GR|Mag’s top weekend picks

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Cedar Springs Brewing Company brewpub beer glasses cheers
GR Mag file photo

This weekend features a trek between two breweries — for some special German-style beer. And much more.

Up to Snow Good! Winter Party (Saturday)

Cedar Springs Brewing Company is coming out of hibernation.

Brave the cold at the Up to Snow Good! Winter Party. Dress for the weather, as the party will be held outdoors in the biergarten. The party will feature an oyster bar with live oyster shucking, live music by American Heartbreakers and a special release of Buffalo Trace, a bourbon-barrel-aged küsterer märzen, or traditional German lager. Bring one canned good — and receive free soup.

Saturday from 1-7 p.m. Cedar Springs Brewing Company, 95 N. Main St. Free and open to all ages. Photo via fb.com

Arctic Cruise (Saturday)

Rockford Brewing Company parked fat-tire bikes

Eight miles in the freezing cold isn’t too far to bike — as long as there’s beer at the end.

Rockford Brewing Company and Cedar Springs Brewing Company are coordinating the Arctic Cruise bike ride on Saturday. Bundle up and break out your fat-tire bikes for an inter-brewery trail ride. Start with brunch at 11 a.m. at Rockford Brewing, at 12 E. Bridge St. NE. Gear up to make the cold 7.7-mile trek up the White Pine Trail at 12:30 p.m. You’ll end at Cedar Springs Brewing, at 95 N. Main St. NE, just in time for the Up to Snow Good! Winter Party. The Arctic Cruise is not a race, but a chance to ride as a group, appreciate the scenery and enjoy a beer afterward.

All ages and skill levels are welcome, and the ride is free. Photo via fb.com

Great Skate Winterfest (Saturday and Sunday)

Great Skate Winterfest Griffins player and child Rosa Parks Circle

Lace up your skates and hit the ice downtown to benefit kids all over West Michigan at the Great Skate Winterfest.

The event will feature sled dogs, carriage rides, a family activity tent, Griffins players and winter sports demonstrations. Help support the Griffins Youth Foundation by collecting pledges to skate around the clock or by sponsoring a skating Griffin or two.

Saturday at noon “through” 10 p.m. Sunday. Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, 135 Monroe Center St. NW. Admission is free. Skating is $3 per adult and $1 per kid. Carriage rides cost $5 per 10-minute session. Photo via fb.com

“Hansel & Gretel” (Saturday)

Grand Rapids Ballet dancer photo pose

The Grand Rapids Symphony is presenting a concert “especially” for its youngest patrons.

The symphony will perform a 45-minute version of the classic children’s fairy tale “Hansel & Gretel,” featuring the Grand Rapids Ballet. Children will be able to identify the instruments they’re hearing as symphony musicians wear colored T-shirts showing that they belong to the string, woodwind, brass or percussion family of instruments.

Saturday at 10:30 a.m. DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, 303 Monroe Ave. NW. Photo via fb.com

History Detectives (Saturday)

Grand Rapids Public Library History DetectivesWhat was Grand Rapids like generations ago?

The Grand Rapids Public Library will partner with seven historical organizations to present the 12th-annual History Detectives program. Local authors and historians will give a variety of 45-minute presentations: “Lawrence C. Earle is Grand Rapids’ First Artist”; “Undercurrent: African-American Women in Turn-of-the-20th-Century Grand Rapids”; “What Did They Know and When Did They Know It? Grand Rapidians and the Holocaust”; “Hot Spots in a Cool City: Evening Entertainment in Grand Rapids, 1940-1970”; “Fresh Air, Thrift, Exercise and Innocent Delight: School Gardening Programs in Progressive Era Grand Rapids”; and “WWII: When Patriotism Was the Norm.”

Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ryerson Auditorium at the Grand Rapids Public Library’s Main Library, 111 Library St. NE. Photo via fb.com

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