Brooklyn and the rest of the city light up for the holidays. In Brooklyn: Lightscape at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Dyker Heights lights, FL!P Circus in McCarren Park after a run in Forest Park in Queens, free Santa portraits at Bklyn Holiday-Topia at City Point, a circus at BAM, two takes on the Nutcracker and Holiday Tides at the New York Aquarium. Beyond Brooklyn: the Rockettes, the Rockefeller Center tree lighting, Bryant Park's Winter Village, the Holiday Train Show, the Bronx Zoo's Holiday Lights and the Metropolitan Opera’s family-friendly holiday Magic Flute.
November 20, 2026–January 3, 2027 | Tickets from $29/adult and $15/child (ages 3–11) on Value Nights; free for babies 0–2
Lightscape returns to Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a new trail. Visitors follow a winding path past large lighted sculptures and colorful effects on the Garden's trees, architecture and water features, set to music and sound. The trail starts and ends at the Visitor Center at 990 Washington Avenue. A Lightscape Family Benefit takes place on Tuesday, December 8.
Nightly in December except December 24–25, tours depart 6 pm | Tickets via A Slice of Brooklyn
Homeowners in Dyker Heights decorate their houses with elaborate Christmas light displays every year. A Slice of Brooklyn runs a guided bus tour of the displays, now in its 17th year, with the tour guides escorting groups around the neighborhood.
Queens: November 13–30, 2026, except Tuesdays | Brooklyn: December 4–13, 2026, except Tuesday, December 8 | Weekdays at 7 pm; Saturdays 1, 4 and 7 pm; Sundays 11 am, 2 and 5 pm | Tickets from $22.88 for children; family-priced tickets $36.99 each
FL!P Circus brings a new show and its climate-controlled big top, with 800 seats and none more than 50 feet from the ring, to Forest Park (Cricket Field, 83-98 Woodhaven Boulevard) and then McCarren Park (50 Bedford Avenue). The two-hour show features illusionist Jimmy Saylon, comedian Misha, juggler Dede Larible, trapeze artist Alexander Lichner and the Kung Fu Boys, with a live band, and the audience can meet many of the performers afterward. Tickets are sold online and at the box office.
Saturday, December 5, 2026, 12–4 pm | Free, RSVP online
BRIC House turns into a winter wonderland for an afternoon of family art and crafts, music, dance, cozy drinks and live performances. The full lineup of activities is still to be announced.
Multiple dates, December 5–13, 2026 | Free
Bklyn Holiday-Topia comes to City Point and DeKalb Market Hall with free professional portraits with Santa, holiday crafts and festive activities. Extras include the DeKalb Market Hall tree lighting on Saturday, December 5 (3–5 pm) and Holiday Pajama Day on Sunday, December 6.
December 10–13, 2026 | Tickets from $35/adult and $17.50/kids | All ages
Omnium Circus makes its BAM debut with a holiday circus show at the Howard Gilman Opera House. Multi-abled performers combine circus acts, live music and storytelling. Omnium Circus is known for inclusion and accessibility in the arts. Recommended for all ages.
December 12, 13, 19 and 20, 2026 | Tickets via Brooklyn Ballet
Brooklyn Ballet's Nutcracker mixes ballet, hip-hop and dance styles from around the world. Familiar characters travel from Victorian Flatbush to modern-day Brooklyn, with stops at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and a Flatbush Avenue subway platform. Four performances at The Theater at City Tech, 275 Jay Street; about two hours with intermission.
Wednesday, December 23, 2026, 7 pm | Tickets via ATG
This holiday dance show sets hip-hop to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music and moves the story to present-day New York City. A cast of a dozen dancers, a DJ and a violinist perform, and MC Kurtis Blow opens the show with a short set. Kings Theatre is at 1027 Flatbush Avenue.
December 26–31, 2026, 11 am–3 pm | Included with Aquarium admission
The New York Aquarium's new winter-break celebration, Holiday Tides, runs for six days after Christmas with animals, entertainment and seasonal activities for families. It is included with Aquarium admission or membership.
Saturday, November 21 & Sunday, November 22, 2026 | 10am–4pm
The Danish Seamen’s Church at 102 Willow Street holds its Christmas fair with Scandinavian gifts, knitwear, ornaments and Danish candy, and Santa is there for photos. On Saturday only, nearby Plymouth Church (entry via Hicks Street) serves æbleskiver (Danish puffed pancakes), pork roast sandwiches, Danish pastries and rice pudding.
Thursday, December 10, 2026 | 6–8pm | FREE, RSVP on Eventbrite | Ages 21 and up
A grown-ups’ holiday evening at City Point, 445 Albee Square West: The Satin Dollz sing 1940s-style swing and holiday classics from 6:30 to 7:30pm, with free bubbly, savories and sweets from Wilt’s Berries, selfies with Santa and holiday shopping. It is for ages 21 and up, so book the sitter.
October 28, 2026–February 28, 2027 | Free skating admission; skate rentals from $18.72
Bryant Park's Winter Village is open for the season with a 17,000-square-foot rink and the Holiday Shops by Urbanspace, an open-air market of kiosks. Skating is free if you bring your own skates; rentals and express-lane options cost extra. The rink is open 8 am to 10 pm, with later hours November 19–January 3.
From November 4, 2026 | Tickets via Rockettes.com
The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes returns to Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, November 4. This season has 230 performances, the most the show has ever had, and ten Rockettes numbers. Group tickets are available for parties of nine or more.
November 12, 2026–January 3, 2027, daily 10 am–10 pm (closed Thanksgiving Day) | $10 per ride
The double-decker Christmas Carousel returns to Greeley Square at 33rd Street and Broadway as the centerpiece of Herald Holiday Fair. The fair also has a Magical Sleigh Ride VR experience and a Snow Slide ($15 each). Tickets are sold on site only. A Market by Urbanspace opens December 2.
November 14, 2026–January 10, 2027 | Tickets via NYBG
Model trains run past nearly 200 New York landmark replicas built from plant materials inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, including a new replica of One Vanderbilt. Holiday Train Nights add evening hours with live music. Sensory-friendly viewings are Saturday, November 21 and Saturday, January 9.
November 16, 2026–January 7 | Free photos with Santa on weekdays, November 27–December 23
Hudson Yards lights up with more than two million lights, plus 725 evergreen trees and a 32-foot hot air balloon. The season begins November 16 with the Vessel Holiday Lighting Ceremony. Free photos with Santa are offered on Level 3 of The Shops, Monday–Friday, 5–8 pm, November 27–December 23. The daily light show is free.
November 18–January 7 | Tickets via the Museum of Architecture
The Museum of Architecture's Gingerbread City comes to the Seaport this holiday season, November 18 to January 7. The organizer's New York page invites visitors to walk in feeling festive and, with a workshop ticket, walk out with a gingerbread house of their own. Reserve tickets on the organizer's site.
November 21 (1 pm and 7 pm) and November 22 (1 pm), 2026 | Free with advance registration
New York Theatre Ballet performs Keith Michael's The Nutcracker in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, set to Tchaikovsky's score in an Art Nouveau style. Free tickets require advance registration through Eventbrite, which opens Wednesday, November 4 at 10 am. Walk-ins are admitted if there is space.
November 21, 2026–January 3, 2027 | Tickets required, reserve in advance
Holiday Lights fills the Bronx Zoo with animal lanterns along six themed trails: Africa, Asia, North America, Latin America, the Ocean and the Forest of Color. There is also a Freeze Zone with a snowtube slide and seasonal treats for sale. New for 2026: Holiday Lights tickets let you arrive at 1 pm to see animals before the lights go on.
Balloon inflation Wednesday, November 25; parade Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 26, 2026
Macy's marks its 100th Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. The giant character balloons will be inflated on Wednesday, November 25, on the Upper West Side; Macy's says details about public access to the inflation will be posted later. On Thanksgiving morning the parade follows a 2.5-mile route to Herald Square, with public viewing along designated parts of the route.
November 27, 2026–January 2, 2027 | Recommended for ages 5+
New York City Ballet's Nutcracker returns to the David H. Koch Theater with Balanchine's choreography, Tschaikovsky's music, Karinska's costumes and Rouben Ter-Arutunian's sets. The ballet is recommended for ages 5 and up, and every patron, including children sitting on laps, needs a ticket.
Tree Lighting Ceremony Wednesday, December 2, 2026, 7–10 pm | Tree on view through mid-January 2027
The 2026 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a 76-foot Norway spruce from West Edmeston, New York, arrives November 7. It will be lit during the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on Wednesday, December 2, with more than 50,000 multicolored LED lights under a Swarovski star. The tree stays on view through mid-January 2027.
Community tree lighting Friday, December 4, early evening; festival Saturday and Sunday, December 5–6, noon–4 pm
Historic Richmond Town becomes a Dickens-style holiday village with living history demonstrations, gifts and crafts by historic tradespeople, holiday performances, a visit from Santa, a horse-drawn carriage and food. A community tree lighting on Friday, December 4 is free. Historic Richmond Town is at 441 Clarke Avenue.
December 11, 2026–January 2, 2027 | Tickets via the Met
The Met’s holiday production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, directed by Julie Taymor, is sung in English and runs under 90 minutes, with puppetry and colorful costumes. Families get free face painting before every matinee, free activity books and photo spots around the opera house. Holiday Open Houses with hands-on music activities come before the December 13 (2pm) and December 19 (1pm) matinees.
Through January 18, 2027 | 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street | Ages 18 and under FREE with ID; adults $23; New York City residents pay what they can, with ID; free for everyone on Wednesdays
Bakers from across the five boroughs recreate New York City icons in gingerbread for the museum’s fifth annual Gingerbread NYC, on the theme “Iconic New York.” A panel of judges awards themed prizes, and visitors vote during the run for the People’s Choice award. Admission covers all of the museum’s exhibitions.
From November 19, 2026, Thursdays–Sundays, 5–10pm (last entry 9pm) | Tickets from $18; free for children under 3
Queens County Farm Museum’s fields fill with hundreds of handmade Chinese lanterns, built from silk and steel wire and lit with LEDs. Many of the lanterns show creatures from Chinese legends. A walk through takes about an hour, and there are live performances and food vendors along the way. The trail is outdoors and stroller-accessible, and it stays open in rain. The farm is at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway.
Sunday, December 13, 2026 | 4pm | $30
Joffrey Ballet School performs the holiday classic on the Mainstage at 31-10 Thomson Avenue, then families move to the Little Theater for A Visit to Toyland, with a photo with Santa and a soft toy for every child.
Sunday, December 6, 2026, 2–5pm | Included with garden admission ($6 adults, $2 ages 4–12, free for ages 3 and under and members)
Queens Botanical Garden holds an afternoon of live music, holiday crafts and shopping, with photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus and seasonal drinks at a Holiday Bar. The afternoon ends with a lantern walk to the tree lighting. The garden is at 43-50 Main Street, and the ticket link is still to come.
