Jon Gitchoff
Whether you’re ready to put up the decorations or not, the holiday season has arrived—and with it comes a calendar-full of festive events to celebrate. Tickets are already going fast for some of St. Louis’ holiday favorites, so start marking those calendars and grabbing your seats now. Luckily, we’ve compiled a quick compendium of must-see performances and activities for the whole family.
Performing Arts
Dickensian classic A Christmas Carol will take the stage once more for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ new annual holiday tradition, starting on November 19 and running until December 30. For fans of the old standbys, The Nutcracker will also be available across several stages this winter. The Saint Louis Ballet will present their production of The Nutcracker from November 26 to December 23, and Ballet 314 will host their own student-centered version, Dance the Story: The Nutcracker at The Sheldon on December 16. The exciting NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet adaptation will take the stage at The Fox on December 18. The Fox will also play host to several other holiday holiday one-night engagements, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical (December 11), Tis the Season with The Beach Boys (December 14), and A Prairie Home Companion Christmas Show with Garrison Keillor (December 15).
For those seeking a more modern entertainment option, renditions of the iconic 2003 film Elf will be showing at three different venues over the course of the month. Interested viewers can see Ignite Theatre Company’s staging of Elf The Musical December 15–18 or catch it at The Fox from December 20–24. If the musical version of the film doesn’t strike your fancy, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will provide a live soundtrack for the movie at Elf In Concert on December 29. But, really, with characters as timeless as these, why not see all three?
If you’re on the hunt for a break from the family-friendly Christmas content, you’ve got a couple of options. John Waters will bring A John Waters Christmas to The Sheldon on December 14 for a night of yuletide debauchery. The “Pope of Filth” was supposed to make his way to St. Louis last Christmas, but better late than never. After the family’s gone home and things have settled down a bit, relax with a trip to the Marcelle Theater for New Line Theatre’s A Reefer Madness Christmas, a free public reading of this “tongue-in-cheek response” to the 1936 “scare film” on January 9.
IN UNISON Chorus. Photo by Dilip Vishwanat
Music
There’s no shortage of music-centered holiday experiences this season. Concert-goers can join the SLSO on December 15 for a “special and soulful St. Louis holiday” at A Gospel Christmas, conducted by Kevin McBeth. The orchestra will also put on its annual Mercy Holiday Celebration at Powell Hall and Lindenwood University. Parents looking to entertain their tykes can stop by the educational Winter Wonderland concert at The Sheldon, where kids of all ages are welcome. For a taste of the classics, Union Avenue Opera will be hosting Jingle and Mingle—an evening of caroling, dinner, and drinks—in the Missouri History Museum’s Café St. Louis. A less instrumental (but no less impressive) concert experience will be available from December 9-11 at Touhill Performing Arts Center, where the city’s premier male a cappella group will reprise their holiday Sounds of the Season show. Outside of city lines, listeners can drop by the St. Charles Symphony Holiday Concert on December 3 or check out the Wild and Swingin’ Holiday Party at the J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts at Lindenwood University.
Tours
History buffs might want to explore Historic St. Louis’ A Spirited Holiday Past Tour, which will feature seasonal activities at 20 local sites, museums, and privately-owned homes. And, at Faust Park’s Candlelight Stroll, historic homes will be dressed to the nines in period-accurate decorations from the 1860s through the 1960s. Those willing to make the trip over to Collinsville, Illinois, will find the 29th annual Festival of Trees event, which is billed as a “holiday winter wonderland” at the Gateway Convention Center.
Shopping
Aside from family and tradition, there’s another key element to the holiday season: shopping. An eclectic winter experience can be found at Cherokee Street’s Holiday Print Bazaar and the Foundry Art Centre’s Merry Maker’s Market. Both of these events will feature regional artists gathering to sell their handmade wares. Patrons with a little extra cash to burn can also take a quick field trip to Illinois for the Millstadt Weihnactsfest German Christmas Festival on December 4 for handmade crafts, food and drink, and maybe even a visit with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
Saint Louis Art Museum
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & More
Beyond the Christmas classics, visitors are welcome at the Saint Louis Art Museum from December 10 and 11 to experience “art, music, and dance from around the world” during their Winter Celebrations weekend. The Missouri Botanical Gardens will also be hosting their Holiday Traditions events, which include festivities for Kwanzaa (December 28) and a traditional Jewish Chanukah celebration (December 18). And, for the 12th consecutive year, the Brothers Lazaroff Hanukkah Hullabaloo will put on what they describe as an “enriching, knee-slapping, latkes-frying throwdown.” See them at The Grandel on December 3.
New Year's Eve
To wrap up the season and ring in 2023, catch one last concert and toast the new year with the SLSO at their New Year’s Eve Celebration on December 31. Or, if you’d rather laugh your way into 2023, you can spend the evening with Nikki Glaser as she wraps up her tour with a New Year’s Eve performance at Stifel Theatre.
Read More
Looking for additional options? Check out these holiday-related articles:
- Must-see holiday light displays in St. Louis
- Where to go ice-skating in St. Louis
- The 6 sledding hills around St. Louis
- A guide to winter travel near St. Louis
A previous version of this post misstated the location of the Brothers Lazaroff Hanukkah Hullabaloo. SLM regrets the error.
