HOLIDAY EVENTS : There’s plenty on tap to put good cheer into the fast-approaching season.

With Thanksgiving so close that you can smell the pumpkin pie, South Bay malls, libraries and parks are presenting a table full of goodies during the next few days, including magic shows, storytelling, and, of course, visits with Santa to welcome the holidays.

Santa Claus will arrive at various Southland shopping malls this weekend, but he makes a very 1990s entrance tonight at The Galleria at South Bay in Redondo Beach.

Forget the sleigh for this St. Nick. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer isn’t needed on this trip--not when Santa has mall magic on his side.

Santa will arrive as part of “Looking for Santa,” a show hosted by master magician Greg Willson and six singing, dancing elves.

Holiday music favorites such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” will encourage an audience sing-along while magic tricks lead the way in a search for Santa. High-tech lasers, lights and fireworks will herald his entrance.

“This show was designed especially for us,” said mall spokeswoman Maureen Pranske. “It’s very different than what’s been done before and hopefully it will get the holidays off to a really great start.”

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a cookies and milk reception. Children can be photographed with Santa after the show, with costs starting at $6.99. Proceeds from photo sales benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. The mall is at Hawthorne and Artesia boulevards.

Youngsters may also want to aim their sights on the city of Inglewood’s “Turkey Shoot” at 3 p.m. today at Rogers Park, 400 W. Beach Ave., where children 8 to 15 can shoot hoops to win a free turkey.

Hawthorne Plaza has also scheduled a welcome for Santa on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with a special rendition of Tchaikovsky’s classic “Nutcracker Suite” interpreted by Jim Gamble’s marionettes. Children can visit with Santa after the show and those 10 and younger will receive a free gift.

Hawthorne Plaza is on Hawthorne Boulevard between El Segundo and 120th Street near the San Diego Freeway.

At the South Bay Pavilion at Carson, the Calvin B. Rhone group will present a free concert at 2 p.m. Saturday featuring jazz and gospel music. Shoppers also will see strolling entertainment, such as a juggling unicyclist and a toy soldier mime. The mall is at 20700 S. Avalon Blvd.

Children 3 to 5 years old can gobble up traditional Thanksgiving tales during “Gobbler Story Time” at 7 p.m. Monday in the Redondo Beach Main Library. Several stories will be read aloud during a half-hour program with hand puppets, pop-up books, and flannel board characters to tell turkey-related tales. Children receive tickets to the program by checking out three children’s books. (Parents are not allowed to sit in on the program and must wait in the library periodical room, a library spokeswoman said.)

The library is at 413 N. Pacific Coast Highway.

The South Bay Harbor Interreligious Council will have its annual prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Congregation Ner Tamid, 5721 Crestridge Road, in Palos Verdes. Representatives from Mormon, Islamic Bahai, Jewish, Protestant and Catholic communities are expected to participate in a worship service focusing on the theme “Living a Fulfilled and Satisfying Life.”