6 Can’t-Miss Christmas Celebrations | The New England Holiday Bucket List
Get into the community spirit at one of these festive downtown New England Christmas celebrations.
Nantucket Noel is a monthlong island holiday celebration.
Photo Credit : Carl TremblayAlways dreamed of a Christmas escape? Plan a holiday New England getaway around these festive community celebrations, and for more New England holiday essentials, check out the Yankee’s 2021 feature “The New England Holiday Bucket List.”
Photo Credit : Carl Tremblay
6 Can’t-Miss Christmas Celebrations
1. Nantucket Noel | Nantucket, MA
November and December
The tang of salty ocean air meets the sweetness of balsam on the cobblestone streets of this island community during Nantucket Noel, a monthlong holiday celebration crowned by the Christmas Stroll: a weekend of marquee events ranging from the Festival of Trees at the Whaling Museum to Santa’s arrival by Coast Guard cutter.
2. Wassail Weekend | Woodstock, VT
Mid-December
This favorite fall-foliage town transforms into a Christmas-card scene on the second weekend of December, when Wassail Weekend gets under way. Expect the downtown to be filled with the sights and sounds of the season, from twinkling light displays to the jingling bells of horses pulling wagons or—if nature has provided enough of the white stuff—sleighs.
3. Christmas Prelude | Kennebunkport, ME
Late November-Early December
For more than four decades, Christmas Prelude has brightened the first two weeks of December with outdoor markets, parades, the Holiday Trail of Lights, and the illumination of a massive Christmas tree in Dock Square. Look for Santa to show up—via lobster boat!
4. Vintage Christmas | Portsmouth, NH
December
Candlelight strolls at Strawbery Banke, a gingerbread house contest, family ice skating, shopping, live shows, and seeing the historic downtown dressed to the nines are among the many ways to get your jollies at Portsmouth’s monthlong Vintage Christmas.
5. Main Street at Christmas | Stockbridge, MA
Early December
The centerpiece of the long-running Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas, held the first weekend in December, is like no other in New England: Dozens of antique cars park along the main drag to help re-create Norman Rockwell’s famous 1967 painting, Home for Christmas. Other diversions include holiday home tours, Victorian carolers, and a visit from Santa.
6. Christmas in Newport | Newport, RI
December
All December long, expect the holiday spirit to be turned up to 11 in this storied seaport—amid seasonal shopping, dining, and strolling—as Christmas in Newport comes back for a holiday tradition more than half a century strong.
