Boston, Massachusetts, and its history draws visitors with its cosmopolitan New England feel and endless historic measured value all through the year, but at holiday time, including Christmas, the city comes alive in a unique and welcoming manner. Instead of huddling inside preparing for the holidays, Bostonians seem to venture out to numerous venues and gatherings within neighborhoods and communities to enjoy the season and to shop, eat and celebrate during the festive time.
Nutcracker Ballet
Probably the most well-known of Boston holiday tradition is the long-running yearly performance by the Boston Ballet of Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." The yearly holiday run begins on Thanksgiving weekend and runs through the last day of December each year, so families and visitors alike can attend a performance. Tickets are available beginning in late spring and many show times sell out well in advance of opening weekend.
Holiday Pops
The Boston Pops Orchestra invites holiday visitors to join them for a Christmas concert tradition every holiday season when the orchestra musicians perform traditional and contemporary holiday compositions with well-known guest performers. Under the conducting wand of such great music directors as the late Arthur Fiedler, John Williams and Keith Lockhart, this Boston holiday tradition is televised nationwide on public broadcast channels and always ends with the catchy and well known "Sleigh Ride" arrangement of the Leroy Anderson composition popularized in Pops concerts of yesteryear by legendary director Fiedler.
Beacon Hill Holiday Carolers
The historical Beacon Hill neighborhood celebrates the Christmas holiday every year with strolling carolers, refreshments, Charles Street merchant holiday sales and carriage rides. Santa has a yearly booking appointment with the neighborhood to make sure he doesn't miss this annual celebration for the children who gather. The celebration is one designated weekday evening during the holiday season and is free of charge to all who attend.
Downtown Crossing Holiday Market
New in 2009, Boston's Downtown Crossing Holiday Market is on Summer Street and offers artists, performers and bakers a holiday venue to display and sell artwork, gifts, holiday items, baked goods, floral gifts and jewelry to the holiday shopper in a festive outdoor atmosphere. Tents and kiosks line Summer Street daily during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shoppers can stroll and window shop while listening to performers and grabbing a bite to eat from local refreshment vendors.
Faneuil Hall Marketplace/Government Center
The Faneuil Hall Marketplace/Government Center near the Boston Harbor waterfront puts up a stunning holiday decorations display and a walk through the marketplace during holiday season can put even the most preoccupied Bostonian in a Christmas mood. Performers often hold court in the plaza even during the cold winter months. The many restaurants like Legal's Seafood and souvenir shops such as the year-round Always Christmas in New England gift shop offer great last-minute holiday shopping options.
Stone Zoo's Zoolights Holiday Display
Running daily through the holiday season each year, the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts, gets into the holiday spirit for animals and humans alike with a celebration of decoratively arranged lights. Walkways, buildings, enclosures and habitats ground to roof are outfitted with endless holiday lights that visitors come to enjoy nightly throughout the season.
The Black Nativity
The Black Nativity is a holiday tradition running 40 years strong in Boston. Put on annually by the National Center of Afro-American Artists, this holiday performance of music, dance, scripture and verse tells the Christmas story through the talents of over 160 performers. Twelve performances, featuring Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes’ remarkable stage work of song and poetry, are held each year on various dates throughout December.
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