Top Family-Friendly Shows This Holiday Season
One of the easiest ways to lock in real family time during the holidays is by planning a live show that gets everyone out of the house and into something festive together. This guide walks you through classic and modern options, what audience each of them suits, and how to pick your tickets at Event Tickets Center.
Unwrap the Magic of the Classic Holiday Stage
Three titles are the backbone of many family Holiday Events: The Nutcracker ballet, the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, and A Christmas Carol. Let’s dive in!
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker ballet is the ultimate choice for families who love music and movement, and it is often the first big night out at the theater for kids. You’ll be in for about two hours of Tchaikovsky’s famous score, a growing Christmas tree, and the colorful Land of Sweets. Most versions are great for school-age children who can sit through a longer dance-only show. Looking to score The Nutcracker tickets during an East Coast trip? Here’s our face-off of the New York City Ballet and Toronto’s National Ballet of Canada productions!
The Rockettes
The Rockettes tickets put you at the center of the ultimate NYC holiday tradition. The Christmas Spectacular is a fast-paced, 90-minute show packed with precision kicklines and large-scale staging inside Radio City Music Hall. The variety of short numbers keeps kids engaged, while adults appreciate the mix of nostalgia and high-tech effects. Since the show is New York-based and runs only during the holidays, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular schedule works best as part of a short trip that might also include the Rockefeller Center tree and Fifth Avenue window displays. To plan a Big Apple holiday weekend, check out our guide!
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol play is a strong pick for kids who love great stories and can handle a few ghostly moments. Most productions follow Ebenezer Scrooge’s overnight journey with the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, balancing spooky effects with warm scenes and Tiny Tim’s hopeful final lines. Depending on the production, the show might feel more traditional or lean into modern staging, but it is almost always designed with families in mind. This one usually works best for upper elementary ages and older, especially kids who enjoy reading or history.
Modern Stage Marvels:
If your family already knows the classics or your kids quote holiday movies all year, the modern choices may be the better fit.
Elf: The Musical
Elf the Musical tickets are perfect for those who know every line of the movie. The stage version leans into comedy, big ensemble numbers, and Buddy’s fish-out-of-water optimism as he tries to bring Christmas spirit to a skeptical New York. With an original, catchy score and lots of movement, it is especially fun for school-age kids and teens who already love the film.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas musical transforms Dr. Seuss’ classic book into a vibrant, cartoon-like stage experience that is easy for younger children to follow. Expect bright Whoville sets, rhyming dialogue, familiar songs like “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” and a heartfelt message about community and kindness. The pacing and shorter runtime make it a natural first theater outing for smaller children.
Holiday Concerts:
Concert-style events can be a great fit for older kids and multi-generational groups who want big sound and spectacle. The tours below cover multiple cities, so you can find a stop near your home.
Mannheim Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas blends classical touches with modern production for a cozy but impressive holiday night out. The Mannheim Steamroller tour is known for taking familiar carols and giving them a fresh sound that mixes Baroque-style instruments with synthesizers and driving percussion. Families who grew up on the albums often treat the show as a shared tradition, bringing kids and grandparents together for a seated concert.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra tour is a high-energy rock show, and a strong fit for older kids and teens who love loud music and big effects. These concerts combine electric guitars, a full string section, multiple vocalists, lasers, and pyrotechnics to turn Christmas music into a full-scale arena production. The first part of the night usually follows a narrated rock-opera story, then shifts into a set of fan favorites.
Pentatonix
The Pentatonix Christmas tour fills arenas using nothing but voices, which makes it one of the most distinctive holiday options on the road. Fans of YouTube performances and modern Christmas covers will recognize their intricate harmonies, bass lines, and beatboxing, all performed live without instruments. Kids, parents, and grandparents usually hear several favorites in a single night.
A Cirque Extravaganza
Not every family wants a story or a concert: some kids simply want to watch people do incredible things on stage. Luckily, the masters of the stunning, Cirque du Soleil, have a couple of Christmas-themed shows.
A Magical Cirque Christmas
A Magical Cirque Christmas combines world-class circus acts with a festive soundtrack for a fast-moving holiday variety show. Expect aerial artists, jugglers, balancing acts, and contortionists performing to reimagined carols, often guided by a comic or magical host who keeps the evening moving. The focus is on wow-factor moments rather than plot, which makes this a good fit for kids who love movement, stunts, and visual tricks more than long scenes of dialogue.
Cirque Dreams Holidaze
Cirque Dreams Holidaze delivers another style of acrobatic holiday spectacle, this time with a strong theatrical layer. Performers appear as oversized ornaments, toy soldiers, reindeer, snowmen, and more, all wrapped in elaborate costumes and set pieces that make the stage feel like a living holiday storybook. The show strings together aerial routines, balancing acts, tumbling, and dance into a nonstop lineup that tends to keep even very active kids engaged.
A Dream Season!
How about anchoring with The Nutcracker ballet, and then add a modern musical or a big concert? Find your seats for this year’s top holiday shows at Event Tickets Center and make your family’s season shine.
