Best Christmas Celebrations in New England in 2024
In search of the Christmas spirit? These 10 New England Christmas celebrations guarantee good food, shopping, activities, and plenty of ho-ho-holiday cheer.
By Aimee Tucker|Oct 16 2024|
Santa arrives by lobsterboat at the Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude
Photo Credit: Robert DennisIt’s not hard to find the Christmas spirit in New England, but if you’re looking to visit a destination that guarantees a full dose of holiday cheer (we’re talking food, shopping, activities, and maybe even a glimpse of Santa), then these New England Christmas celebrations are the answer!
Photo Credit : Courtesy of Visit Freeport
From candlelight strolls to Norman Rockwell charm, here are ten of the best Christmas celebrations in New England (listed by date in random order). Which would you most like to attend?
Best Christmas Celebrations in New England in 2024
Festival of Lights | Wickford, Rhode Island
December 5 – 8, 2024
Historic Wickford Village in Wickford, Rhode Island celebrates the holiday season in seaside-style with a town tree lighting, hayrides with Santa, concerts, Elf Parade, breakfast with Santa, and more. Don’t miss Santa’s daily arrival at the Town Dock!
Photo Credit : Courtesy of Visit Freeport
Freeport Sparkle Weekend | Freeport, Maine
December 6 – 15, 2024
This annual event in bustling Freeport (home to the L.L.Bean Flagship Store, numerous boutiques, a bevy of designer outlets, and a hopping craft brewery scene) is a whirlwind of holiday cheer and excitement. Signature events include the Sparkle Parade of Lights, Talking Christmas Tree, Stealth Elf, Maine craft pop-ups, and visits with Santa. Enjoy ten full days of festive events, sales, and fundraisers among the dazzling light displays of their historic downtown Don’t miss posing with the giant L.L. Bean boot!
Photo Credit : Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce
Main Street at Christmas | Stockbridge, Massachusetts
December 6 – 8, 2024
Celebrate Christmas in New England like Norman Rockwell! Rockwell made Stockbridge famous in his depiction of the town’s Main Street at Christmas, and the town pays tribute to the beloved painter each year in a weekend-long celebration of vintage holiday cheer. Holiday house tours, caroling, horse-drawn rides, a visit with Santa, and concerts make the weekend merry, but it’s tough to top the Sunday afternoon re-creation of Rockwell’s painting, complete with period automobiles.
SEE MORE: The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA | A Historic New England Inn at Christmas
Photo Credit : Robert Dennis
Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude | Kennebunkport, Maine
December 5 – 15, 2024
The seaside village of Kennebunkport, Maine hosts a full week of holiday cheer each year with the Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude. Including the memorable arrival of Santa by lobster boat, events range from shopping and eating (take your pick from a pancake breakfast, lobster bake, or wine tasting) to special events like candlelight caroling, tree lighting ceremonies, arts & crafts shows, concerts, and much (much) more. Shops offer extended hours and many provide special treats to celebrate the season. Don’t miss the famous Lobster Trap Christmas Tree in nearby Cape Porpoise!
SEE MORE: Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude | Photographs
Photo Credit : Nantucket Chamber Of Commerce/Michael Galvin
Nantucket Noel and Christmas Stroll | Nantucket, Massachusetts
November 1 – December 31, 2024
While picture-perfect holiday cheer abounds in Nantucket during the entire month of December, the island’s annual Christmas Stroll weekend is when the fun really begins. Starting with Santa’s arrival via Coast Guard vessel, the fun continues with craft shows, concerts, a holiday house tour, and Festival of Trees at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Kid-friendly activities include visits with Santa and the Magical Talking Tree.
SEE MORE: Nantucket Holiday Stroll | Photographs, Come, Let’s Stroll | Christmas on Nantucket
Photo Credit : Strawbery Banke Museum
Strawbery Banke Candlelight Stroll | Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Weekends in December, 2024
With a packed schedule of holiday fun, the historic seaport of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is worth a visit all month long as it celebrates Vintage Christmas, but we especially love the Candlelight Stroll at the Strawbery Banke Museum. Each weekend in December, the grounds are lit with the glow from hundreds of luminaries while the museum’s historic homes boast festive decor and all of the good sights and smells of the holiday season.
SEE MORE: Finding Christmas in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce
Winter Wassail Weekend | Woodstock, Vermont
December 13 – 15, 2024
Celebrating the holiday season in unique style, the annual Winter Wassail Weekend in Woodstock features a parade with over fifty horses and riders dressed in holiday costumes and period dress from the early 19th Century, concerts, a Saturday night Wassail Feast, historic house tours, yule log and activities for children. The shops in town stay open late for all of the names on your list.
SEE MORE: Christmas in Weston, Vermont | First Light
Photo Credit : Nick Papin
Christmas by the Sea | Ogunquit, Maine
December 13 – 15, 2024
The popular Maine seaside town’s annual holiday celebration weekend features a tree lighting, Christmas parade, beach bonfire, polar plunge, fireworks, caroling, shopping, music, silent auction, living nativity, visits with Santa, the “Taste the Season” food festival, and more — much, much, more! You won’t know where to begin, but we promise you’ll have a holly jolly time.
Photo Credit : Elizabeth Campbell
Inn to Inn Holiday Cookie Tour | White Mountains, New Hampshire
December 14 – 15, 2024
If your idea of the perfect way to kick off the holiday season includes sweet treats, overflowing Christmas decorations, snow-capped mountain views, and the (optional but encouraged) cozy charm of a New England bed and breakfast, then the annual self-guided Mt. Washington Valley Inn to Inn Cookie Tour is exactly what you’re looking for!
See More: Mt. Washington Valley Inn to Inn Cookie Tour
Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Boston, Massachusetts | Christmas in the City
Whether it’s a day of holiday shopping on Boston’s city sidewalks, admiring the tree and musical light show at Faneuil Hall, treating yourself to a fancy dinner and performance of The Nutcracker or the Holiday Pops, skating on the Frog Pond, or even sipping a hot chocolate while cruising the city via trolley tour, Boston offers just about everything the urban holiday spirit desires. Bundle up and hit the town!
See More: Yankee‘s Boston Christmas Guide
Which New England Christmas celebrations are your favorite?
This post was first published in 2014 and has been updated.
SEE MORE:
Best Historic Christmas Celebrations in New England
Best Places to See Christmas Lights in New England
5 Best Holiday Light Displays in New England
Does Yankee realize that Connecticut is in New England?
Hi Elizabeth! Connecticut’s fantastic Lantern Lights Tours at Mystic Seaport are featured on our list of Best Historic Christmas Celebrations in New England (http://www.yankeemagazine.com/best-of-new-england/best-historic-christmas-celebrations-in-new-england) and Holiday Light Fantasia in Hartford, Fantasy of Lights in New Haven, and Winterfest and the Tunnel of Lights at the CT Trolley Museum in East Windsor are on our list of Best Places to See Christmas Lights in New England (http://www.yankeemagazine.com/best-of-new-england/best-christmas-lights-in-new-england). If you have another CT suggestion for one of our lists, please let us know! Thanks!
The holiday season at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will begin at noon on November 28, 2014 with the exhibit, A Magnificent Victorian Holiday at the Mansion: Splendor and Tradition through the Decades, curated by Raechel Guest.
The exhibit will include a guided tour of the museum’s historic period rooms, displaying Victorian holiday traditions decade by decade. Visitors will see how the small table-top trees of the 1850s transformed into the magnificent floor-to-ceiling trees of the 1890s and learn about the different types of gifts that were enjoyed throughout the Victorian era. The Magnificent Victorian Holiday at the Mansion will connect to the museum’s Hidden Treasures exhibit of exquisite artifacts belonging to the Lockwood and Mathews families.
The first floor of the Mansion will also feature a Designer Show House of Holiday Decorations displaying lavish, traditional trees interpreted and decorated by renowned interior designers Victoria Vandamm of Vandamm Interiors and Linda Fontaine, of Linda Fontaine Design as well as artist and designer Gail Ingis-Claus. Artfully hand-crafted silk garlands will drape the Victorian grand staircase, courtesy of Danna DiElsi, owner of The Silk Touch in Norwalk, CT.
Tour hours: Wed.-Sun., noon- 4 p.m. General Admission: $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and Youth, ages 8-18, $6. The Museum’s 2014 cultural and educational programs are made possible in part by generous funding from LMMM’s Founding Patrons, the Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown; The LMMM Distinguished Benefactors, Klaff’s, The Xerox Foundation, and The Maurice Goodman Foundation; and LMMM Sustainers: Spinnaker Real Estate Partners.
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark. For more information on schedules and programs please visit http://www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799. Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06850.
What issue is the Best Christmas Celebrations in? Canvasworks+ is in Wickford, RI and we would love to have a copy! Many thanks.
Hi Carrie. Thanks for your interest, but the “Best Christmas Celebrations in New England” list was created for YankeeMagazine.com and was not featured in one of our print issues.
Yes I agree, CT has a lot to offer. What about the holiday dazzle light parade in Putnam?
How about. Bright nights at forest park. In Springfield. Massachusetts
I may be partial, but there is an amazing event in Thomaston, CT called “Light Up the Town”. It is always celebrated the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Last night we celebrated the 20th anniversary.
FYI, you’ve illustrated Wickford, RI with a picture of Kennebunkport, Me. The town shops’ contest for best holiday window display is worth a mention also.
Hi Robert. The photo of Santa arriving in Kennebunkport is actually part of the “intro” to the list of the Best Christmas Celebrations in New England. Sorry for any confusion — hopefully the caption has been helping to set the record straight! We haven’t been able to secure a photo of the Wickford Festival of Lights yet, but if we do, it will go right above the title. Thanks!
COME SEE WOODBURY BALLET’S NUTCRACKER AT THE PALACE! PALACE THEATER, WATERBURY CT!
It’s getting to be that time of year again!!❄️Winter is coming and so is Woodbury Ballet’s Nutcracker at the Palace! Come one come all to see our magical performance filled with dancing sweets and treats that are just to die for! Mark your calendars! December 19th, 2015! For tickets call the Palace Theater Box Office (203) 346-2000 or visit http://www.palacetheaterct.org/
Mystic, Connecticut
Santa arrives by tugboat and docks at Mystic River Park, followed by the tree lighting and the lighted boat parade all take place on the same day every year. The shops on Main Street are lit and decorated for the holidays and the town is full of cheer. My favorite! My favorite place in New England for sure!
The Light Parade in East Lyme, CT cannot be missed.
Saturday – December 12 at 6pm
http://www.ellightparade.com
Hopefully your staff and readers will check out Exeter, New Hampshire’s Ring in the Season weekend celebration. This is the fourth year for RITS. This year’s celebration runs from Thursday, December 1st – Sunday, December 4th. Three new events this year including a big band holiday concert.
Christmas in New England is in its own splendor !! Having been raised in New England the Christmas’s I remember can never be duplicated anywhere. I haven’t had a New England Christmas in 45 years and this year I see the pictures in the Yankee Magazine and its hitting hard knowing I’ll probably never see another one. God Bless you for your wonderful work !!!
Nothing in Connecticut? How disappointing. 🙁
Hi Jennifer! Connecticut’s fantastic Lantern Lights Tours at Mystic Seaport are featured on our list of Best Historic Christmas Celebrations in New England (https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-england/things-to-do/best-historic-christmas-celebrations-in-new-england/) and Holiday Light Fantasia in Hartford, Fantasy of Lights in New Haven, and Winterfest and the Tunnel of Lights at the CT Trolley Museum in East Windsor are on our list of Best Places to See Christmas Lights in New England (https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-england/things-to-do/best-christmas-lights-in-new-england/). If you have another CT suggestion for one of our lists, please let us know! Thanks!
Connecticut’s best kept Christmas secret is the Holiday Dazzle Light Parade in Putnam, CT. Every Sunday after Thanksgiving for the past 15 years the community lights up the night with a parade filled with floats, bands, cars and people covered in lights! Of course Santa always shows up at the end of the parade.
One and only Christmas Parade in Naugatuck Valley 11/25 in SeymourOsborndale House in Derby, Santa at Seymour Historical Society Seymour 11-2 12/10 FREE
The annual Nashua New Hampshire Holiday Stroll includes a Candle Light Parade, Greet Santa, Light our City Tree, and then party, party, party all over down town.
Would like 2 see Anna lee X-MAS I was born in Portsmouth and live in so cal and my in laws told me about the Anna lee dolls they are so cool they also told me they were made in merrideth NH check em out????
Looking for a small quaint Christmas Inn to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. With carolers and sleigh rides. Full of Christmas spirit in New England.
Same here, Barbara. Husband and I looking for a spot to spend Christmas with other travelers.
I’m a single woman in my mid 50’s. I am also looking for the same thing. 2 or 3 nt pkg but I want to be there for Christmas. I need to feel the true Christmas spirit. I live in New England area. Please help
Hi Melissa. I’m in the same age range and single too looking for a New England holiday. However, I’m not from the area and cautious about traveling alone. Do you have suggestions on beautiful destinations for the lone traveler!
I too am a single women in her 50s living in New England, searching for a good plan to celebrate Christmas. Sounds like we need a 50s something travel club just for those that don’t want to celebrate the Christmas holiday solo. Good Luck with your plans. I’m still searching for plans but getting closer.
I too am single and looking somewhere to spend the holidays and the new year. Any suggestions?
Woodstock, VT is your answer!!!! Woodstock is absolutely… without a doubt… the most iconic and beautiful Christmas town you will ever see in New England and probably anywhere else in the country. My wife and I visited Woodstock last Christmas (2016) and stayed at the 506 on the River Inn. GREAT place! Family owned, wonderful staff, clean rooms, and cute amenities. It was all magical and breathtaking!!! We also drove to a ski resort just to take in some sights of the snowcapped mountains in Killington. We don’t ski, but just rode the ski lift and had lunch at the restaurant that overlooked the mountains. Then we headed back into Woodstock to do some sight seeing. Quaint, but beautiful. Can’t say enough good things about this place.
This is a dream of mine to spend Christmas in Vermont. Thank you for confirming what I always thought. I am a big Hallmark movie fan during the holidays. And love small town gateway. Reading your post is telling me to not give up on that dream to spend Christmas in Vermont. Hope to start working on my bucket list of places to visit next year God willing and it includes Vermont.
Hi Barbara and others, the very best place to spend Christmas eve and day in New England is Stockbridge, MA at The Red Lion Inn. It’s quaint and it brings you back in time. Everyone is very friendly. Sit on the front porch in one of the beautiful rocking chairs and just take in the season and holiday cheer. Great for singles or couples of any age. Happy Holidays!!
I am very very disappointed that you fail to ever show Boothbay Harbor’s Christmas Holiday spectacular, especially now that we also have the Botanical Gardens and their magnificent magical Christmas celebration. Please reconsider us as this event centers not just around Santa Claus and Mrs Claus arriving by boat, followed by several most illuminating events in the harbor all weekend.
Hi Lester. We consider ourselves so fortunate to live in a region where there are more wonderful holiday happenings than we have room to include! We hope that you’ll be glad to see Gardens Aglow at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens prominently featured in our popular list of Best Places to See Christmas Lights in New England. You can find it here: https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-england/things-to-do/best-christmas-lights-in-new-england/ Thanks, and happy holidays!
One of the best displays is Christmas Candle Light @ Old Sturbridge Village. 1st time this year and will not miss in future years.Young and old will love this weekend event.Do yourselves a favor “Go witness it”
Hi Wayne. We love Christmas by Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village! In fact, you’ll find it prominently featured on our list of the Best Historic Christmas Celebrations in New England. We’ve linked to it at the bottom of this post, but you’ll find it here, too: https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-england/things-to-do/best-historic-christmas-celebrations-in-new-england/ Thanks!
I am not sure the author knows that Christmas is on 25th December. All the activites suggested here end much before christmas.
It is good to set a festive mood ahead of Christmas Day.
The mansions of the Preseveration Society in Newport, RI are beautiful at Christmas. It is a delight.
Hi! Looking for a quaint Inn during the Christmas season in New port RI. Thanks!
Victorian Ladies Inn, large quaint rooms, great gourmet breakfast, near mansions and just up the hill from the shopping district, walking distance and also near the cliff walk.
The Francis Malbone House is lovely. http://www.Malbone.com
The beautiful town of Sandwich, MA has a wonderful celebration w a parade going around the Town center with Caroling, crafts and a wonderful restaurant called: The Belfry, in an old Church, complete with Bell Tower + Bell.
Smith’s Castle holds an old fashioned Christmas event, December 4th and 5th. Crafts for children, raffle, marionette show Saturday, Brown Madrigal Singers Sunday and bell ringers. Apple cider and cookies free plus bake sale. 12-4 pm each day. Come and enjoy the festivities.