Just when you're ready to dump your shopping bags and tell Santa to go f@ck himself and the reindeer he flew in on, finally you get something a little different with this year's holiday shopping experience. Or at least you get the hope of something different.

Random Acts of Culture could be coming to a mall near you if you live in Miami or seven other cities in the country. That means you could be minding your holiday-shopping-list business when who should appear, but a smattering of casually dressed members of the Florida Grand Opera. Then they start performing "Toreador" from Carmen in the middle of Macy's shoe department.

That's what happened November 24, when shoppers taking advantage of a

shoe sale were given the gift of an impromptu

performance of opera, courtesy of the Florida Grand Opera, the Adrienne

Arsht Performing Arts Center, and the Knight Arts Foundation. Actually,

there were six performances that day. And it won't stop there. The

Knight Arts Foundation is sponsoring 1,000 such Random Acts of Culture

over the next three years in Miami, Philadelphia, Charlotte, NC; Detroit, MI;

San Jose, CA; St. Paul, MN; Akron, OH; and Macon, GA.

Random Act of Culture at Miami's Dadeland Mall from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Besides the Miami performance, there was a gargantuan performance of "Hallelujah" by 650

singers of the Opera Company of Philadelphia at a Macy's in that city (check out the viral YouTube video here) and

others. In addition to spreading some holiday cheer, the Knight Foundation

is behind the Random Acts of Culture movement as a way to bring cultural

performances out of the sometimes stuffy and snobby, not to mention

costly, concert halls straight to the general public.

• Culture