Here are some fabulous events and activities for the Big Apple over the next six months for your bucket list. They include festivities and events in all of New York City’s Boroughs!
MANHATTAN:
- The Radio City Christmas Spectacular will charm locals and visitors November 7–December 31. In addition to the show, Radio City Music Hall offers visitors a chance to make the experience more memorable by upgrading to an exclusive show package that includes dancing with the Rockettes (radiocitychristmas.com).
- THE RIDE’s Holiday Edition offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy New York City’s holiday festivities and cheer, from the comfort of a multi-million dollar motor coach. The experience will be hosted by two on-board New York City experts, and will feature live street performers, seen through floor-to-ceiling windows. Holiday tours preview on November 10, with 70 additional tours taking place November 17, 2014–January 4, 2015 (experiencetheride.com).
- New York City Ballet will present one of the season’s favorite annual productions, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, complete with marching toy soldiers, a one-ton Christmas tree that grows before the audience’s eyes and crystalline snowflakes. The show will run November 28–January 3 (nycballet.com).
- This holiday season, Carnegie Hall will come alive with Musica Sacra’s rendition of Handel’s Messiah on December 23 (carnegiehall.org).
- The American Museum of Natural History’s famous Origami Holiday Tree marks the start of the holiday season at the museum and will be on display November 24–January 4. On December 27, the museum will host a Kwanzaa Celebration that commemorates the seven principles of Kwanzaa (amnh.org).
A hidden gem in Upper East Side, the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden will conduct candlelight tours on December 5 and 6, offering insight into 19th-century New York City. Candlelight tours of the 200+ year-old house will take place at 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00pm on those nights (mvhm.org). - The Flatiron District celebrates the holidays with 23 Days of Flatiron Cheer. For 23 days starting on December 1, there will be festive activities, including events, promotions, giveaways and more (discoverflatiron.org).
- The 28th annual Miracle on Madison Avenue will take place on December 6. A philanthropic holiday shopping tradition, the event includes retailers and businesses located on Madison Avenue between 57th and 86th streets, all of which donate 20 percent of sales that day. For the third year, proceeds will go to The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (madisonavenuebid.org)
- The Big Apple Circus is coming to Lincoln Center October 17–January 11. The annual show is a New York City holiday season favorite. This year’s show, Metamorphosis, is a brand-new spectacle with a flying trapeze, a musical clown and contortionists (bigapplecircus.org).
- Le Parker Meridien will host its annual Gingerbread Extravaganza this holiday season. Throughout the month of December and into January, local bakeries and restaurants will create gingerbread masterpieces, and visitors can vote for their favorite by purchasing tickets at the hotel’s concierge. Proceeds will benefit City Harvest (parkermeridien.com).
- Visitors can also view the stunning holiday-inspired window decorations of the City’s famed stores and hotels through WindowsWear, which operates daily tours. The tour begins at Macy’s in Herald Square and journeys up Fifth Avenue, passing the Empire State Building, Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and more. In previous years, holiday tours have taken place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve (windowswear.com).
THE BRONX
- The New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show is an ideal family outing, featuring model trains that zip through replicas of New York City landmarks made of natural materials. The show will run November 15–January 19 (nybg.org).
- The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum Annual Holiday Family Day in Pelham Bay Park is on December 6. Families will love the festively decorated 19th-century mansion and can participate in various kids’ activities, including photos with Santa Claus (bpmm.org).
BROOKLYN
In its eighth year, A Slice of Brooklyn’s Christmas Lights & Cannoli Tour offers visitors the opportunity to see the famed Dyker Heights Christmas lights, most recently seen on TLC’s Crazy Christmas Lights. Every year the neighborhood is ablaze with illuminating exhibitions complete with 30-foot toy soldiers and nativity scenes. The bus also offers festive holiday music and old-time Christmas television variety specials, topped off with a taste of Brooklyn’s best cannoli and hot chocolate. Tours run December 1–31 (asliceofbrooklyn.com).
Brooklyn lights up with holiday spirit each year with a menorah lighting celebration taking place outside Borough Hall at Columbus Park on December 3 at 5pm.
QUEENS
- The Queens Historical Society will present the Annual Historic Holiday House Tour on December 7. The guided trolley tour includes stops at seven festively decorated museums and historical sites in Queens: the Kingsland Homestead, the Flushing Quaker Meeting House, Flushing Town Hall, the Voelker Orth Museum, Lewis H. Latimer House, Louis Armstrong House Museum and the Bowne House. Tickets will cost $20 for adult admission, and $10 for children ages 12 and under (queenshistoricalsociety.org).
- The Louis Armstrong House Museum will also host its annual holiday tours throughout the month of December, featuring Louis Armstrong’s voice recording of “Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit from St. Nicholas)” and other seasonal favorites. The 40-minute guided tours of the house, a National Historic and New York City landmark, offer a look into the life of a jazz legend (louisarmstronghouse.org).
- Take a tour of the decorated Queens County Farm Museum during the Holiday Open House in the Adriance Farmhouse in Floral Park, December 26–28. Children can partake in crafts while all visitors can enjoy a cup of their fresh mulled cider (queensfarm.org).
STATEN ISLAND
- Historic Richmond Town will hold its annual holiday favorite, Candlelight Tours. The candles, oil lamps and flickering fireplaces will light up the town, and visitors can expect a “wassail bowl” reception in the Courthouse. The tour will take place on December 13. Prepaid reservations are required; call 718-351-1611, ext. 281, for tour times and reservations (historicrichmondtown.org).
Photo credit: imagineimmortality.wordpress.com.
Renee Blodgett is the Founder and Managing Editor of We Blog the World, a global travel, culture and lifestyle publication exploring the world through the lens of meaningful experiences, human connection and cultural depth. Having lived in 10 countries and traveled to 95, Renee has spent much of her life immersed in the people, traditions, landscapes and ideas that shape how we experience the world.
Since launching We Blog the World in 2007, she has written and produced extensive editorial coverage spanning boutique and luxury travel, culinary experiences, arts and culture, wellness, adventure, technology, spiritual traditions and transformative travel. Her work is rooted in the belief that travel is about more than where we go—it is also about what a place, culture or encounter awakens within us.
Renee brings more than three decades of experience across journalism, photography, media, brand strategy, technology, wellness and global storytelling. She has worked with companies and organizations around the world on brand positioning, communications, product launches, media strategy, speaker positioning and storytelling. Through Blue Soul Media, she works with authors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and purpose-driven brands to clarify their message and expand their impact, which includes speaker coaching/training for high-profile stages such as TED and bringing authors’ work to market while retaining authors rights.
She is also the co-founder of Blue Soul Earth, an educational platform exploring consciousness, ancient wisdom, spirituality, healing and the intersection between science and the nature of reality. Renee is the producer and host of the award-winning Blue Soul CHATS, a conversational series bringing together leading voices in science, technology, consciousness, wellness and spirituality.
Her growing body of work also includes Blue Soul Living, which extends her interest in consciousness and well-being into the spaces we inhabit, exploring how intentional design, energy and environment can support greater harmony and connection.
Renee is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling Magdalene’s Journey and founder of the Magdalene Collection, inspired by women’s voices, stories and wisdom across cultures and generations.
A longtime photographer and storyteller, Renee has documented people, places and cultures around the world and produced photographic collections focused on destinations including the Galápagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome and Ecuador. She also co-founded Traveling Geeks, an international initiative that brought entrepreneurs, journalists, creators and technology leaders together with their counterparts in other countries to exchange ideas and explore innovation across cultures.
Renee’s work has been recognized by Forbes, the United Nations and others for her influence in media and social storytelling. Across her work in travel, media, consciousness and culture, a common thread remains: curiosity about the world, the stories that connect us and the ways meaningful experiences can change how we see ourselves and one another.
