Holiday

Holiday Invitation Nights

Downtown Newburyport Massachusetts is the place to shop during the invitation nights!

Come to Downtown Newburyport, Tannery Marketplace  and the Merrimac Placefor Newburyport’s Holiday Invitation Nights and shop for the holidays in style! Mark your calendars, book a babysitter, and call your friends to make plans for three great nights in Newburyport! Enjoy merchant hospitality, live entertainment, shopping, and dining. Spend your evening strolling from shop to shop as you stock up on holiday gifts while enjoying munchies and beverages offered by local merchants. These Newburyport Invitation Nights will get you in the holiday spirit and will turn any Scrooge into Kris Kringle.

When: 
Friday Evenings, December 6, 13 & 20, 2024 6-9 pm

Christmas Tea at Long Hill

Take a pause from the hustle and bustle this holiday season with a tea at Long Hill Estate in Beverly Massachusetts

The Trustees of Reservations invites you to take a pause from the hustle and bustle this holiday season and join us for a Christmas Afternoon Tea inside the decorated historic Sedgwick house at Long Hill. Enjoy seasonal flavors and Christmas ambiance with teas, savories, and sweets with friends and family. We are excited to partner with Vintage Tea & Cake Co. who will be serving their holiday menu for this exclusive offering! Tables seat up to 4 people.

When: 
Sunday, December 8, 2024 2-4pm

Natural Wreath Making Workshop | Appleton Farms

Come to Appleton Farms in Ipswich Massachusetts to make your own Holiday Wreath!

Decorate your door with a gorgeous holiday wreath, created from a variety of textural evergreen boughs all foraged from our historic farm property! Join us in our historic barn where we will demonstrate a simple technique for making your wreath. You will then have the opportunity to make your wreath and decorating it with a variety of natural materials such as berries, pine cones, and dried forage.

When: 
Saturday, December 7, 2024 10am or Noon
Location: 

Appleton Farms Winter Night Market

The Trustees of Reservations host the Appleton Farms Winter Farmer's Market in Ipswich Massachusetts

Join The Trustees in celebration of the holiday season at a special farmers market, featuring curated gift ideas, organic winter vegetables, & fresh baked goods from our own Farm Store along with a selection of other local edibles & gifts from area artisans, crafters, and producers of fine foods. There is no better way to knock some holiday to-do’s off your list with unique and memorable gifts, while simultaneously supporting small local businesses – and having a fun festive time while doing it!

When: 
Friday, December 6, 2024 5-9PM
Location: 

Santa by Boat in the Shipyard

After Santa arrives in Essex, kids will have a chance discuss their wish list with him in person!

Kids of all ages are welcome to come down to Essex Town Landing for a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus! Enjoy Woodman’s chowder and cocoa while we await the arrival, then let the kids take a turn sitting with the big red couple to plead their cases for gifts that breathe and/or are outside of any reasonable budget - you know, all the stuff they can only get from Santa. The arrival itself will happen at 5:00pm and visits will take place on the front porch of the Essex Historical Society & Shipbuilding Museum.

When: 
Friday, December 6, 2024 4-6pm

Mehtuen Ballet's Nutcracker

The Nutcracker performed by the Methuen Ballet is a perrenial favorite at the Blue Ocean Event Center in Salisbury Massachusetts

Long a traditional favorite, Methuen Ballet Ensemble brings the holiday classic, "The Nutcracker" to Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Join us for this very special production of Methuen Ballet Ensemble's The Nutcracker.  Sugar Plum Fairies in the Land of Sweets By the Sea and a visit with Santa. Savor our Holiday Nutcracker Ballet Event!

When: 
Sunday, December 15, 2024 1pm

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Summerquest Camp for kids aed 5-14 at the Crane Estate in Ipswich Massachusetts

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Salem Witch Hunt Walking Tour

Learn about the true reality of the Salem Massachusetts Witch Trials Salem Massachusetts on a self guided walking tour with Essex Heritage
This self-guided walking tour is designed to help explain the true history behind the Salem Witch Trials. After more than three centuries of storytelling through countless books, movies, and television shows, the line between historical fact and dramatic fiction has become increasingly blurred....
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Travel back in time to a castle filled with lush, opulent textures inspired by the great medieval and Renaissance castles of Europe. Wander through rooms adorned with White Birch and Christmas trees, sparkling fairy lights, hydrangea-lace garlands, and elegant bows, each space transformed with its...
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Take a Trolley Ride with Scrooge!

Salem Trolley Christmas Carol, Fun Holiday Events north of Boston, Trolley Ride with Scrooge
Join Scrooge on the Salem Trolley as you ride through Salem Massachusetts in this rolling production performed by the Griffen Theater . Now entering into it's 39th Season, this humorous & whimsical interactive performance reanimates Dickens’ timeless seasonal holiday classic. Experience...
2:00 pm to 9:30 pm

Saturday, December 13

Newburyport Holiday House Tour 2025

Newburyport Holiday House Tour hosted by the Newburyport PTO Kitchen Tour
Enjoy touring private residences and unique spaces throughout Greater Newburyport, all decorated in holiday style both inside and out. Your self-guide tour will lead you through each of our homes all decked out both inside and out in holiday style reflecting the homeowner’s individual celebrations...
9:30 am to 4:00 pm

Christmas at Castle Hill | A Nod to Nature

Christmas at Castle Hill | A Nod to Nature is a weekend of festivities hosted by the Trustees of Reservations at Castle Hill in Ipswich Massachusetts
Visiting Castle Hill at Christmas is a time-honored tradition. Don’t miss this year’s event celebrating the beauty of the natural world. You’ll see birds, flowers, snowflakes, and more as you view 18 spaces decorated for the holidays.
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Middle Street Walk Gingerbread Contest 2025

Middle Street Walk Gingerbread Contest entries can take any shape.
Everybody is invited to enter the Gingerbread Contest for the Middle Street Walk in Gloucester this year! Groups and individuals are encouraged to get creative and come up with entries that can take any shape.  All entries will be judged prior to the start of the Middle Street at 10am. 
10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Travel back in time to a castle filled with lush, opulent textures inspired by the great medieval and Renaissance castles of Europe. Wander through rooms adorned with White Birch and Christmas trees, sparkling fairy lights, hydrangea-lace garlands, and elegant bows, each space transformed with its...
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Discover Saturdays at Cape Ann Museum

Discover Saturdays for Families at Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Enjoy a FREE guided activity (ages 4+) in the gallery. Learn about Cape Ann’s Granite Industry, try a fun art making activity, and join in gallery tour designed for kids and their caregivers, led by a CAM Educator. Afterwards grab a scavenger hunt to explore the property and enjoy the lawn.
10:00 am to 12:00 pm

CraneExplorer: Coastal Holiday Crafts

Make holiday gifts with beach treasures from the Crane Wildlife Refuge in Ipswich Massachusetts
This holiday season, give a gift from the sea! Beach treasures make beautiful holiday ornaments, jewelry, and keepsakes. Join this workshop to take a beach walk to collect coastal treasures and then make some coastal crafts with our educators. Bring your own shells and beach treasures and we will...
10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Santa's Workshop

Santa's Workshop in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Visit Newburyport MA during the holidays
Newburyport is a favorite local town to shop - especially during the holidays. Bring the family to Newburyport to visit Santa in his traditional workshop, share your wish list, and snap a photo with Mr. Claus!
11:00 am to 2:00 pm

Take a Trolley Ride with Scrooge!

Salem Trolley Christmas Carol, Fun Holiday Events north of Boston, Trolley Ride with Scrooge
Join Scrooge on the Salem Trolley as you ride through Salem Massachusetts in this rolling production performed by the Griffen Theater . Now entering into it's 39th Season, this humorous & whimsical interactive performance reanimates Dickens’ timeless seasonal holiday classic. Experience...
2:00 pm to 9:30 pm

The Nutcracker Panto - Matinee

Come enjoy a Nutcracker Panto performed by Theater in the Open at the Firehouse Center for the Arts!
The tree is lit up and the stockings are hung and Clara’s Christmas is perfect…except for her Uncle Drosselmeyer sitting up on that clock and the sudden rat infestation…sounds like panto time!Edward Speck and Joshua Shack return to direct another cracking holiday panto, this time seizing on...
3:00 pm

The Nutcracker Panto

Come enjoy a Nutcracker Panto performed by Theater in the Open at the Firehouse Center for the Arts!
Theater in the Open is happy to be back at the Firehouse for our production of A Nutcracker Panto, written by Edward F. Speck and adapted from the classic holiday ballet. Presented in the traditional British panto style, this holiday send-up is a family friendly romp through Clara’s adventure with...
7:00 pm
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