There’s no place like the Outer Banks during the holidays, and there’s plenty of ways to celebrate.
Christmas events include jazz, banjo and choral concerts, a community theatre production, a parade and a giant glow-show. On New Year’s Eve, there’s a family-friendly celebration on the Manteo waterfront and a 5K run on the beach road in Nags Head.Plus, the annual commemoration of First Flight takes place in Kill Devil Hills.
Here’s what you need to know:
WinterLights
The 16th annual event runs select days through Dec. 30 at The Elizabethan Gardens on the north end of Roanoke Island. And dare we say it’s a feast for the senses.
The 10-acre botanical gardens are aglow with thousands of colored lights and Christmas decor..
Visitors take in the spectacle walking along winding, pine-needle-carpeted paths. There’s also live music and 15 varieties of camellias are in bloom.
Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $22 for adults and $14 for children ages 2-17 (under 2 are free). Reservations are required (timed-entry tickets).The Gardens are at 1411 National Park Drive in Manteo. For more information, visit elizabethangardens.org.
All that jazz
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” debuted on CBS six decades ago. The 30-minute TV special that featured characters from the popular “Peanuts” comic strip enchanted viewers with its gentle, comforting theme of friends and families celebrating the holidays.
But it also struck a chord with the delightful, jazzy soundtrack composed by Vince Guaraldi that included “Christmas Time Is Here,” “Linus and Lucy” and “Skating,” along with such standards as “Hark! The Heralds Sing” and “O Tannenbaum.”
The jazzy soundtrack from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” composed by Vince Guaraldi inspires holiday nostalgia (United Feature Syndicate Inc.)
Dec. 6 and 7, the Eric Mintel Quartet will recreate the soundtrack and perform holiday originals and traditional favorites at the Pioneer Theater in downtown Manteo.
The Perkasie, Pennsylvania-based band includes Mintel on piano, Nelson Hill on saxophone and flute, Jack Hegyi on electric bass and Dave Mohn on drums.
Asked during a telephone interview about the enduring popularity of Guaraldi’s “Charlie Brown” score, Mintel said: “It’s simple, understated and melodic.”
While the quartet will stay true to the arrangements of the beloved soundtrack, he added that the group’s originals and remakes of classics “are not your usual jazz.”
The quartet performs at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 with doors opening at 6 p.m., and at 2 p.m. Dec. 7 with doors opening at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $29.50 to $61.25 (online includes fees) or $25 to $55 at the door. The theater is at 109 Budleigh St. For more information and box-office hours, visit pioneertheater.com.
Christmas concerts
The Bryan Cultural Series continues Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. with “A Very Banjo Christmas” at St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Nags Head.
Franklin, Tennessee-based banjo-player Michael Rix, who’s toured with the award-winning duo War and Treaty, and his band will perform country-meets-bluegrass versions of classics such as “O Holy Night” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and originals.
Dec. 12 and 13, the 128-member Outer Banks Chorus will present “’Twas the Night — Stories of the Season” at St. Andrew’s. Accompanied by two pianists, the choir will raise their voices in songs such as “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “This Child Shall Be Our Peace.” And there will be storytelling.
“It’s traditional with a twist,” said chorus director Kyle Cook about the performance. “But it’s music all ages can relate to.”
The concerts are free. The chorus performs at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 and at 4 p.m. Dec. 13. St. Andrew’s is at 4212 S. Virginia Dare Trail (the beach road) in Nags Head. For more information, visit bryanculturalseries.org and obxchorus.org.
Theatre of Dare: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”
The local troupe gets in the holiday spirit with a play that is at turns funny, poignant and enlightening. It centers on a couple having difficulty putting on a church Christmas pageant who find themselves with the most unlikely cast: the notorious six kids in the Herdman family.
“They smoke, cuss, get in fights, sit on people” explains Leah Cribb, who’s directing the production. “They wreak havoc all over town.”
But the siblings get in touch with their inner elves. Call it a Christmas pageant miracle.
“It’s just a sweet story,” Cribb said.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20, and at 2 p.m. Dec. 14 and 21. Tickets are $20. Theatre of Dare is at 3848 N. Croatan Highway in Kitty Hawk. For more information, visit theatreofdareobx.com.
Holidays on Hatteras
Hatteras Village, on the southern end of the Outer Banks, will be the scene of a Christmas celebration Dec. 13.It features live music, a children’s craft station, refreshments, a parade and displays of model trains and miniature Victorian dollhouses.
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, near the Hatteras ferry docks, will be open for tours. Recently redesigned, the museum is a must-visit for history buffs. Updated galleries and interactive exhibits tell the history of wartime events, maritime rescues and shipwrecks that gave the Hatteras coast the ominous moniker “Graveyard of the Atlantic.
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, near the ferry docks, will be open for tours during Hatteras Village’s Christmas celebration Dec. 13. (The Virginian-Pilot file)
Hours for the celebration are noon to 5 p.m., with the parade rolling at 2 p.m. Admission is free. For navigational devices, use 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras. Visit graveyardoftheatlantic.com for more information.
Wright Brothers Day
The Dayton, Ohio-based brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made history in 1903 when their powered aircraft achieved sustained flight in Kitty Hawk. Dec. 17, the 122nd anniversary of the flyboys’ feat will be celebrated with a daylong event at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.
The commemoration, a joint project of the National Park Service and the First Flight Society, features activities for children and adults., including music, a flyover, informative talks and ranger-led programs. Relatives of the both the Wrights and witnesses of the historic launch will be on hand. First Flight High School will be unveiling a student-built airplane at 10 a.m.
Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with doors opening at 8 a.m. Admission is free. The memorial is at 1000 N. Croatan Highway (the bypass). For more information, visit firstflight.org.
Fun run
If your resolution for 2026 is to get more exercise, the 36th annual New Year’s Eve fun run at Tortugas Lie in Nags Head should be a jump-start.
The casual 5K on the beach road starts at 10 p.m., with registration beginning at 9:45 p.m. It usually attracts 50 to 100 runners of all ages.
“We started it as an alternative to drinking all night,” said Bob Sanders, the co-owner of the popular restaurant.
Participants should dress in light clothing and bring a flashlight or headlamp.
It’s free. Tortugas is at 3016 Virginia Dare Trail. For more information, visit tortugaslie.com.
Meet me in Manteo
The Outer Banks’ biggest block party happens New Year’s Eve on the Manteo waterfront.
Hundreds of people usually attend the event, which launched in 2017. It’s full for all ages, with a kid’s zone, “Glow Vibe Golf” in George Washington Creef Park and DJ music.
The Virginia Beach-based 10-piece (with a horn section) band Better By Tuesday plays at 9 p.m. Their wide-ranging playlist
Better By Tuesday, performs in Portsmouth in 2022. (File photo)
includes, among dozens of others, Aretha Franklin, Bon Jovi, Bruno Mars, the Commodores, Coldplay and Donna Summer.
A kids’ countdown and fireworks display takes place at 8 p.m. Food trucks will be parked on the street, and restaurants, bars and shops in the downtown’s “social district” will be open late.
Admission is free, but there are charges for food and drinks. The party starts at 6 p.m. Shuttle golf carts will run all night from College of the Albemarle and Manteo Middle School on U.S. 64. For more information, visit meetmeinmanteo.com.
