CINCINNATI — The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends. You can share some of that holiday magic together at these events.
Macy's Light Up the Square: 6-11 p.m. Friday. Fountain Square, Fifth and Vine streets, Downtown. Free. Enjoy live music, Santa Claus, food trucks, fireworks and the lighting of the Macy's Tree.
Holiday in Lights: 5:30-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 6-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday through Dec. 31. Sharon Woods, 11450 Lebanon Road, Sharonville. $15 per vehicle; $45 for buses and 15-person passenger vans. Driving through Sharon Woods to see holiday lights has been a holiday tradition for more than 28 years, and this year will be no different. The Hamilton County park will transform into a winter wonderland with thousands of sparkling lights.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: 4 and 8 p.m. Friday. Heritage Bank Center, 100 Broadway St., Downtown. $49.50-$79.50. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra will roll into Heritage Bank Center with its annual holiday show. “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” will feature familiar classics and new hits.
Winter Daydreams:8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Music Hall, 1240 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. $14 and up. May Festival Music Director Laureate James Conlon leads a lavishly expressive program this Thanksgiving weekend.
PNC Festival of Lights: 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Avondale. $15-$26. Marvel at the zoo's more than 3 million lights. Visits with Santa Claus begin at 4 p.m. each day.
Macy's Downtown Dazzle: 5:30-7 p.m. Saturdays Nov. 30-Dec. 21. Fountain Square, 520 Vine St., Downtown. Free. Macy’s Downtown Dazzle is one of the biggest highlights of the holiday season. See Santa rappel off of a Cincinnati building and wait with anticipation for the sky to fill with light thanks to a fabulous Rozzi fireworks display.
Holiday Junction: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate. Free with purchase of general admission to the museum center. The Duke Energy train display has returned along with the Holiday Junction experience at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The junction features separate areas that display floor-to-ceiling LEGO landscapes with motorized trains, the classic Duke trains and a chance to meet with Santa starting the day after Thanksgiving.
Christmas Nights of Lights: 6-10 p.m. daily through Jan. 5. Coney Island Amusement Park, 6201 Kellogg Ave., Anderson Township. $6 per person; children ages 3 and under free. Experience the wonder that is the Christmas Nights of Lights' 2 1/2-mile drive-through light show. It is synchronized to both traditional and rocking holiday music played through your car radio.
Kings Island Winterfest:Select nights through Dec. 31. Kings Island Amusement Park, 6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason. Free admission for Gold Pass members; $27.99 general admission. Winterfest, a Cincinnati holiday tradition, has returned to Kings Island Amusement Park for its third year in a row. Enjoy lights, live entertainment and more than 17 rides at the park.
Holiday Lights on the Hill: 6-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 6-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday through Jan. 5. Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum, 1763 Hamilton-Cleves Road, Hamilton. $20-$25 per carload; $15 for members. Enjoy a two-mile drivable path through a Pyramid Hill decked out in twinkling lights.
UC Health Ice Rink: Noon-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 21; 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Sunday from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4; noon-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and noon-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday from Jan. 5 to Feb. 18. Fountain Square, Fifth and Vine streets, Downtown. $6 admission, $4 skate rentals. Skate the day away with family and friends. The rink will remain open through February, with hours changing after Dec. 22.
A Zinzinnati Holiday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through Jan. 7; special holiday hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 24 and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 25. Krohn's Conservatory, 1501 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams. $10 adults; $7 children ages 5-17; free admission ages 4 and under. Admire Krohn's collection of beautiful holiday plants, model trains and handcrafted ornaments.
The Christmas Ranch:5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday through Dec. 23. The Christmas Ranch, 3205 S. Waynesville Road, Morrow. $20 per vehicle. The Christmas Ranch is decked out with more than 1 million lights set to music. There are also shops, rides and a chance to meet Santa Claus at the ranch. The ranch will be closed the day of Thanksgiving.
Playhouse in the Park’s "A Christmas Carol": Nov. 27-Dec. 29. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Mount Adams. $30-$108. Playhouse in the Park will once again bring Charles Dickens' classic to life at the Marx Theatre.
"The Nutcracker": Dec. 19-29, times vary. Cincinnati Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. $29-$125. "The Nutcracker," performed by the Cincinnati Ballet, returns to Music Hall with 14 performances this holiday season.
Water Wonderland with Scuba Santa: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily Nov. 29-Dec. 31. Newport Aquarium, 1 Aquarium Way, Newport. $19.99 pass holders; $25.99 adults; $17.99 children. Watch as Santa makes special visits to the aquarium daily from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
Antique Christmas: Daily through Jan. 5. Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Downtown. Explore Christmases of yore with the Taft's Antique Christmas exhibit. The exhibit includes galleries showing the many faces of Santa through the years, Victorian-era decorations and antique toys.
Summit Park Ice Rink: 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 13. Holiday hours: noon-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon-8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14-Jan. 5. Summit Park, 4335 Glendale Milford Road, Blue Ash. $5 admission; ages 3 and under free. The ice rink is under the glass canopy. Food trucks also will be nearby. The rink will close at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and will be closed on Christmas and New Year's Day.
Light Up the Fair: 5:30-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday through Jan. 5. Boone County Fairgrounds, 5819 Idlewild Road, Burlington. $6 per person up to four passengers, children under 3 are free; $25 flat fee five to eight passengers; $5 per person for cars with nine or more passengers. Light Up the Fair returns for its second year as a drive-through light show synchronized to music located at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The event is a 1.5 mile-long display with more than a half-million lights.
