christmas-themed music. The program will feature Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas Carols”. Gerald Finzi’s “In Terra Pax”, and Anton Bruckner’s motets “Virga Jesse” and “Ave Maria”.  Concerts will be on Saturday, 7.30pm, at St Peter’s Cathedral in North Adelaide, and Sunday, 4pm, at St Augustine’s Anglican Church in Unley.

Saturday Night Soiree

“A heady cabaret cocktail of music, burlesque, comedy, passion and pathos” is how organisers are describing this new series of shows launching at La Bohème on Saturday night. Saturday Night Soiree is the creation of cabaret singer Sidonie Henbest and pianist Matthew Carey, who will be joined by burlesque artist Miss Sapphire Snow and circus performer/puppeteer/dancer Ninian Donald. The saucy fun begins at 7.30pm.

Christmas Book Fair

Wakefield Press says its Christmas Book Fair in Norwood will feature boatloads of bargains, including books from just $2. The three-day program at Don Pyatt Hall (Norwood Town Hall) also includes the launch tonight of shark attack survivor Rodney Fox’s autobiography, Sharks, the Sea and Me, and talks by local authors including Sharon Kernot (Underground Road),  Margaret Merrilees (The First Week) and Lisa Fabry (Divine Vegan Desserts). Details available online.

Sculpture for Sight

Sculptures by established and emerging artists from SA and interstate will be on show to the public in the grounds of St Mark’s College in North Adelaide from 11am-5pm on Saturday. The exhibition is being hosted by not-for-profit organisation Sight For All to raise funds for eye centres seeking to reduce the incidence of cataract blindness in Myanmar. Entry to Sculpture for Sight is via a gold coin donation, with food and hot drinks available for purchase.

On screen

See InDaily’s reviews of the latest films screening in Adelaide:

Night Train to Lisbon
The Spectacular Now
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Kill Your Darlings
How I Live Now
Carrie
Filth
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Bad Grandpa
The Fifth Estate
Thor: The Dark World
The Counselor
Captain Phillips