As the holidays creep up behind finals, various solo, friend and family events spring out of the snow piles around campus. Throughout the colder months, there are multiple one-time events as well as month long shows for locals and visitors with busier schedules.
Most holiday parades in local counties varied around the end of November to the first week of December, however, there are other events over the next few weeks that will have just as much holiday spirit.
Within Sheboygan County, there are craft fairs, photo ops, and various sites lighting the streets. On Thursday, December 14 at 5:00 p.m., Bookworm Garden’s would be reopening their doors for the final time before Spring for their Frost Fest Winter Celebration. This is a paid, family friendly light shows throughout the gardens, with additional access to their winter story times, arts and crafts, and a bonfire and snack service for purchase. The tickets are available on their website, www.bookwormgardens.org/frost-fest, with a cost of $10 for members, and $15 for non-members.
For a more high-class celebration, The Village at 170 in Kohler is hosting a New Years celebration with dinner and a show. For a ticket fee of $98, a large upscale dinner, dessert, and midnight champagne toast is provided alongside the experience of the Dueling Pianos. NEW Dueling Pianos is a newer duo of piano entertainment. The event will take place on New Years Eve, December 31, 2023, from 6:00 p.m. until midnight. Questions and tickets are available through TheVillage170 venue’s email, [email protected], or through Facebook.
Other local venues, such as 3 Sheeps Brewing Company, will be hosting events such as Cookie Decorating and Santa visits. This will take place December 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Sheboygan for photo op opportunities with Santa, and cookie decorating for the younger ones in your lives, or family interactions at the local taproom.
Also on December 17 is an event held by the PTO group at Howards Grove Highschool. They will be hosting an indoor Winter Market with roughly 30 different craft vendors, as well as a bake sale. This is a larger event focused on the support and information sharing of local small businesses, organizations, and fundraising for the school right in the backyard of Lakeland’s campus. The Market will take place in the gym of the high school from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
While there are many pay-per-view and attendance opportunities in the area, there are also a handful of free options available for those looking for some holiday cheer this year. From now until the end of December, Sheboygan’s Rotaract club and dozens of amazing local volunteers showcase a beautiful drive-through lightshow in Sheboygan’s Evergreen Park. Each night from 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., cars are welcome to drive through the park and witness a grand display of various Christmas light presentations that are also motorized in tune with a local radio station. This is a completely free event, with the option for voluntary donations of perishable goods for the Sheboygan County Food Bank.
Yet another free event in the later weeks of December is a Celtic Christmas Concert, Christsong, at St. Paul Lutheran Church and school. This is a free concert open to the public by The Lutheran Ceili Orchestra, focusing on a night of Irish Christmas music. The concert is held Wednesday, December 20, at 7:00 p.m. at 1461 Deerfield Dr, in Sheboygan.
Throughout all the local towns also, the communities have decorated the towns beautifully. Throughout Sheboygan’s downtown area, the Mead Public Library has lit their trees, and the rest of the area is also adorned with various lights, flowers, and other Christmas décor on the historic brick and plant life scenery in the area. City Green Park also has a walk-through pathway of lights in the downtown area, which go along with the city-wide decorations that the community has displayed over their lawns. Each area has plenty to see, drive by and experience, as well as many opportunities for photo ops and holiday cheer.