Nov. 13 – Christmas Under the Oaks
Free admission, 9am-4pm, St. Petersburg College, 2465 Drew St., Clearwater. This popular local event is the single biggest fundraiser of the year for GFWC North Pinellas Woman’s Club. This year’s event will feature a variety of exhibitors offering handmade arts and crafts, unique gifts, and creative holiday-themed products. The food court will feature an assortment of local food vendors. Proceeds go back to the community in the form of grants, scholarships, and community service projects.
Nov. 18-Jan. 4 – Winter Village Tampa
Free admission/$17 ice rink (includes skate rental), Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa. Winter Village this year is stuffed as full as Santa’s bag: magical train rides, local vendors, food purveyors, a lights display, an ice skating rink and a curling setup. And did I mention magical train rides? This 5-minute experience takes you from Whiting Station to Ybor City and back just in time for more Winter Village fun. Festivities include movies in the park on select nights, a holiday lighted boat parade, and pop-up Santa sightings!
The ice rink requires paid admission; purchase timed tickets online. https://wintervillagetampa.com
Nov. 25-Jan. 1 – Enchant
$35+, children $20, hours vary by date, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. This 10-acre event features an immersive walk-through light maze created from over 4 million sparkling lights. Enchant also includes a 100-foot-tall holiday tree, an ice-skating trail, live entertainment, Santa visits and a village marketplace with crafts, gifts, festive culinary treats, and holiday cocktails. This year’s sponsor is the Hallmark Channel, which will offer guests a variety of custom experiences, including a “Hallmark Cozy Christmas” lounge, photo opportunities, Hallmark Channel wine tasting and a chance for fans to win a set visit to a Hallmark movie while in production. enchantchristmas.com
Nov. 26-27 – 31st Annual Thanksgiving Art & Craft Festival
Free admission, 10am-5pm, 1 N Pinellas Ave, Tarpon Springs. This outdoor showcase has been a holiday favorite for over 30 years, with a wide selection of offerings from fine art to crafts to local businesses.
Nov. 26-27 – LocalShops1’s Shopapalooza Festival
Free admission, 10am-5pm, Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. This year’s festival will include more than 350 local shops, artists, makers and nonprofits, and feature gourmet food products, home decor, handcrafted jewelry, clothing and accessories, health and beauty products, fair trade goods, vintage finds, pet treats and toys, books, candles and more. Four food halls will feature snacks, drinks, entrees, and desserts.
Dec. 3-4 – Sixth Annual ArtJones Studio Tour and Sale
Free, 10am-5pm Sat./11am-4pm Sun. Experience, shop and be inspired at Gulfport’s free annual self-guided tour of professional artists’ studios and sale. This year’s tour features the works of 27 fine artists across nine stops. Visiting arts lovers will find a wide variety of artistic mediums, including painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, jewelry, and mixed-media art. Download a map and brochure of the tour at ArtJonesStudioTour.com. Postcards and brochures with a map are also available for pick-up at numerous businesses throughout Gulfport and St. Petersburg.
Dec. 9 – For King + Country: A Drummer Boy Christmas Tour
$24.99 and up, 7 p.m., Amalie Arena, Tampa. Grammy® award-winning duo For King + Country present “A Drummer Boy Christmas Tour: The 2022 LIVE Experience.” Brothers Joel and Luke will be performing Christmas classics and brand-new songs such as fan favorite “Little Drummer Boy,” No. 1 hit single “For God Is With Us,” “What Are We Waiting For?,” and many more. amaliearena.com
Dec. 9-18 – A Christmas Carol
$23/$15/$10, 7:30pm Fri. & Sat./2pm Sun., St. Petersburg City Theater, 4025 31st St. S.
Dec. 10 – Art Splash
$100 and up, 6-9:30pm. Suntan Art Center, 3300 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. Art Splash is back this year…and it’s bigger and better! The theme this year will be a holiday festival, with a live band, dinner, dancing, silent auction, and art sale. suntanart.org 727-367-3818
Dec. 10 – Santa’s Holiday Revue
$7.50 (12 and under), $8.50, 11am, Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Dr, Largo. This fast-paced, rollicking musical takes a joyous around-the-world tour of the dances, songs and stories from Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and many more. Students will sing, clap, and tap along as they learn new and old traditions, customs, and folklore that instill the magic of the season. 727- 587-6793 www.largoarts.com
Dec. 14 – Christmas With The King featuring Dwight Icenhower & the Blue Suede Band
$24.50-$44.50, 2pm/7:30pm, Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Dr, Largo. The world’s only five-time world champion Elvis Presley tribute artist Dwight Icenhower brings you Christmas with the KING! www.largoarts.com
Dec 16-18 – Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker
$30+, 2pm/7pm, Straz Performing Arts Center, Tampa. A star-studded Tampa holiday tradition, NGB’s Nutcracker includes principal dancers from the New York City Ballet alongside NGB’s award-winning young dancers. This family-friendly favorite takes audiences into Clara and Drosselmeyer’s fantastical world of dancing sweets, sword-fighting rodents, and some of ballet’s most famous music. 800-955-$24.1045 www.strazcenter.org
Dec. 17 – Tomaseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas
$24.50-$39.50, 1pm, Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Dr, Largo. A Celtic Christmas recreates a night before Christmas in West Ireland, where neighbors have gathered to entertain each other with music, singing, dancing, and storytelling. Performed by world-class musicians, dancers, and singers from both sides of the Atlantic, this family-friendly event celebrates the best of traditional Celtic arts. www.largoarts.com
Dec. 18-20 – The Nutcracker
$14.50-39.50, 7pm, Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Dr, Largo. . Presented by Steps School of Dance, this classic holiday ballet tells a story in which a young girl named Clara goes on an enchanting journey in her dreams after her parents’ Christmas Eve party. Features local professional dancers and original choreography by Heather Mills.
Dec. 23 – A Christmas Carol
$29-$75, 7pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater. This celebrated Charles Jones adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol presented by Nebraska Theatre Caravan features a cast of 23 performers, live musicians, and Broadway-style scenery and costumes. Woven throughout this classic tale are beautiful new arrangements and moving renditions of holiday songs. 727-791-7400 www.rutheckerdhall.com
Dec. 27 – Cirque Dreams Holidaze
$33, 7:30pm, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. Cirque Dreams Holidaze dazzles with a brilliant and whimsical family holiday spectacular. This annual tradition wraps a Broadway-style production around an infusion of contemporary circus arts. 727-300-2000 www.themahaffey.com