Holiday festivities including concerts, live nativity scenes and seasonal lights displays are happening locally and throughout the region.

There are also some overlooked Kentucky authors whose books may make nice gifts.

Finally, once Christmas is done you may wish to turn your attention to Kwanzaa and an art exhibit in Cincinnati.

Troubadour concert series

The Lyric Theatre in Lexington will host blues and Americana musician Keb Mo in concert at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at lexingtonlyric.tix.com.

Living nativities

Locally, a live nativity will be produced from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday on the front steps of First Christian Church, Hickman Street.

Perhaps Kentucky’s most famous living nativity is produced in Bethlehem (Henry County) about an hour east of Louisville.

The event attracts up to 2,000 people annually from across the U.S. and Canada.

Located at the junction of state routes 22 and 573, the town’s nativity features live animals and actors; it is co-produced by the community’s churches and runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. nightly Dec. 22-25.

Lights festivals

Southern Lights Holiday Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park, 5:30 to 10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 31, features a three-mile driving tour of a holiday lights display. There are also a wide variety of other activities including photos with Santa, a petting zoo, food and shopping vendors. For more information, visit kyhorsepark.com/events/featured-events/southern-lights-holiday-festival.

Lights Under Louisville is the nation’s only completely underground holiday lights display. Drive your own vehicle through a 30-minute tour of Mega Caverns to view more than 850 lit characters with more than 3 million points of light. More information is available at lightsunderlouisville.com.

Last-minute gift ideas

Kentucky authors Kevin Lane Dearinger, Chris McGinley and Johnny Payne missed out on this year’s Kentucky Book Festival because their books were not published early enough to be considered; however, you may wish to buy their latest for a book lover this year.

“Bad Sex in Kentucky” by Dearinger of Lexington, is a controversially-titled but gentle memoir available regionally and online.

“Coal Black: Stories” by McGinley is comprised of noir short stories set in the foothills of eastern Kentucky filled with twists and turns that grab your attention. McGinley teaches at Sayre Middle School, Lexington. His book is available through Amazon.

“Hard Side of the River” by Payne gives an authentic look at life in 1830s Kentucky as the lives of a slave tracker and a slave become entwined. A tale of redemption, one man’s conscience being put to the test and the other learning to let go of his bitterness and begin anew. Payne, a graduate of Lexington’s Lafayette High School is MFA program director at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, California. The book is available online and at Target stores.

Kwanzaa at the Lyric

From 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 26, the Lyric Theatre hosts its ninth annual Kwanzaa celebration. The event is free and open to the public.

Things kick off at 5 p.m. with a showing of “The Black Candle” which is a documentary film about the struggle and triumph of African-American family, community and culture, using Kwanzaa as a vehicle to celebrate the African-American experience.

At 6:30 p.m., Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti, a leading poet and one of the architects of the Black Arts Movement, will speak and lead a discussion about topics that include Kwanzaa, the Black Power Movement and African-American history.

Cincinnati Art Museum

Through Jan. 19, you can view “Treasures of the Spanish World” consisting of some 200 of the finest art and historical documents from the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish America.

“Treasures of the Spanish World” features artifacts from Roman Spain; decorative arts and manuscripts from Islamic Spain; paintings, sculpture, decorative arts and works on paper from Medieval, Golden Age and 18th-Century Spain, and from Central and South America under Spanish rule; and 19th- and early 20th-Century Spanish paintings. This exhibit is ticketed.

For more information, go to cincinnatiartmuseum.org/treasures.

Bill McCann is a playwright, poet, flash fiction writer, and teacher who writes about arts events and personalities. Reach him at wmccann273@gmail.com.