# Christmas and holiday events for kids in Virginia Beach > 19 Christmas, Hanukkah and holiday events and programs for kids in the Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk area through New Year’s Day, each linked to the organizer’s own page with the date we last checked it. Source: Grassy Knees is a directory of real family events, places and programs for kids across major U.S. metro areas, where every listing is researched from the organizer’s own page and shows the date we last checked it. https://grassyknees.com covers 42 metro areas as of Oct 24, 2026, with more added regularly. About: https://grassyknees.com/about Freshness: listings are re-checked on a daily research run (latest check 2026-10-24), and new events are added as organizers post them. Sell-outs, weather cancellations and time changes show up on the live page first: https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/christmas Towns with listings: Norfolk (8), Virginia Beach (7), Newport News (3), Portsmouth (1). ## Quick answers ### What free Christmas events are there for kids in Virginia Beach? 3 listings: [Santa's Seaside Cinema at 31st Street Park](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/santa-s-seaside-cinema-at-31st-street-park--listing-035537151972ed0cd68ff166) (Sat, Nov 21, Free); [Holiday Parade at the Beach](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holiday-parade-at-the-beach--listing-5972e5b77b9ac25473df5409) (Sat, Dec 5, Free); [Holiday Yule Log Bonfire & Holiday Marketplace](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holiday-yule-log-bonfire-and-holiday-marketplace--listing-7bc3afed07a10c64ac781e7c) (Sat, Dec 5, Free). ## Dated events ### Norfolk (8) - [Dominion Energy Garden of Lights](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/dominion-energy-garden-of-lights--listing-7c7d363aeded6636af85269e) — Nov 6 – Jan 3 · 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM · Norfolk Botanical Garden · All ages · From $15 · checked Oct 24. Norfolk Botanical Garden's walk-through holiday light show, running for more than 30 years and voted among the best botanical garden holiday lights in the country by USA Today… - [A Merry Little Christmas Carol at the Wells Theatre](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/a-merry-little-christmas-carol-at-the-wells-theatre--listing-eb8c1887656a209dbb606fe3) — Wed, Dec 2 (+9 more dates) · 7:30 PM · Wells Theatre, Norfolk · Paid · checked Oct 24. Virginia Stage Company's holiday production returns to the historic Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk. Mark Shanahan's adaptation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, directed by… - [The Nutcracker at Harrison Opera House](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/the-nutcracker-at-harrison-opera-house--listing-85fe0ccc69151310d8da91c2) — Fri, Dec 4 (+2 more dates) · 7:00 PM · Harrison Opera House, Norfolk · Paid · checked Oct 24. Classical Arts Entertainment brings the United European Ballet Company's touring Nutcracker to Norfolk's Harrison Opera House for one weekend. Set to Tchaikovsky's score, the… - [Holiday Yule Log Bonfire & Holiday Marketplace](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holiday-yule-log-bonfire-and-holiday-marketplace--listing-7bc3afed07a10c64ac781e7c) — Sat, Dec 5 · Town Point Park, Norfolk · All ages · Free · checked Oct 24. For one Saturday afternoon in early December, Town Point Park on the Downtown Norfolk waterfront is decorated for the season around a towering Yule log bonfire. Families can… - [Storybook Tea Party (Snowman Theme) at Norfolk Botanical Garden](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/storybook-tea-party-snowman-theme-at-norfolk-botanical-garden--listing-0baaaf862499b43b20b0b218) — Sat, Dec 5 · 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM · Norfolk Botanical Garden (WOW Children's Garden) · From $20 · checked Oct 24. A winter edition of the garden's storybook tea party: a snowman story and tea party in the WOW Children's Garden for preschoolers and their grown-ups. Children bring a favorite… - [Holidays in the Wild: Holiday Market at the Virginia Zoo](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holidays-in-the-wild-holiday-market-at-the-virginia-zoo--listing-5ce385284f8f75d7d4b8bfe1) — Sun, Dec 13 · 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM · Virginia Zoo, Norfolk · All ages · With admission · checked Oct 24. The zoo's second annual holiday market fills the animal trails with local artisan vendors, carolers and festive animal enrichment for one Sunday in December. Families can stroll… - [Holiday Nature Ornaments Workshop](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holiday-nature-ornaments-workshop--listing-b5ea989785230ab6bd26833f) — Sat, Dec 19 · 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM · Norfolk Botanical Garden (Baker Hall Visitor Center) · From $20 · checked Oct 24. Children combine natural items with craft supplies to make a set of nature-inspired ornaments for the family tree. The class is in a Baker Hall Visitor Center classroom at… - [Noon Year's Eve at the Virginia Zoo](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/noon-year-s-eve-at-the-virginia-zoo--listing-832d1f33fae17127f30573f2) — Thu, Dec 31 · 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM · Virginia Zoo, Norfolk · With admission · checked Oct 24. A daytime New Year's party for young children and their grown-ups: a dance party, a sparkling juice toast, a countdown and a ball drop at noon, so kids can ring in the new year… ### Virginia Beach (7) - [Holiday Trail of Lights at the Virginia Aquarium](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holiday-trail-of-lights-at-the-virginia-aquarium--listing-726f9c320c4aecfc08326a8b) — Nov 20 – Jan 3 · 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM · Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center · All ages · From $12 · checked Oct 24. After 31 years as a drive-through on the Oceanfront boardwalk, Virginia Beach's holiday lights move to a new 1.1-mile walking trail on the Virginia Aquarium grounds. The trail… - [Santa's Seaside Cinema at 31st Street Park](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/santa-s-seaside-cinema-at-31st-street-park--listing-035537151972ed0cd68ff166) — Sat, Nov 21 (+3 more dates) · 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM · 31st Street Park · All ages · Free · checked Oct 24. Free holiday afternoons at the Oceanfront's 31st Street Park with a family movie on four Saturdays. From noon there is live entertainment, visits with Santa, costume characters… - [NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet at the Sandler Center](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/nutcracker-magical-christmas-ballet-at-the-sandler-center--listing-698bf8af6ab3d527a083f981) — Wed, Nov 25 · 3:00 PM · Sandler Center for the Performing Arts · Paid · checked Oct 24. The touring NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet, billed as the largest Nutcracker production in North America, stops at the Sandler Center the day before Thanksgiving. The show… - [Planes, Trains and Santa at the Military Aviation Museum](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/planes-trains-and-santa-at-the-military-aviation-museum--listing-4806f0d489625a2dd9d0d91a) — Fri, Nov 27 (+2 more dates) · 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM · Military Aviation Museum · Paid · checked Oct 24. The Military Aviation Museum's annual Thanksgiving-weekend family event in Virginia Beach. Each morning at 10 am, weather permitting, Santa flies in on a vintage airplane (the… - [Holiday Parade at the Beach](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/holiday-parade-at-the-beach--listing-5972e5b77b9ac25473df5409) — Sat, Dec 5 · 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM · Atlantic Avenue, 15th to 25th Streets · All ages · Free · checked Oct 24. Virginia Beach's evening holiday parade on Atlantic Avenue at the Oceanfront. About 90 parade units travel north from 15th Street to 25th Street: giant balloons, marching bands… - [Ballet Virginia's The Nutcracker at the Sandler Center](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/ballet-virginia-s-the-nutcracker-at-the-sandler-center--listing-952e35c3c22c15fba38ecbb7) — Fri, Dec 11 (+2 more dates) · 7:30 PM · Sandler Center for the Performing Arts · Paid · checked Oct 24. Ballet Virginia's Nutcracker brings a cast of more than 100 dancers, led by Ballet Virginia's professional company, to the Sandler Center stage, with Tchaikovsky's score played… - [PB&J: Jingle Bell Jam with the Virginia Symphony](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/pb-and-j-jingle-bell-jam-with-the-virginia-symphony--listing-bbed158e4b18f6454c12bdf5) — Sat, Dec 19 · 3:00 PM · Sandler Center for the Performing Arts · Paid · checked Oct 24. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra's holiday family concert for young children: an afternoon of seasonal music in which Santa Claus comes 'down the chimney' to join the orchestra on… ### Newport News (3) - [Frosty: A Musical Adventure](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/frosty-a-musical-adventure--listing-5b629301bf5c3cad9e10f8d9) — Tue, Nov 24 · 6:00 PM · Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News · From $12 · checked Oct 24. The Barter Players from Abingdon's Barter Theatre bring a new holiday musical inspired by the song 'Frosty the Snowman' to the Ferguson Center for the Arts. Catherine Bush's… - [PB&J: Jingle Bell Jam at the Ferguson Center](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/pb-and-j-jingle-bell-jam-at-the-ferguson-center--listing-20d347f0e982c303add022e5) — Sat, Dec 5 · 3:00 PM · Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News · Paid · checked Oct 24. The Newport News performance of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra's holiday family concert for young children, conducted by Helen Martell. In the PB&J family series, Santa Claus… - [Virginia Regional Ballet's The Nutcracker at the Ferguson Center](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/virginia-regional-ballet-s-the-nutcracker-at-the-ferguson-center--listing-220920a4c3ec4c2d5be5aa8b) — Sat, Dec 19 (+1 more date) · 2:00 PM · Ferguson Center for the Arts, Newport News · From $36 · checked Oct 24. Virginia Regional Ballet performs The Nutcracker with live music from the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra at the Ferguson Center for the Arts on the weekend before Christmas… ### Other towns in the Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk area (1) - [Noon Year's Eve Bash at the Children's Museum of Virginia](https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach/activities/noon-year-s-eve-bash-at-the-children-s-museum-of-virginia--listing-6aa1fd338633683fd2fc21d6) — Thu, Dec 31 · 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM · Children's Museum of Virginia, Portsmouth · All ages · With admission · checked Oct 24. A New Year's countdown sized for young children, held on the Children's Museum Mall in Old Towne Portsmouth. Kids decorate party favors, get their faces painted, raise a… More for families in Virginia Beach: https://grassyknees.com/virginia-beach.md