Get In the Spirit with These Unique DC Holiday Events

Looking for something to get you in the holiday spirit, but you’ve had your fill of tree lightings, markets, and holiday menus? DC always has something on — just peruse our event calendar! — and check out these unique seasonal events to deck the halls, jingle the bells, and get you laughing all the way.

Here are some of the most unique DC holiday events:

Ford’s Theatre reprises its popular staging of “A Christmas Carol“ through Dec. 31, a beloved Yuletide tradition that features Craig Wallace as Ebenezer Scrooge and is abundant with caroling, spooky stage tricks, and cheerful dancing for the holiday season.

Over-the-top cocktails and kitsch in a holiday oasis is what you’ll find at the pop-up Miracle @ Death Punch Bar this season. Favorites like the Snowball Old-Fashioned, Yippie Ki Yay Mother F****r!, and — new this year — Grandma Got Run Over By A T-Rex will keep your whistle wet while you wander through Death Punch to see all of the decorations. And they’re even hosting an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party on Dec. 1, so be prepared for that!

On December 3, over sixty beautiful boats will parade down the Washington Channel in the 30th anniversary of the District’s Holiday Boat Parade. In addition to the parade, guests will enjoy ornament decorating and face painting, roast s’mores at the Camp Wharf fire pit, skate at the The Wharf Ice Rink, and visit the area’s lighted 45ft Christmas Tree.

Middleburg holds its annual Christmas in Middleburg Parade Dec. 3, complete with scarlet-jacketed riders and their foxhounds, vintage horse-drawn carriages, and a 1.5-mile-long procession of drummers, bagpipers, bikers and more. If you are able to stay the night before, you can catch the tree lighting ceremony and carol singing in the postcard perfect downtown.

The Four Seasons hosts its Teddy Bear Tea on Saturday, December 3rd, 10th, and 17th, inviting guests — particularly young ones —  to partake in a special holiday tea complete with holiday sweets, with a CNH Teddy Bear for each little one. A percentage of proceeds will benefit the hospital.

While there are plenty of places to pose with Santa, we love that Santa will be taking pictures with pets Nov. 28th and Dec. 5 from 6-8 at Tysons Corner Center. Come with your furry friend dressed in their holiday best! Optional donations will benefit the Humane Society.

The Folger Consort’s annual holiday concerts return this year with performances of A New World Christmas at St. Mark’s on Capitol Hill December 9-11. Shows will include music composed in the late 16-18th centuries.

A Magical Cirque Christmas helps you get in the spirit of the season with a Christmas tale on a time spectrum that takes place for one weekend only at National Theatre, December 16-18, with world-acclaimed performers and cirque artists.

Enchant Christmas, the world’s largest Christmas light maze and village, returns to Nationals Ballpark through January 1. Guests will marvel at four million lights, an impressive 100-foot-tall holiday tree — the tallest in the region — as well as a unique ice-skating trail, live entertainment, Santa visits, and a holiday shopping marketplace with crafts, gifts, and culinary treats.