Chicago Mart Plaza, Candyality offer Willie Wonka-like contest

Chicago

Sweet dreams are made of this

Need a sweet treat? How about chocolates, truffles, licorice, M&Ms in 21 colors, Jelly Bellies, Sour Worms, candy rings and you've arrived in kid heaven. The Chicago Mart Plaza and Candyality have joined forces to give families a weekend right out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Candyality will offer an exclusive Golden Ticket Experience in either the Magnificent Mile store on Michigan Avenue or at the neighborhood Wrigleyville location. The weekend package at the Mart Plaza includes a special Candyality Golden Ticket and letter; breakfast for the kids at Italiasia; milk and cookies for kids and a martini for Mom and Dad at Cityscape bar; free access to the newly renovated indoor pool; a Candyality Golden Ticket for $10 per person that's redeemable in product and includes a shop tour, tasting and more. Rates start at $109 per room.

Through March 31 at Chicago Mart Plaza, 350 West Mart Center; and Candyality at North Bridge Mall on Michigan Avenue. (312) 836-5000 or martplaza.com

Whirl your way to the Cultural Center

You can finally get over the fact that you never made it out from the back row of Sugar Plum fairies or toy soldiers. Dust off the tights and tiaras and head to the Chicago Cultural Center for what has become a popular tradition - Dance-Along Nutcracker. Kids, teens, adults, grandparents, boys and girls can dance and sing along with instruction from professional dancers and circus performers with a live band adding to the spectacle. The eighth annual performance mixes Tchaikovsky with juggling and acrobatics for an interactive holiday event.

11 a.m. and 2 p.m. (workshops); noon and 3 p.m. (performances) at Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. Free. (312) 744-6630 for the playbill.

Wander the Winter Wonderfest

An outing to Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier guarantees happy and tired kids by day's end. In its ninth year, the holiday event features more than three-quarters of a million holiday ornaments, hundreds of decorated trees, an indoor Ferris wheel, musical carousel, large-scale inflatable games and enormous slides, indoor ice skating, holiday entertainment and more. New this year is a TV Sports Lounge, indoor sledding and a Bah Humbug Court and Jolly Jail for those not in the holiday spirit. Admission is free, but activity pricing varies.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday Dec. 4-19: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday, Dec. 20 to Jan. 3; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Christmas Eve; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. New Year's Eve; closed Christmas Day. Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand. (800) 595-PIER or navypier.com

Midwest

Amish paradise

Amish Acres is ready to be unwrapped for the holidays with an ambitious and varied package of culinary delights, performing arts, quaint lodging and shopping opportunities.

Enjoy a Cats Moonlight Overnight Package that includes a Threshers Dinner, a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats," lodging at The Inn at Amish Acres and breakfast in the Geranium Room. Cost is $77 per person. There is also a "Branson on the Road Christmas Show" (a dinner/theater package) and a variety of productions in the Theatre for Young Audiences. Call about the New Year's Eve Celebration Package that includes dinner, final "Cats" performance, champagne reception, theater cabaret, fireworks, lodging and breakfast.

Rates and dates vary. Amish Acres, 1600 W. Market St., Nappanee, Ind. (800) 800-4942 or AmishAcres.com.

Ward of the state of Wisconsin

Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward cannot only brag about having the highest concentration of art galleries in the city, but the neighborhood gets all festive with its annual Christmas in the Ward celebration The 21st annual event features the official tree-lighting ceremony, Milwaukee Police Band, live reindeer with Mrs. Claus and Santa in the Gingerbread House, cookie and hot chocolate sale, live music, horse-drawn carriage rides through the turn-of-the-century warehouse district, holiday shopping and a fireworks display. You'll enjoy free admission and parking Friday after 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Historic Third Ward Parking Structures.

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday to Saturday, Dec. 4-5. Catalano Square (corner of Broadway and Menomonee) and throughout the Historic Third Ward neighborhood. (414) 273-1173 or historicthirdward.org

You light up my lake

Author and playwright John R. Powers (" Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?") reads the holiday classic, "The Polar Express," followed by a traditional tree lighting ceremony on the banks of Geneva Lake kicking off Lake Geneva's Festival of Lights Celebration. Drive the short distance to get in on a variety of holiday-themed activities including open houses and musical programs in downtown shops, special holiday dishes at local restaurants, live entertainment and horse-drawn carriage rides. St. Nick parades through the downtown area on Saturday afternoon accompanied by his helpful elves and a team of reindeer. Live performances abound including scenes from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and singers from Grand Geneva Resort's Christmas musical, "Hooray for the Holidays!" Don't miss the 34th annual Great Electric Children's Christmas Parade rolling into town Saturday evening.

6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, and 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, in downtown Lake Geneva, Wis. (800) 345-1020 or visit lakegenevawi.com

Worth the trip

The Talkeetna Bachelor Society invites all single ladies, 21 years of age and older, to the Annual Wilderness Woman Contest in downtown Talkeetna, Alaska. You'll have to demonstrate your proficiency at a variety of tasks including, but not limited to: firewood hauling, water fetching, snow-machining, fish catching, moose dispatching, sandwich making, beverage opening and other vital skills necessary for daily living on the Last Frontier - all in good fun, of course. The contest is conducted in a spirit of good fun and a sense of humor is highly recommended. The Annual Bachelor Society Benefit Auction and Bachelor Ball takes place in the evening after the contest with proceeds going to local charities.

Saturday, Dec. 5, in downtown Talkeetna, Alaska. talkeetnachamber.org/event-wildernesswoman.html.