Enjoy holiday performances, tree lightings and Santa sightings this December in the Cumberland Valley. Check out these events for some holiday cheer...
1. Carlisle’s Wonderland Weekend
Join Downtown Carlisle for a weekend filled with holiday cheer and seasonal shopping. Two big holiday shopping events on Saturday anchor this weekend getaway (Market of Curiosities and Christkindlesmarkt) with family-friendly events, movies and Santa sightings rounding out your trip.
Date: December 2-4, 2016 • Time: Check website for event details
Location: Carlisle
Website: www.visitcumberlandvalley.com/trip-ideas/weekend-trips/carlisles-wonderland-weekend/
2. Melissa Etheridge's Holiday Trio
Melissa Etheridge is one of rock music’s great female icons. Her critically acclaimed eponymous debut album was certified double platinum. Etheridge’s popularity built around such memorable songs as “Bring Me Some Water,” “No Souvenirs” and “Ain't It Heavy” for which she won her first GRAMMY for Best Female Rock Vocal. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am, featuring the massive hits “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window,” a searing song of longing that brought her a second GRAMMY. The six times platinum album spent more than two and a half years on the album chart. Etheridge is scheduled to release Memphis Rock and Soul, a new album honoring Stax Records, in fall of 2016.
Date: December 7, 2016 • Time: 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Location: H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University
Address: 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg
Phone: 717-477-SHOW • Website: www.luhrscenter.com
3. First Night Carlisle
First Night is a family-oriented, non-alcoholic celebration of the arts held on New Year's Eve on the streets of downtown Carlisle. It is a major visual and performing arts festivity created by and for the community to welcome in the New Year. It is a public celebration that revives the ancient tradition of marking the passage of time with art, ritual, and festivity in a present-day context.
Simultaneous and continuous performances of storytelling, street performances, live music, dance, theater, ice-sculpting and historical reenactments will take place in both indoor and outdoor locations throughout downtown Carlisle. A countdown to midnight and a spectacular fireworks finale concludes the festivity.
A First Night button supports the cost of the celebration and provides general admission to all events. Admission to indoor events is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Plan a whole weekend of New Year's fun here.
Date: December 31, 2016 • Time: 5:00 PM to Midnight
Location: Downtown Carlisle
Address: Hanover and High Streets, Carlisle
Website: www.firstnightcarlisle.org
4. Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet presents George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®
The evergreen freshness of ‘The Nutcracker,’ as choreographed by George Balanchine, is cause for wonder. --New York Times
George Balanchine's The Nutcracker® never fails to delight!
DREAMS come alive in Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s breathtaking production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®! Be delighted by the dazzling costumes, charming sets and accomplished dancers as CPYB’s signature production unfolds before your eyes in this most beloved masterpiece. Set to the magical music of Tchaikovsky. Whether a holiday tradition or a first-time discovery, ‘The Nutcracker’ is an annual gift every family will want to be part of!
Performance Length (without intermission): Act I - 49 min./Act II - 41 min.
Date: December 10 and 11, 2016 • Time: Saturday at 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM; Sunday at 2:00 PM
Location: Sunoco Performance Theatre
Address: 222 Market Street, Harrisburg
Phone: (717) 214-2787 • Website: www.cpyb.org
There are more performances on December 17 and 18 at the Hershey Theatre
5. Art Garfunkel: In Close-Up
Blessed with what the New York Times described as a “beautiful countertenor,” singer Art Garfunkel has made an indelible mark on the music world as both a solo artist and half of the unrivaled Simon & Garfunkel. He has also enjoyed a successful film career, published a book of poetry and released 12 solo albums.
Garfunkel was originally revered for his GRAMMY-winning, chart-topping songs and albums with partner and fellow NYC native Paul Simon. Their greatest hits collection, which includes “Mrs. Robinson,” “Scarborough Fair,” “The Sound of Silence,” “The Boxer” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” among others, is one of the biggest selling albums ever.
Date: December 3, 2016 • Time: 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Location: H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University
Address: 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg
Phone: 717-477-SHOW • Website: www.luhrscenter.com
6. The Hit Men Rock 'n' Roll + Christmas Classics
What if a group of world class musicians and singers who contributed to some of the greatest rock 'n' roll songs of all time decided to celebrate the holiday season with a show featuring a combination of their chart topping, platinum hits and a bunch of Christmas classics? Well, five of them have come together to do just that! They are The Hit Men, and their holiday show, a hit-packed, fun filled celebration of the season includes favorite Frankie Valli, Tommy James, Jim Croce, Carly Simon, Three Dog Night, Carole King and Cat Stevens number one hits sprinkled with holiday tunes performed in Hit Men classic rock style – including "Santa Claus is coming to Town", “Jingle Bell Rock”, “So This is Christmas (War Is Over)”, “Christmas Baby Please Come Home” and an explosive big-band swing arrangement of “Jingle Bells.” Come celebrate the holidays with The Hit Men!
Dates: December 10, 2016 • Time: 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Location: H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University
Address: 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg
Phone: 717-477-SHOW • Website: www.luhrscenter.com
7. Cirque Dreams Holidaze
Cirque Dreams lights up the 2016 holiday season with its critically acclaimed holiday stage extravaganza…Cirque Dreams Holidaze…a new cirque show...Broadway musical... and family Christmas spectacular all in one! Hailed by The New York Daily News as a "delicious confection of charm, sparkle and talent by the sleigh load & so full of energy it could end our dependence on oil!"
Be amazed by this holiday spectacle with over 300 costumes, 20 acts and 30 artists from every corner of the globe. Many of these acts have been featured on America’s Got Talent and similar TV shows in other countries making Cirque Dreams Holidaze the greatest variety show on the planet!
Date: December 21, 2016 • Time: 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Location: H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University
Address: 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg
Phone: 717-477-SHOW • Website: www.luhrscenter.com
8. John Berry's O'Holy Night 20th Anniversary Tour
John Berry is a singer-songwriter who rose to stardom on the country charts of the 1990's beginning his holiday tours in 1996. A Grammy award winner as well as a CMA and ACM nominee, he eventually returned to mainstream country music. When he began recording with his own studio team, he was finally able to make the music that HE wanted to make.
For this special night at the Carlisle Theatre, a limited number of VIP packages will be available to purchase. To order this special package, you must call the box office directly at 717-258-0666 Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Dates: December 12, 2016 • Time: 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM
Location: Carlisle Theatre
Address: 40 West High Street, Carlisle
Phone: 717-240-6800 • Website: carlisletheatre.org
9. The Lennon Sisters Christmas
In 1955 four very young girls, Dianne, Peggy, Kathy and Janet Lennon, walked onto the stage at ABC Studios, in Hollywood and sang their way into America’s hearts.
Their first Christmas appearance on The Lawrence Welk Television Show welcomed them into millions of homes across America where they literally grew up in front of their audience every Saturday for 13 years. That showcase was the beginning of a career which would see them star in their own TV series, sing for seven U. S. Presidents and perform with nearly every major star in Hollywood. The Lennon Sisters recorded over 400 songs and have sold millions of recordings.
Date: December 13, 2016 • Time: 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Location: H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University
Address: 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg
Phone: 717-477-SHOW • Website: www.luhrscenter.com
10. Christmas Tree Lighting in Boiling Springs
Since 1992, the Boiling Springs Civic Association has held a Tree and Luminary Lighting event at The Children's Lake. Volunteers light hundreds of luminary candles around the perimeter of the lake. Following the initial lighting, the luminaries will be then be lit on the following dates: December 9 to 11 and December 16-18. From December 23 through January 1, they will be lit every night.
The tree is decorated and floated to the middle of the lake on the Friday morning before Thanksgiving. Then, during the lighting ceremony that always occurs on the first Sunday in December, the tree is lit as children gather to watch Santa Claus row across the lake and greet them at the gazebo.
Dates: December 4, 2016 • Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Children's Lake
Address: Located off Rte 174, Boiling Springs
Phone: 717-386-5513
See everything happening this December in the Cumberland Valley here!
