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The vacation season is brimming with merry actions within the Valley of the Sun, particularly with this array of Scottsdale Christmas occasions. Celebrate the season with festive mild shows, kid-friendly amusements, particular eating experiences, and different revelries. Enjoy a jolly season with these 21 issues to do in the course of the winter holidays in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This story is delivered to you in partnership with Experience Scottsdale.
1. Christmas on the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
Get into the vacation spirit at Christmas on the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. This resort transforms right into a fantastical winter wonderland every November and December. My recommendation: go early within the night for fewer crowds and shorter strains!
Wintry Activities
To begin, queue up for the Princess Express Train, which carries riders via their lagoon lights show. Then, get pleasure from amusements in S’moresland together with Frosty’s Ferris Wheel and a Christmas Carousel. Kids particularly love Snow Mountain sledding hill.
Also, you should definitely take a spin on an out of doors ice skating rink surrounded by palm timber. The Desert Ice Skating rink is made with actual ice! The icy enjoyable would not finish there, although. There’s additionally an Ice Maze, Alpine Skate Trail, and an uplifting Chair Lift.
Christmas Season Entertainment
Enjoy reside performances like Christmas carols sung by roving costumed carolers. Music by native bands provides to the vacation cheer. Don’t miss the mesmerizing animated vacation mild present within the Enchanted Plaza close to the doorway, both.
Festive Dining
Book dinner at one of many resort’s signature eating places to make the most of 50 % off valet parking, which incorporates as much as 4 common admission wristbands to Christmas on the Princess. Pan-Latin delicacies is offered on the upscale Toro. Probably most tempting for teenagers is Mexican delicacies at La Hacienda. Look for traditional American fare at Bourbon Steak and Ironwood American Kitchen.
Additionally, particular savory and candy treats plus vacation cocktails and mocktails could be discovered all through the resort at snack stops. S’mores kits can be found for roasting round hearth pits, too.
Book a Stay
To benefit from these family-friendly occasions, e-book an in a single day keep on the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort throughout Christmas time. You’ll obtain complimentary common admission to Christmas on the Princess, in addition to VIP Express wristbands all through your keep. Plus, Arizona residents can get pleasure from 30 % off their keep!
This extraordinary Scottsdale Christmas occasion runs nightly from November 18, 2022 via January 2, 2023.
2. McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park Holiday Lights
The annual McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park Holiday Lights is a magical expertise with a lot of mild shows and twinkling tunnels. Faux snow permits desert dwellers an opportunity to get a quick style of a white Christmas in Scottsdale, too! Climb aboard the miniature Paradise Pacific Railroad for a glowing tour of the North Pole.
In addition to coach rides, children will love a big playground with loads of slides and climbing constructions in addition to a smaller Old West-themed play space. If visiting the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park with younger kids, then a spin on the Charros Carousel is a should, regardless of the season.
This occasion takes place from 6 to 9 pm, November 25 via December 30, 2022. Advanced reservations are required.
3. Scottsdazzle Holiday Art Activities
Scottsdazzle celebrates the vacation season in Scottsdale with two months of actions. Canal Convergence kicks issues off from November 4 to 13 with lights and spectacular artwork installations alongside the Scottsdale waterfront and all through Old Town.
Both Scottsdazzle Stroll and Gold Palette Artwalk present good alternatives to get pleasure from Old Town Scottsdale’s quite a few artwork galleries in December.
Take benefit of alternatives for hands-on creativity as properly. Sign as much as make your personal artwork on the Merry Make & Take craft-making lessons or the Holly-Jolly Painting Party. Create your personal wreath, Christmas tree, ornaments, or vacation items at Holly-Jolly Wine Cork Crafting. Or, get in contact with nature at Festive Floral Workshops. You also can make your personal scented soy wax candle at Candle Making Classes.
4. Scottsdazzle Sing-Along & Tree Lighting Ceremony
Listen to reside Christmas music and sip scorching drinks whereas watching the lighting of the 40-foot-tall Scottsdazzle tree on November 26 at 7 pm on the Scottsdale Waterfront.
5. Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market Christmas Market
On Sundays, store for handmade items and contemporary produce on the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market whereas listening to reside vacation music. Get your photograph taken with Santa on the market from 9 am to midday on Saturdays in the course of the Scottsdale Christmas season.
6. Live Nativity and Miracle of Roses Pageant on the Old Adobe
While purchasing Old Town Scottsdale, you should definitely cease by the Old Adobe Mission, the oldest Catholic church in Scottsdale. There you may view a reside nativity, celebrating the beginning of Jesus with a dwelling manger scene.
Watch a reenactment of the appearances within the 1500s of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego close to Mexico City. The Miracle of Roses Pageant takes place at 4 pm on the Old Adobe Mission on December 10, 2022.
7. Holiday Scavenger Hunts
For a enjoyable (and aggressive!) method to discover Old Town Scottsdale, register for a vacation scavenger hunt by way of golf cart at one in every of three sorts of Prancer’s Puzzle Rides. You might be a part of Holly-Jolly Holiday Relay as a crew to compete to find Christmas clues. Alternatively, the family-friendly Highjacked by Elves is suitable for ages 4+. Meanwhile, Jingle Bar Hop caters to a 21+ crowd. Learn extra.
8. Scottsdazzle Food and Spirits Events
Toast the season with 4 particular occasions for wine drinkers. Feel festive with wine tastings on the Cellar Room Wine & Bites occasion. Get playful together with your cabernets on the Coal or Cabernet problem. Santa’s Wine Flights is certain to please oenophiles, too. Or, go all out on the Holiday Celebration on the Chef’s Table.
If combined drinks are extra your vibe, then style the spirit of the season with Christmas Cocktails. Meanwhile, whiskey connoisseurs will not wish to miss Whiskey Tasting on the North Pole. For beer lovers, Blitzen’s BBQ & Brews ought to hit the spot.
Teetotalers and kids needn’t really feel overlooked. Enjoy finger pastries, candy treats, scorching chocolate, and chilly lemonade on the Sugar Plum Tea Party.
Festive Food Demos will please house cooks in the course of the month of December, too.
9. Nutcracker Ballet by Ballet Arizona
Sugar Plum Fairies dance into your goals with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet by Ballet Arizona from December 10 to 24, 2022. Of this efficiency, Alistair Macaulay of the New York Times mentioned, “Ballet Arizona’s ‘Nutcracker’ is one of the three finest productions of the nearly 20 I’ve seen across America.” The well-known Christmastime ballet is accompanied by the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall.
10. Phoenix ZooLights
For a blinding vacation lights show, reserve tickets for the beloved Phoenix ZooLights. Zoogoers will likely be handled to tens of millions of twinkling lights and a mess of glowing animal sculptures. Hot cocoa and different treats like kettle corn can be found for buy.
In addition to member preview nights on November 21 and 22, ZooLights runs from November 23, 2022 via January 15, 2023.
11. Winter Waterland at OdySea Aquarium
The OdySea Aquarium at Arizona Boardwalk will get a vacation makeover between November 25 and December 31, 2022. The aquarium’s Winter Waterland options vacation decorations and a Christmas-themed scavenger hunt for teenagers.
Additionally, Voyager, the world’s solely rotating aquarium exhibit, is narrated by Santa because it spins via 4 separate watery habitats that characteristic animals like sea lions and sharks. The better part, although, is seeing Santa himself underwater within the Deep Ocean Theater at designated occasions.
Admission to Winter Waterland is free with common admission. Check Groupon for low cost entry tickets earlier than you go!
12. Christmas within the Rainforest at Butterfly Wonderland
Also situated on the Arizona Boardwalk leisure middle, Butterfly Wonderland hosts Christmas within the Rainforest from November 26 via December 31, 2022.
Look for seasonal decorations like snowflakes, Christmas timber, Santa’s reindeer, and vacation lights. Ambassador animals make appearances, too. Also, take heed to reside musical performances on choose dates in the course of the vacation season.
13. Holiday Tea at The Phoenician
For an upscale conventional English afternoon tea with a vacation twist, reserve a desk for Holiday Tea on the luxurious Phoenician Resort. Celebrate the season of their superbly embellished foyer whereas listening to reside vacation piano music.
Included are finger sandwiches, scones with Devonshire cream and preserves, pastries, a collection of teas, and a vacation present for all attendees. Make your teatime much more festive by including a glass of bubbly. The Phoenician will fortunately present gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and vegetarian menus with 24-hour advance discover.
14. Holiday-Themed Live Theater Performances
Holiday theater performances abound in Scottsdale and Phoenix.
It’s an annual custom for my household to observe It’s a Wonderful Life at Scottsdale’s Don Bluth Front Row Theater. Every seat is an efficient one at this venue due to its petite dimension. This Christmas traditional runs from November 17 to December 30 in 2022.
We’ve additionally loved watching Arizona Broadway Theatre‘s particular vacation performances in Peoria. In 2022, e-book seats at A Christmas Carol, The Musical, from November 18 to December 29.
At the Herberger Theater in Phoenix, view And Now…a Word from Our Holiday Sponsors performances from November 28 to December 16, 2022. This lighthearted present takes place on Christmas Eve in 1953 throughout a reside coast-to-coast efficiency by a fictional TV household named the Felixes.
Meanwhile, reside theater followers can select from A Christmas Story or The Velveteen Rabbit at Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre in November and December 2022.
15. Las Noches de las Luminarias on the Desert Botanical Garden
Wander via the gorgeous Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix with 8,000 glowing luminaries lighting pathways amongst desert vegetation. Listen to reside musical performances and buy vacation treats as you discover the botanical gardens. In 2022, Las Noches de la Luminarias takes place on choose days, December 1 via 31.
16. Snowland at Great Wolf Lodge Arizona
Children will adore Snowland at Great Wolf Lodge Arizona. Snowland takes place from November 18, 2022 via January 4, 2023.
Hotel visitors get pleasure from images with Santa, vacation storytimes, video games, crafts, and Snowland Yoga. Plus, all ages are invited to rock out to vacation music across the Christmas tree within the foyer throughout Frosty Fest Family Dance Parties. Look for day by day menorah lightings all through Chanukah, too.
Miss snow in Scottsdale at Christmas? Great Wolf Lodge Arizona gives a magical indoor snowfall.
17. Enchant Christmas Light Maze and Village
New this yr, Enchant guarantees to be the world’s giant Christmas mild maze and village. This winter wonderland is Presented by the Hallmark Channel. It could be discovered at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick from November 25, 2022 via January 1, 2023.
Browse Enchant’s Village, a Christmas market bursting with quaint outlets promoting crafts and items. Then wind your means via lighted tunnels and previous vacation shows in The Maze to discover a 100-foot-tall Christmas tree. Perhaps most spectacular is the dazzling forest of glowing timber you will skate via on their ice rinks.
Come hungry. There are scorching entrees and specialty sandwiches available. Top off your night with a vacation deal with like s’mores or freshly made doughnuts.
Children will wish to go to Little Elves Play Place. There, they will make ornaments, play reindeer video games, and take heed to Christmas tales by Mrs. Claus herself. Santa’s accessible for images with the backdrop of an Alpine chalet, too.
For grown-ups aged 21+, there is a chilly Polar Ice Bar serving three vodka cocktails. There are further beverage stations, too, serving spiked scorching chocolate, a Merry Mocktail, and different libations.
18. Holiday Lights Segway Tours
For a novel means to absorb the glow of the vacations, join a Segway lights tour of Old Town Scottsdale. Segways are embellished with Christmas lights on the Scottsdale Segway Tours Old Town Holiday Lights Tour. Meanwhile, Segway of Scottsdale‘s Christmas Lights Tour consists of vacation lights wrapped round every Segway and a scorching chocolate cease mid-way via the trip.
19. Valley of the Sun Chanukah Celebrations
Chanukah begins on Sunday, December 18 and concludes the evening of Monday, December 26 in 2022.
Celebrate the Festival of Lights at Lots of Latkes on December 18 on the East Valley JCC in Chandler. Families will get pleasure from music, a bounce home, arts and crafts, and a menorah lighting. Of course, there will likely be a lot of latkes to eat, too!
Teens from throughout Arizona are invited to take part in a Chanukkah Regional Party hosted by Chabad of Phoenix. Expect dreidels, latkes, and rather more.
Chompie’s is a neighborhood delicatessen that has been serving conventional New York-style Jewish delicacies in Arizona since 1979. Go to one in every of their a number of Valley areas for a tasty Chanukah menu, accessible onsite or to go. Think potato latkes, matzo ball soup, brisket, and extra.
20. Winter Wonderland Arizona Residential Holiday Lights Display
Find 250,000 digitally computerized lights, fake snowfall, and bubbles on show at this Scottsdale house owned by severe vacation lovers. Winter Wonderland Arizona is free to the general public however a instructed $5 donation is appreciated.
This is the thirty sixth yr of this superb mild show, which runs this vacation season from December 6, 2022 to January 2, 2023. The householders ask that guests park on Granite Reef.
21. Scottsdale Holiday Shopping
Scottsdale is a client’s paradise, notably in the course of the vacation season. Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter out of doors purchasing districts get dolled up with lights and timber galore. Meanwhile, the indoor Scottsdale Fashion Square’s 240 retail shops and eating places provide darling Christmas décor and offers aplenty. Additionally, discover distinctive art work plus Southwest and Arizona-themed items and ornaments in Old Town Scottsdale.
22. Photos with Santa in Scottsdale
Kids and kids-at-heart can meet with Santa Claus at areas all through Scottsdale. Look for images with Santa at Kierland Commons, Scottsdale Quarter, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Biltmore Fashion Park, and Phoenix ZooLights. Purchase hardcopy and/or digital images. Make reservations for these venues prematurely at WhereIsSanta.com.
You also can discover the jolly outdated elf at Christmas on the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market, the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Great Wolf Lodge Arizona, and Enchant at Salt River Fields.
23. Phoenix Symphony Holiday Pops
Tap your toes alongside to the merry beat of Holiday Pops by the Phoenix Symphony and Phoenix Symphony Chorus. Enjoy each non secular and secular songs of the season from December 2 to 4, 2022 at Phoenix Symphony Hall.
24. Special Christmas Menus at Scottsdale Restaurants
Celebrate Christmas with vacation menus at eating places all through the Valley of the Sun. Whether you are searching for an intimate setting or a family-friendly eatery with festive aptitude, you are positive to discover a menu that pleases your palate. Take a take a look at Christmas eating choices in Scottsdale.
25. Scottsdale Santa Crawl
Each yr, revelers don their ugly Christmas sweaters, Santa hats, and different vacation gear to make merry in Old Town Scottsdale in the course of the Scottsdale Santa Crawl. Tickets embrace admission to taking part bars, three penny ($.01) drink vouchers, and drink specials.
This yr’s Santa Crawl is scheduled to happen on Saturday, December 17, 2022.
26. Arizona Lights the Night
Drive via a memorable vacation lights present in Mesa at Arizona Lights the Night. Expect life-sized snowmen, big glowing sweet canes, and Christmas timber galore. The attraction is open seven nights per week from November 23, 2022 to January 8, 2023.
27. Spirited Dueling Piano Shows
You’ll snigger, you will sing, you will clap, and chances are you’ll even dance alongside throughout Spirited Dueling Piano Shows at Belle’s Nashville Kitchen in Old Town Scottsdale. Listen to your favourite vacation songs, together with nation and rock favorites throughout this vigorous present. Talented pianist compete in your applause (and suggestions) throughout this improvised present, that includes viewers requests.
Bourbon is the star beverage at this 21+ present. Choose from two seatings on December 9, 2022.
28. Dazzling Magic Shows
Celebrate the magic of the season at Dazzling Magic Shows. Scottsdale Magician Craig Davis entertains crowds with humor and mesmerizing methods. Attend two free exhibits on Marshall Way Bridge in Old Town Scottsdale on December 10 and December 11, 2022.
29. Holidays Events at Omni Scottsdale Resort at Montelucia
Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia‘s Christmas season commences with an annual 20-foot tree lighting. Enjoy refreshments, reside music, firepits, kids’s crafts, and cookie adorning on December 3 on the resort.
Kids will lengthy keep in mind Breakfast with Santa on the Omni Montelucia on Sundays in the course of the month of December. Look for particular vacation meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, too. Revelers will get pleasure from a multicourse New Year’s Eve dinner and a particular New Year’s Day brunch with reside music, too.
30. Scottsdale New Year’s Eve Parties
Ring in 2023 with festive meals, music, and spirits within the Scottsdale space. For New Year’s Eve, a number of native eating places are providing multi-course prix fixe meals with a glass of bubbly. Other Valley venues are providing high-energy events that includes DJs or reside music, dancing, and drinks. Discover methods to have a good time the New Year in Scottsdale.
Explore More in Arizona
Find much more enjoyable actions for the entire household within the Valley of the Sun with this record of actions in Scottsdale with children.
Discover the charms of Arizona’s Christmas City in my information to Prescott.
In winter, you will probably expertise snow in Arizona with these issues to do in Flagstaff.
Learn Arizona historical past and discover the state’s pure magnificence with a go to to Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments.
Save These Scottsdale Christmas Events
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Which of those Scottsdale vacation occasions appeals most to you? Let us know within the feedback under!
Disclosure: This record of Scottsdale Christmas happenings is up to date yearly. I obtained financial compensation from Experience Scottsdale in 2020 associated to this story. I additionally accepted complimentary admission to Christmas on the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, OdySea Aquarium, and Butterfly Wonderland. All opinions are mine, as all the time.
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