Thanksgiving week is here, Kansas City, and we hope you get time to relax over the next several days. You’ve earned it. Do as much or as little as you’d like—just know there are options.
Plaza Lighting Ceremony
Nov. 28
Gather at the Country Club Plaza on Thanksgiving night and watch the holiday season come awake. The Plaza Lighting Ceremony festivities start at 5 p.m. with a live DJ, Monica’s School of Dance, and Quixotic performing. Clark and Tavia Hunt will click on all 15 blocks of lights around 7, and fireworks will follow.
Luminary Walk
Nov. 29-30
Overland Park Arboretum & Gardens brings beauty to the masses all year, but they’re turning it up a notch this weekend. They’ve decked the garden grounds with lights, and on 20 select dates, you can stroll through and admire.
Electric Glow is a low-key walk through the lit-up gardens. Luminary Walk, which starts this Friday and Saturday and returns the next two weekends, includes candle-lit wooded strolls, photos with Santa, live music, and cider. Tickets are $17.
Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting and Hallmark Christmas Experience
Nov. 29-Dec. 1
If the Plaza Lighting Ceremony claims to be the official start to the holiday season, the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting would like a word. This year’s ceremony, which starts at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, will feature the mayor (duh) and Hunter King and Tyler Hynes, stars of the upcoming film Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. A brand-new music-timed light show and a fireworks display will follow.
It marks the beginning of the first ever Hallmark Christmas Experience, a four-weekend extravaganza that will include actor panels, craft and writing workshops, and frequent tree lightings.
JINGLE!
Nov. 29-Dec. 1
Remember Enchant? JINGLE! is that and then some. Head to Legends Field in KCK and explore a holiday village so big it’s split into four separate neighborhoods. There’ll be an ice-skating trail, snow tubing hills, a light maze, a bar, and millions of lights throughout the stadium. We previewed the event in full here.
Friday kicks off opening weekend. JINGLE! Will be open most days, and every weekend, through New Year’s Eve. Tickets start at $34.
Holiday pop-up bars
Various dates
We love holiday pop-up bars. They bring new flavors, visual delights, and classic vibes. You have no shortage of options, some of which have already popped up and others that pop up this Friday. Keep our running list of Kansas City’s holiday pop-up bars handy.