It basically feels like Christmas once Halloween ended. I’m rounding up the best Christmas Holiday events in the Washington D.C. area / Northern Virginia / Maryland for this year!

See the National Christmas Tree

• The tree lighting is set for Thursday December 2nd 2021, hosted by LL Cool J and will be broadcasted Sunday, Dec 5th on CBS.
• It will be the 99th year celebrating the tree lighting ceremony!
• The National Tree will be open to the public December 4th to January 1st, 2022 from 10 AM to 10 PM Sunday through Thursdays, and until 11PM on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Address: President’s Park
• Admission: Free
• Parking Tips: Park around close to The Willard Intercontinental Hotel (1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004) or Old Ebbit Grill (675 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005). We parked closer to the White House (near McPherson Square) and it was a much further walk from the President’s Park.
• Metro stops: Metro Center or McPherson Square
• There is a circular path you can walk around the National Christmas Tree. You can check out the smaller trees decorated with hand made ornaments from each state. It was a relaxed and family friendly event. Check out the White House, which is decorated with wreaths while you are there.
• The Willard Intercontinental Hotel also has a beautiful tree outside of the hotel and inside of the hotel that is definitely worth check out!

Visit the Capitol Christmas Tree

• The tree lighting is set for Wednesday, December 1st at 5PM
• Address: West lawn of the US Capitol building, First St SE, Washington, DC 20004
• Admission: Free

Check out the train display at the U.S. Botanical Gardens

• There will be an outdoor holiday display with festive lights, trees, shrubs, and an outdoor train display from November 24th 2021 to January 2nd 2022.
• The outdoor train display can be seen in the gated outdoor gardens between 10 AM and 5:00 PM.
• Currently only the outdoor gardens are open, the convervatory and public restrooms remain closed
• Address: 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20001
• Admission: Free, No tickets required

Lights Yards at The Yards, Navy Yard DC

• A light installation featuring 22 feet tall trees with holiday decor and lights
• Address: 301 Water Street SE, Washington DC 20003
• Dates: December 1st to January 1st 2022
• Times: Nightly from 6-10PM
• Admission: Free

So Much Christmas at Gaylord National

• Gaylord National has lots of holiday activities including their I Love Christmas Movies, Ice Skating, Ice Bumpers, Mrs. Claus’ Holiday Traditions, Gingerbread Decorating Center, Snow Flow Mountain, Snowball Build & Blast, and more.
• I Love Movies includes show sets from The Polar Express™, Elf™, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation™, A Christmas Story™, and The Year Without A Santa Claus™.
• #LIT lightshow is a free show in the atrium at 7:30pm, 8:45pm, & 9:15pm nightly
• Dates: November 26-December 31st
• Address: 201 Waterfront Street, National Habor, MD 20745
• Admission: Free to check out the hotel & holiday decorations, Activity prices vary

Our kids absolutely loved checking out the Gaylord National Resort. There are lots of great photo opps. We especially enjoyed ice skating and getting hot chocolate after! Watch our video below for a snapshot of what we did:

Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade

• Old Town Alexandria is hosting a holiday boat parade sponsored by Amazon where you can see dozens of brightly lit boats cruise along the Potomac River
• Date: Saturday December 4th, 2021
• Hours: 2PM to 8PM, parade starts at 5:30PM
• More information about parade events here

Fairfax City Holiday Events

• Fairfax City has a bunch of events going on right now including a holiday market, tree lighting, santa photos and more!
  • Festival of Lights December 4th 12-6PM, Old Town Square, caroling and a Tree Lighting Ceremony at 5:30PM at the Old Town Square
  • Take photos with Santa on Sunday, December 5th (1-3PM) for family photos and December 12th (3-5PM) for pet photos!
  • You can also register to have lunch with Santa on December 11th. Pre-registration required.
  • Holiday Market Dates: December 3-5th, Dec 10th-12
• Address: Old Town Square, 10415 North Street, Fairfax VA 22030

The Greater Manassas Christmas Parade

• This is the 75th annual Greater Manassas Christmas Parade theme this year is ‘Right Down Santa Clause Lane’ showcasing marching bands, floats, high flying balloons!
• Address: Historic Downtown Manassas 9201 Center Street, Manassas VA
• Date: Saturday, December 4th at 10:00 AM

Holiday Lights at the Frying Pan Farm

• Lighted driving tour where you can see farm animals, wooded wonders, luminous lights decorating the patures and historic buildings.
• Dates: Weekends, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.
• Address: 2709 West Ox Road, Herndon, VA, 20171
• Admission: $20 (pre-registration) & $25 at the door
• VIP Holiday Lights on the Farm Tractor Wagon – can hold up to 20 of your friends & family. Cost: $150 (online registration required)

Bull Run Festival of Lights and Carnival

• 2.5 mile drive through holiday festive light display from your car. There is a walk through Christmas Village and Carnival.
• Address: 7700 Bull Run Dr, Centreville VA 20121
• Dates: November 11th – January 2nd 2022
• Hours: Monday-Thursday 5:30-9:30PM, Friday-Sunday (& holiday nights) 5:30-10:00PM
• Admission: Promo discounts for some weekdays, $30 per vehicle, $40 at the door.

Meadowlark Gardens Winter Walk of Lights

• Winter Walk of Lights is a 1/2 mile walk through holiday lights decorated throughout the Meadowlark Gardens
• Address: 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court Vienna VA 22182
• Dates: November 11th – January 2nd 5:30PM – 10:00PM, Prime nights Dec 10th- Jan 2nd 5:00PM – 10:00PM
• Admission: Tickets required, starting at $16.00

Lumocity Festival

• Immersive outdoor light festival in Roer’s Zoofari including an all-new exhibit, Lumi’s Utopia.
• ‍Dates: October 15, 2021 – January 2, 2022
• Address: 228 Hunter Mill Rd, Vienna, VA 22182
• Admission: Tickets required, timed entry tickets starting at $22+

Ice and Lights Cameron Run

• Winter village with festive lights and ice skating rink
• Address: 4001 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria VA 22304
• Dates: November 19th-January 2nd 5:00-10:00PM, January 8th to February 27th weekends
• Admission: $9.19 per person, $22.03 with skating tickets
• Ice skating tickets must be purchase ahead of time with 1 hour limit

Enchant D.C.

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• Experience The Mischievous Elf at Enchant, where you can see dazzling light displays, go ice skating, check out the holiday village, and take photos with Santa. Located at Nationals Park from November 26th to January 2nd
• Address: Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol Street SE, WASHINGTON, DC 20003-1507
• Admission: Tickets starting at $29

Christmas Village at Leesburg Animal Park

• Activities include photos with Santa Claus, Candy Cane Express Rides, Pony rides, Holiday lights displays, Animal Encounters and more.
• Address: 19246 James Monroe Hwy Leesburg, VA 20175
• Dates: Various December dates
• Admission: $13.95 per person

Lucketts Design House

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• Lucketts Design house is a winter wonderland of gorgeous christmas displays in a 19th century farm house. Tickets required for entry.
• Address: 42350 Lucketts Rd, Leesburg, VA 20176
• Hours: The Old Lucketts Store is open Thursday – Sunday 10am-5pm
• Admission: Entrance to The Old Lucketts Store and grounds are free, but the Lucketts Design house has tickets starting from $20 depending on the days

Garden of Lights Exhibit at Brookside Gardens

• Walk through the winter wonderland of lights at Brookside Gardens
• Address: 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902
• Dates: November 19th to January 2nd, 2022 with select dates closed.
• Admission: Timed Entry Tickets required, starting at $10

Tinsel in Sterling

• Immerserive, winter wonderland events with experiences from the Washigton Capitols
• Selfies with Santa, Scavenger Hunt, Decorated Igloos, Balloon Art, Kids Crafts, Food trucks, and more.
• Address: 45425 Holiday Drive, Sterling, Virginia 20166
• Dates: November 19th – Jan 22nd
• Hours: Sunday & Thursday 5-9PM, Friday & Saturday 5-10P
• Admission: Tickets required, starting at $22

Town Center Chritmas Events

There are so many shopping town center events around your area. Some notable ones are:

1. Merry Mosaic at Mosaic District, Fairfax VA
   • Selfies with Santa are free
   • Holiday Village Urban Market 12/04 and 12/05
   • Santa Motorcade 12/17 at 5PM
2. Winter BOROland – The Boro, Tysons Corner
   • Holiday Movie Pajama Party, Saturday Dec 18th, 2021
   • Tickets: $8 includes admission, popcorn, drink, crafts, goodie bags & photo booth oppportunity
   • Movies include Elf, The Polar Express, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Chrsitmas
   • Giant Snowglobe Installation, available for photos throughout the holiday season
3. Village at Christmas, Leesburg VA
4. Rio Winter Lights, Gaithersburg VA
5. Free Santa Photos at Bass Pro Shops, Arundel Mills Mall, MD until December 24th 2021.

There are so many great holiday & Christmas events in the Washington D.C. area with lots of Northern Virginia and Maryland. I will be updating this list and also let me know what your favorite events were or any that I missed! Hope this list is helpful for the best Christmas holiday events in Washington D.C. Follow us on Instagram for more.

Another fun place to check out with kids in the DMV is National Air & Space Museum. Read more about our adventures here!