Updated: Your mega guide to holiday events around Kansas City: Lights, shows and more
Don’t look now, but Christmas is coming up fast.
The area’s wide-ranging holiday offerings include “A Magical Cirque Christmas,” featuring cirque artists from around the world accompanied by live holiday music (Dec. 17, Music Hall), plus such concerts as “Home for the Holidays” with Calvin Arsenia and Friends (Dec. 13, Second Presbyterian Church), “The Bridge Christmas Show” with Wynonna and Tanya Tucker (Dec. 14, Uptown Theater) and Tech N9ne’s “Gift of Rap” (Dec. 14, Silverstein Eye Centers Arena).
Area residents also can celebrate the season at museum tours, light shows, ice rinks, shopping areas and more. Here is our mega list of area holiday activities.
Kauffman Center
kauffmancenter.org and kcsymphony.org
Kansas City Symphony, Christmas Festival, Dec. 20-23
Union Station
“Laser Holiday Magic” and “Laser Nutcracker,” Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium, through Jan. 5
Kansas City Southern’s Holiday Express Train, Dec. 19-22
Trombone Christmas, Dec. 21
Crown Center
Ice Terrace, through March 8
Santa’s Gingerbread Station, through Dec. 31
EBT Santa’s Countdown to Christmas, through Dec. 31
Kansas City Zoo
King and Gentoo Penguin March, Dec. 21-22
Santa Dives, Dec. 21-22
Excelsior Springs
Hall of Trees, through Dec. 31, Hall of Waters
Lane of Lights, through Dec. 31
Santa’s Polar Express, Dec. 13, Hall of Waters
Theater
“Who’s Holiday”
Through Dec. 21, Louis Curtiss Studio Building. whokansascity.com
“Christmas in Song”
Through Dec. 22, Quality Hill Playhouse. qualityhillplayhouse.com
“Sorry! Wrong Chimney!”
Through Dec. 22, Main Street Theater, Belton. maindtreetyheaternelton.com
“A Spectacular Christmas Show”
Through Dec. 22, MTH Theater at Crown Center. mthkc.com
“Milking Christmas”
Through Dec. 23, Living Room. thelivingroomkc.com
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!” Theatre for Young America
Through Dec. 28, City Stage. tya.org
“Jingle Jamboree”
Through Dec. 28, Mesner Puppet Theater. mesnerpuppets.org
“A Charlie Brown Christmas”
Through Dec. 29, Coterie Theatre. thecoterie.org
“A Christmas Carol,” Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Through Dec. 29, Spencer Theatre. kcrep.org
Dickens Carolers in Concert
Dec. 19-20, Chestnut Fine Arts Center. chestnutfinearts.com
“Cracked! A Reimagined Kansas City Nutcracker,” VidaDance Company
Dec. 20-22, Lodge at Ironwoods Park. vidadancecompany.com
“A Crooner Christmas”
Dec. 20-22, MTH Theater Stage Two. mthkc.com
Classical music and dance
Kantorei KC, “Carols of Darkness and Light”
Dec. 21, St. Peter’s, and Dec. 22, St. Andrew’s Episcopal. kantoreikc.com
Lee’s Summit Symphony Holiday Spectacular
Dec. 21, Pavilion at John Knox Village. lssymphony.org
Spire Chamber Ensemble, Handel’s Messiah
Dec. 21, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and Dec. 22, St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish. spirechamberensemble.org
Miller Marley Youth Ballet, “Clara’s Dream”
Dec. 21-22, Olathe South High School Performing Arts Center. millermarley.com
Kinnor Philharmonic New Year’s Concert
Jan. 1, White Theatre. thejkc.org
Other Music
Night the Buzz Stole Xmas Night 2 featuring Angels & Airwaves, Badflower and Search & Seizure
Dec. 19, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. arvestbanktheatre.com
Les Lankhorst
Dec. 20-22, MTH Theater at Crown Center. mthkc.com
Night the Buzz Stole Xmas Night 3 featuring Cold War Kids, Lovelytheband, She Wants Revenge and Berwanger
Dec. 20, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. arvestbanktheatre.com
Jeezy, “The Snowman — White Christmas Edition” with Mozzy
Dec. 21, Uptown. uptowntheater.com
Museums and Historic Homes
“Victorian Seasons Greetings” Tours
Through Dec. 30, Vaile Mansion. vailemansion.org
“Make a Joyful Noise” Tours
Through Dec. 30, Bingham-Waggoner Estate. bwestate.net
Olde World Christmas
Through Jan. 4, Strawberry Hill Museum. strawberryhillmuseum.org
Night-Time Tour
Dec. 20 and 27 and Jan. 3, Strawberry Hill Museum. strawberryhillmuseum.org
Light shows
Christmas in the Park
Through Dec. 31, Longview Campground. makeyourdayhere.com
Festival of Lights
Through Jan. 5, Powell Gardens. powellgardens.org
Sea of Lights
Through Jan. 5, Sea Life Aquarium. visitsealife.com/kansas-city
Holiday Lights on Farmstead Lane
Through Jan. 7, Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead. drfarmstead.org
Sar-Ko Aglow
Through Jan. 12, Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park. lenexa.com
Holidays on ice
Crown Center Ice Terrace
Through March 8, Crown Center. crowncenter.com/business/crown-center-ice-terrace
Summit Ice
Closes in March. Lea McKeighan Park. cityofls.net/parks/facilities/summit-ice
The Ice at Park Place
Through Feb. 17, Park Place. parkplaceleawood.com
Linden Square Skating Rink
Closes in March, Linden Square, Gladstone. lindensquare.info/ice-rink
“A Trip on the Polar Express”
Dec. 22, Independence Community Ice, Silverstein Eye Centers Arena. heartlandfsc.org/theater-on-ice
Other holiday events
Winter Wonderland
Through Dec. 26, Church of Scientology Kansas City. scientology-kansascity.org, 816-753-6590
“A Country School Christmas”
Through Dec. 28, Lanesfield Historic Site. jcprd.com
“The Polar Express” Train Ride
Through Dec. 29, Baldwin City, Kan. midlandrailway.org
Winterfest
Through Dec. 31, Worlds of Fun. worldsoffun.com/play/winterfest
Holiday Bricktacular
Through Jan. 5, Legoland Discovery Center. kansascity.legolanddiscoverycenter.com
“Dreaming of a Retro Xmas”
Through Jan. 11, Johnson County Museum. jcprd.com/330/museum
Kansas City Santa Shuffle 5K
Dec. 21, 18th and Vine. teamwallstreet.org
SantaCon KC Pub Crawl
Dec. 21, Westport. kcsantacon.wixsite.com/kcsantacon
An Overland Park Christmas
Dec. 22, County Arts and Heritage Center. eventbrite.com/event/82870502905
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Updated: Your mega guide to holiday events around Kansas City: Lights, shows and more."