Old-fashioned Downtown holiday events
Enjoy the season in the city beginning this week
Fridays and Saturdays, Dec 3-4 and Dec 10-11
The Soul of Santa @ 18th & Vine
The 3rd Annual Soul of Santa Christmas Tree Lighting and Celebration will include family-inclusive Christmas tree lightings, dynamic musical performances at the Gem Theater, plus community breakfasts and toy giveaways.
Thursday through Sunday, Dec 16-19
Christmas Festival @ KC Symphony
The Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus perform Christmas carols and songs of the season with guest vocalists Ashley Brown an Lee Langston.
Friday, Nov 26, 5:30 PM
Mayor's Christmas Tree Lighting @ Crown Center
The 100-foot-tall Mayor's Christmas Tree, one of the nation's tallest, is the centerpiece for an illuminating holiday celebration. Kansas City’s Mayor Quinton Lucas, Crown Center President Stacey Paine and a special guest will flip the switch to light the tree. Members of the Kansas City Chorale will perform during the ceremony.
The tree is a symbol of the Mayor's Christmas Tree Fund, which is dedicated to assisting the people of Kansas City during the holiday season. Program begins at 5:30 p.m. No admission fee.
Don’t forget that the Crown Center Ice Terrace is also now open, right next to the Mayor’s Christmas Tree. Skate rentals, lessons and private parties are available from now until March 13, 2022.
Friday, Nov 26, through Christmas Eve
Santa's Gingerbread Station @ Crown Center
Santa Claus will welcome the public throughout the holiday season for visits, wish lists and photos. A photographer will be on-site to take photos for a fee, or you may take your own.
Masks are encouraged while you wait in line for Santa's Gingerbread Station. Santa will be happy to wear a mask during your family's visit if you like; just let one of the staff members know.
Friday, Nov 26, then all Fridays, Saturday, and Sundays through Christmas
Merry Market @ City Market
A collaboration between The Strawberry Swing and City Market, this partnership will offer a unique, open-air European-style holiday experience. The event will feature juried makers, street food vendors, holiday drinks, strolling entertainers, and other festivities, including holiday lights and decor. In addition, the The Kansas City Museum’s Fairy Princess will listen to children’s holiday wishes, pose for photos, and hand out holiday treats. City Market shops and restaurants will offer holiday-themed specials, in-store activities, and promotions.
Friday, Nov 26 through the holidays
Home for the Holidays @ Union Station
Connect with Kansas City’s holiday history and make new memories of your own at Union Station in this most elegant of holiday settings.
Among Union Station’s Home for the Holiday highlights: KC’s largest indoor holiday tree, holiday plays and performances, stunning decorations and photo opportunities, holiday movies and the planetarium show, mini train rides, “Send a Letter to Santa”, “Merry Science” in Science City, and more.
And more….
The Dining Experience at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is now taking reservations for their Winter Wonderland holiday pop-up
The Kansas City Ballet performs The Nutcracker at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Two shows, Handel's Messiah and Christmas Festival, will be performed by the Kansas City Symphony at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra presents Hallelujah Holidays at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
MTH Theater at Crown Center presents A Spectacular Christmas Show, featuring inventive arrangements of holiday song and dance