The holiday season brings a lot of “to-dos” with it, and it’s easy, sometimes, for me to forget to go out and do things that add some “magic” to the season. For me, that’s often getting out and going to Seattle Christmas events such as light displays with my camera, even when the cold and PNW dampness urge me to stay inside with a nice cup of cocoa!
This post is a list of both Seattle Christmas events and holiday events in the general Puget Sound area or even the greater PNW.
Events are divided by category and only show future events so events will disappear when they’re completed. Some lists may be very long and show recurrences, so here’s a table of contents to help you browse this post:
Table of Contents
Puget Sound Holiday Events and Seattle Christmas Events Map
Below is a map with the locations of events shows in this post. Clicking the location title will take you to a different page for that location with its events.
Calendar
The calendar below should only show holiday events. If you click on the date, it will show a list (in a popup) of events for that date.
Puget Sound Holiday Lights
A favorite thing to do is to check out some of the holiday light displays. Both Puget Sound area zoos, of course, host huge displays annually: WildLanterns at Woodland Park Zoo, and ZooLights at Point Defiance. Snowflake Lane in Bellevue is a huge extravaganza with a parade and snow (via some huge snow machines) that happens every night down Bellevue Way during the Christmas season. Spanaway holds a huge annual lights display with its Fantasy Lights drive-through event, and Gig Harbor holds a lighted car parade.
I love seeing the Pike Place Market lit up for the holidays, and hope to go with my camera and get my own good photo this year. The one above is from Unsplash.
If Christmas Ships are your thing, you’ll probably want to check out the Christmas Ships parade of boats in Seattle. Of course, many individual communities hold light displays or Christmas tree lightings. If you’d like yours on the list below, feel free to submit an event!
Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks
Below are any events tagged “ice skating rinks” that we have on our calendar but, in general, these events are outdoor holiday rinks.
Puget Sound and Seattle Christmas Gift Shows
By the time we’re republishing this, some of the annual gift shows have probably already happened. This list doesn’t represent each and every gift show in the area, which are many, but a combination of our favorites or ones organizers have contributed to the calendar.
Christmas Theater Productions
We’ll likely add a few more here as the season progresses. But, of course, one that happens annually (aside from Nutcracker productions, is ACT’s A Christmas Carol.
Holiday Concerts
Bring in the Solstice !
One thing to celebrate at this time of year is the coming (gradually) of longer days!
Santa
Note that events listed below are ANY event on our calendar we’ve tagged as “Santa.” Some years, this may include kids’ Santa events, if we’ve listed any, but also may include adults-only activities like SantaCon.
Know of an event that should be here? Submit one!
If you know of an event that should be here — for any December holiday — feel free to submit it to our events calendar. Choose the “winter festivities” category and, if published, it will end up in this post, at least in the map and calendar. We’ll likely add another section if the event doesn’t fit into one of the main categories shown in the post. Or if you don’t feel like doing that but have a favorite, leave a comment below.
What’s your favorite holiday event in the Puget Sound area?
