Holiday

2025 Marblehead Gingerbread Festival

The Marblehead Gingerbread Festival is part of the Marblehead Chamber of Commerce's Christmas Walk, and the proceeds will go to benefit the Marblehead Family Fund and the Marblehead Historical Society.

Come see over 100 locally and professionally made gingerbread creations on display at the historic Jeremiah Lee Mansion in Marblehead, MA during this year's Marblehead Christmas Walk. Community members, businesses, and families are building and donating dozens of gingerbread houses, boats and local buildings that will be on display and available for raffle throughout the weekend. Days and times vary so check the times!

When: 
Saturday, December 6, 2025 10am-4 pm
Sunday, December 7, 2025 11:00-3:00 PM
Entry Drop Off: Friday, December 5, 2025 8:30am-3:30pm

Marblehead Christmas Walk

The Marblehead Christmas Walk is several days of local Holiday events in Marblehead Massachusetts

The Marblehead Chamber of Commerce invites you to Marblehead to enjoy several days of holiday festivities, family events and activities!  Come for one or all days with highlights that include Santa's arrival by lobster boat,Festive shopping, Tree Lightings, a holiday parade, Artisan Markets, Gingerbread Festival, Entertainment & much more! There are all kinds of family events and activities sponsored by local merchants and organizations.

When: 
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - Sunday, December 7, 2025

DIY Holiday Centerpieces | Camp Kent

DIY Holiday Centerpiece Workshop at Camp Kent in Amesbury Massachusetts

Join us at Camp Kent for a DIY holiday centerpiece event! We will be collecting materials from our gardens and the forest, as we prepare for the festivities to come. Each family will receive a beautiful glass jar, as well as a chopped and stained, wooden disk to accent the arrangement. There will be a variety of greens, birch bark pieces, holly berries, pine clippings, ornamental grasses and dried flowers.

When: 
Sunday, November 23, 2025 Noon-3pm

CraneOutdoors: First Day Hike in the Dunes

Hiking the Dunes at the Crane Wildlife Refuge with the Trustees of Reservations.

Start the year off outside with some fresh air. You may be familiar with Crane Beach, but have you ever visited the dune trails? The dunes of Castle Neck are a much less explored world unto themselves. Offering one of the most accessible dune ecosystems north of Cape Cod, Castle Neck has over six miles of trails, traversing the dunes, maritime scrub forest, and beautiful beaches on both the Ipswich Bay and Essex/Castle Neck River estuary sides of the peninsula. These trails take you through Pitch Pine forests, up huge dunes offering stunning views of Choate Island, and by the varied landscapes of Castle Neck, including naturally occurring cranberry bogs.

When: 
Wednesday, January 1, 2026 1-3:30pm

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 provide the craft supplies and inspiration!

When: 
Saturday, December 13, 2025 10AM-12:30PM
Saturday, December 20, 2025 10AM-12:30PM

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 Tchaikovsky’s classic holiday tale to do what panto does best: make a favorite old story new and particular to our place and time again. What does Clara’s magical journey have to teach us? How many nuts would a nutcracker crack if a nutcracker could crack nuts? Let’s find out! Come with us as panto and ballet collide in a delicious mix of sugar plums and pies-in-the-face, dance and comedy, fairies and snowballs, in A Nutcracker Panto!

When: 
Saturdays & Sundays, December 13-21, 2025 3 pm

Newburyport Santa Parade & Tree Lighting

Come celebrate Santa's arriival in Newburyport and stay for the Tree Lighting.

As the holiday season approaches, Santa & Mrs. Claus arrive in the most fitting way for this seaport town... by US Coast Guard boat! Welcome Santa on the Sunday after Thanksgiving as he and Mrs. Claus dock at the boardwalk and begin to parade through downtown Newburyport, then gather in Market Square for the annual Christmas tree lighting and carols.

When: 
Sunday, November 30, 2025 3-5pm

Salem Holiday Tree Lighting

Come to the Holiday Tree Lighting in Salem to kick off the holiday season!

Join Salem Main Streets and the City of Salem as we combine two of our most beloved annual traditions – Greet Santa at the Hawthorne Hotel and the lighting of Salem’s Holiday Tree – into one evening. Santa Claus will arrive at the top of the Hawthorne Hotel (18 Washington Square W) promptly at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 28, 2025, with assistance from the Salem Fire Department, of course. Bring the whole family out for carols, festivities, and fun!

When: 
Friday, November 28, 2025 6:30pm
Location: 

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Brookwood School Summer Program for kids Pre-K through 9 in Manchester Massachusetts

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

Stargazing at Mendel Observatory

Mendel Observatory, with the support of volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, hosts public stargazing every Wednesday night
The Observatory, with the support of volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, hosts public stargazing every Wednesday night (weather permitting) starting at dusk or 7:30 pm, whichever is later.  When special astronomical events of interest occur (total lunar eclipses, etc.) the Obs
7:00 pm

Tuesday, June 2

Barnyard Story Hour at Appleton Farms

Kids can meet the barnyard animals and hear a story at Appleton Farms in Ipswich Massachusetts.
Bring your little ones to Appleton Farms for our farm-fresh story hour. We will read books about animals and nature, maybe sing a song or two, then head up to the carriage barn to visit our Nubian goats, Angora rabbits and see what other animals are out and about on the farm. We will engage in...
10:30 am to 11:30 am

Wednesday, June 3

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

Mini Movers at North Shore Children's Museum

Things to do for children in Peabody MA
Mini Movers is an engaging dance and movement class for young children at the North Shore Children's Museum. Led by experienced instructors, the program introduces young children to the world of dance in a safe and nurturing environment.
10:00 am to 11:00 am

Stargazing at Mendel Observatory

Mendel Observatory, with the support of volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, hosts public stargazing every Wednesday night
The Observatory, with the support of volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, hosts public stargazing every Wednesday night (weather permitting) starting at dusk or 7:30 pm, whichever is later.  When special astronomical events of interest occur (total lunar eclipses, etc.) the Obs
7:00 pm

Thursday, June 4

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

Friday, June 5

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

Family Dusk Paddles

Join us as we look for elusive river mammals at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo: American Beaver ©Scott Santino
Have you ever seen a muskrat swimming or a beaver slapping its tail in alarm? We'll look for these elusive mammals while canoeing along the Ipswich River at dusk. Discover some of the clues—such as chewed trees, lodges, or burrows on the riverbank--that they leave behind as we paddle.
5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Saturday, June 6

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

Teen Naturalist Club at IRWS: Spring/Summer Series

Join Mass Audubon for their Teen Naturalist Club at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield Massachusetts!
Explore a variety of local ecosystems such as a salt marsh, a freshwater river, or a tide pool on the beach. Take part in wildlife data collection in tide pools and vernal pools and engage in conservation projects such as a macroinvertebrate study or a horseshoe crab count in this exciting science...
8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Turtle Time at IRWS

Kids and families will explore IRWS wetland in search of painted and snapping turtles.
Explore our wetlands in search of these fascinating reptiles. Walk about a half mile to visit areas where turtles like to nest and bask in the sun, look at and touch real turtle shells, and, with a little luck, get an up-close look at a painted turtle. Conclude with a trip to the Rockery to see if...
10:00 am to 2:30 pm
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