SATURDAY, NOV. 24, 2012 >>>

1. Art Bus and GoLocal team up to make shopping local this holiday season fun. Shift Your Shopping Tour is a self-directed passport stamping adventure that begins at the Market on Market (special Holiday Market today!) and ends at the Gritty City Gift Fair. You will pick up your passport at Market on Market where the MOM Holiday Flea Market is happening from noon to 4 p.m. You take the passport with you as you visit participating stores listed on the passport. If you make a purchase of $5 or more at a participating store, the cashier will give you a stamp (or sticker) on your passport. When you finish, you will drop this passport off inside 906 Broadway at the Gritty City Gift Fair before 9 p.m.

2. As you know the Franciscan Polar Plaza outdoor ice skating rink is open to those who want to travel in circles from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. What you might not know is today is its official grand opening celebration, which means extra fun and excitement. From 4-4:30 p.m. the Kent Valley Figure Skating Club will go off on the ice. At 5 p.m. the horns will trumpet as Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Director of Tacoma Art Museum Stephanie A. Stebich and President of St. Joseph Medical Center Syd Bersante say a few words, mostly about the awesomeness of Polar Plaza. 

3. The Weekly Volcano loves Tacoma. That's a fact. We don't love it enough to add it to our name. Weekly Volcano Loves Tacoma doesn't make sense for us from a business standpoint. For other organizations it makes complete sense, such as Tacoma Is For Lovers, Love Tacoma and Me Love You Tacoma Long Time, although we don't have confirmation the last one list truly exists. Apparently, there's a new organization in that loves Tacoma to the point of adding its feelings to its name - Love Tacoma Lane. According to its Facebook, Love Tacoma Lane will bring love, romance and some landscapers to "forgotten places" in Tacoma.  Babe Lehrer and Seong Shin will kick off Love Tacoma Lane at 6 p.m. at Amocat Café. Come learn about the new organization and help spread the love.

4. The One Love Island Fest will bring a little warmth and reggae to Tacoma's Temple Theater beginning at 7 p.m. Ben Alaalatoa of BTOA Entertainment has gathered Fiji from Honolulu, Bonafide from Las Vegas, Two Story Zori out of Seattle and Tacoma's own Island Trybe featuring PO Boxx together for a night of exploring all facets of reggae.

5. Puyallup old school blues rockers SweetKiss Momma are headed to Nashville to record its sophomore album with accomplished producer Ken Coomer. It's a big deal. Louie G's Pizzeria thinks so too. It's hosts a send-off party tonight, allowing the band to rock the all-ages crowd before it rocks Coomer's face off. It's a free show, but throw several bucks into the hat to help make SweetKiss Momma's journey possible. The Lush Tones will open the show at 8 p.m.

PLUS: Grindhouse Theater, Sing-Along Sound of Music and more in The Weekend Hustle

LINK: Saturday, Nov. 24 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area