Article Text

The holiday calendar is overflowing across Falls Church, Tysons and the wider Washington region. From Dec. 11-14, residents can catch neighborhood visits from the Santamobile, shop local art markets, attend concerts and plays, skate outdoors or explore museum exhibitions.

Falls Church highlights

Cherry Hill Farmhouse, 312 Park Avenue, will host mid-19th-century holiday teas from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14. A costumed interpreter portraying 1858 resident Eirene Blaisdell will discuss Civil War-era life before guests are served sandwiches, sweets, warm scones and unlimited tea. Registration is required, and tickets cost $48 per person.

The Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department’s Santamobile is making its final neighborhood rounds through Dec. 14. Nightly routes are available through the department’s website and social-media accounts. Organizers ask residents to email the Santamobile coordinator with questions instead of calling the fire station, and private drive-by requests cannot be accommodated.

At Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Meridian High School senior Anna Gray will examine the Civil War’s medical legacy from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. Her presentation will cover prewar medical practices, the effects of wartime conditions on hygiene and treatment, and the conflict’s lasting influence on infectious-disease care. Gray is an International Baccalaureate candidate and founder of Meridian’s Future Doctors of America Club. Registration is required.

The Falls Church City Community Band will perform “A Winter’s Resonance: The Sounds of the Season” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at Meridian High School, 121 Mustang Alley. The program includes Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Mary Voutsas and seasonal selections. Musicians of all ages and experience levels are invited to bring an instrument and join part of the concert.

Creative Cauldron’s Holiday Cabaret Series continues through Dec. 18 at 127 E. Broad Street, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $30, livestream access costs $15, and table packages with wine are available.

Falls Church Arts’ “Kinship,” an all-media exhibition about bonds among families, cultures and communities, remains on view at 700-B West Broad Street through Jan. 4.

Nova Nightsky Theatre is presenting the comedy “Sylvia” at Falls Church Presbyterian Church, 225 E. Broad Street, through Feb. 6. The story follows the upheaval that begins after a husband brings home a stray dog.

Herndon artist Lisa Green’s “Wild Spaces” continues through Jan. 11 at Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, 230 W. Broad Street. The free exhibition includes colorful oil paintings and black-and-white ink washes inspired by meadows, mountains and coastlines.

Holiday markets and art sales

The ninth annual Fairfax Holiday Market returns to downtown Fairfax from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12; noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13; and noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. A rotating group of craft vendors will offer handmade gifts alongside live entertainment.

Fort C.F. Smith Park’s 23rd Winter Artful Weekend will showcase work by 40 Arlington Artists Alliance members at Hendry House, 2411 N. 24th Street. Hours are 4-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, with an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. Friday. Admission is free.

The Water Park Neighborhood Holiday Market will bring local vendors, food and seasonal activities to 1601 Crystal Drive in National Landing from 5-9 p.m. Dec. 12 and 13. Admission is free.

Glen Echo Park’s Holiday Art Show & Sale continues through Jan. 4 in the Partnership Galleries. Offerings include glass, ceramics, paintings, photography, jewelry and ornaments. The Popcorn and Stone Tower galleries are open noon-4 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon-6 p.m. weekends. Park View Gallery is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is free.

Music around the region

Kill Lincoln headlines a ska-punk show with American Television and Thirteen Towers on Dec. 12 at The Vault in Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road. Doors open at 7 p.m. Kill Lincoln released its fourth album, “No Normal,” in 2024, while Fairfax-based Thirteen Towers released “Collision in Time” in August 2025.

Virginia Bronze will bring community-selected holiday music to The Vault on Saturday, Dec. 13. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The handbell ensemble, founded in 2006, has performed with major Washington-area choruses and expanded access to handbells through schools and community centers.

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra presents “Songs of the Season” at The Vault on Sunday, Dec. 14, with doors opening at 3 p.m. Margaret Woods will lead a program featuring music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake,” holiday standards and an audience sing-along.

George Mason University’s Center for the Arts hosts the American Festival Pops Orchestra at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13. Peter Wilson conducts the family-friendly “Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season,” featuring more than 60 professional musicians. Tickets cost $45 to $71, with half-price admission for youths through Grade 12. A discussion begins one hour before the approximately two-hour performance.

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones bring “Jingle All the Way” to Strathmore in North Bethesda at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. Béla Fleck, Victor Wooten and Roy “Future Man” Wooten will perform seasonal arrangements and fan favorites with saxophonist Jeff Coffin and Tuvan throat-singing group Alash. Tickets range from $28 to $98; a separate $110 VIP experience does not include concert admission.

The James Fernando Trio performs a free jazz concert from 8-9:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the Stacy C. Sherwood Center, 3740 Blenheim Boulevard in Fairfax.

Alexandria Baroque performs at the Bank of Alexandria beside Carlyle House from 2-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13. Violinist Michael De Sapio and theorbo player John Armato will present music by Biber, Walther, Corelli and Bonporti. Tickets, including a holiday mocktail, cost $12 or $10 for Friends of Carlyle House members.

Helicon’s annual winter-solstice concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at Dumbarton Concerts. The program combines Irish, bluegrass, old-time and American roots music with performers including Ken Kolodner, Robin Bullock, Chris Norman, the Ken and Brad Kolodner Quartet, Charm City Junction, Elke Baker and Irish dancer Jonathon Srour. In-person tickets cost $48 and livestream access is $14.

Comedy, theater and dance

“The Muslims are Coming!” takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at Atlas Performing Arts Center. The 90-minute stand-up program features Negin Farsad, Ophira Eisenberg, Gibran Saleem, Corey Ryan Forrester, Yasmin Elhady and Rola Z. The show is intended for ages 13 and older and includes strong language and mature themes.

Ángel Vázquez’s “The Other Side Story,” a one-person musical about Puerto Rican history in the United States since 1862, runs Dec. 12-14 at GALA Hispanic Theatre.

The touring musical “Water for Elephants,” adapted from Sara Gruen’s novel, remains at the National Theatre through Dec. 14. The circus-set story follows a grieving young man who jumps onto a moving train and finds an unexpected home, love and a new life.

Matthew J. Keenan’s “An Irish Carol” runs through Dec. 28 at the Keegan Theatre. Set in a modern Dublin pub, the comic drama reimagines Dickens’ story through David, a wealthy owner forced to confront his isolated life on Christmas Eve.

Mosaic Theater’s extended production of Samuel D. Hunter’s “A Case for the Existence of God” continues through Dec. 14. The play follows two fathers who form a friendship while wrestling with a mortgage loan, heartbreak and loneliness.

The Little Theatre of Alexandria presents “A Christmas Carol” through Dec. 20. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and at 2 and 5 p.m. weekends. The 75-minute production has no intermission, and reserved tickets cost $25.

Michael Russotto portrays nearly 50 characters in “A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas” at Olney Theatre Center through Dec. 28. An audio-described performance is scheduled for Dec. 17, followed by an ASL-interpreted performance Dec. 18. The show is recommended for ages 11 and older.

Noah Haidle’s “Birthday Candles” runs through Dec. 21 at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road in Tysons. The 90-minute play follows Ernestine Ashworth across birthdays from age 17 to 101.

“Guys and Dolls” continues through Jan. 4 at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall. Francesca Zambello directs the classic musical, which runs about two hours and 30 minutes with an intermission.

Ford’s Theatre’s annual “A Christmas Carol,” starring Craig Wallace as Ebenezer Scrooge, continues through Dec. 31. The music-infused production lasts two hours and is recommended for ages 5 and older.

Signature Theatre presents “Fiddler on the Roof” in the round through Jan. 26. Joe Calarco directs the story of Tevye, his family and a Jewish community confronting social change and antisemitism in czarist Russia. The production is recommended for ages 13 and older.

Estonian clown Julia Masli returns to Woolly Mammoth Theatre with the improvised holiday show “ho ho ho ha ha ha ha” through Dec. 21. An ASL-interpreted performance is scheduled for 8 p.m. Dec. 12.

Nova Y. Payton stars in “Hello, Dolly!” at Olney Theatre through Jan. 4. Tickets for the family-friendly musical range from $42 to $133.

Step Afrika!’s “Magical Musical Holiday Step Show” continues at Arena Stage through Dec. 23. Weekend performances run Dec. 11-14, with Santa photos offered from 3:30-7 p.m. Saturday. The high-energy production lasts about 90 minutes without an intermission.

The Washington Ballet’s locally themed “Nutcracker” continues at the Warner Theatre through Dec. 28. More than 380 student and professional dancers appear in the Georgetown-set production, which features George Washington as the Nutcracker and a cherry-blossom scene.

Film and museum programs

The National Gallery of Art will screen two Barbara McCullough films from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, followed by an in-person discussion with McCullough, Jacqueline Stewart and Philip Brookman. “Water Ritual #1” follows a woman performing rites of renewal in an abandoned section of Los Angeles, while “Shopping Bag Spirits and Freeway Fetishes” examines ritual across several artistic practices.

The National Museum of the American Indian presents “Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass” through May 29. The exhibition spans 45 years and includes about 120 works by 29 Indigenous artists, along with pieces by Dale Chihuly and international collaborations.

At the same museum, “Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe” runs through Jan. 1. The first major retrospective of the Ho-Chunk artist includes 50 sculptures, drawings and paintings inspired by Wisconsin waterways, cultural memory and relationships to place.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is displaying work by more than 40 Dutch and Flemish women in “Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750” through Jan. 11. Paintings, prints, lace, embroidery, paper cuttings and sculpture illustrate women’s extensive role in the Low Countries’ artistic economy.

“The Stars We Do Not See” at the National Gallery of Art brings together nearly 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander works dating from the late 1800s to the present. Drawn from the National Gallery of Victoria, the free exhibition continues through March 1, 2026.

George Mason University’s Fenwick Gallery examines Western distortions of Egyptian history in “The Mirage of Ancient Egypt” through Feb. 13, 2026. Its sections address commercial exploitation, reimagined spirituality and sexualized depictions.

Joey Enríquez’s “as i look towards what could have been mine” remains at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington through Jan. 25. Prints, sculpture, found objects and prose evoke the beauty, danger and personal meaning of the American Southwest’s deserts.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work” continues through July 12. Anchored by 33 works, it reassesses Anna Mary Robertson Moses’ rural imagery, late-life career and complicated celebrity.

“Material Acts of Resistance: Michèle Colburn” is open daily through Feb. 6 at George Mason’s Arlington campus. Colburn uses gunpowder, wire, thread and burned paper to transform materials associated with conflict into reflections on endurance and dissent.

The Phillips Collection presents “Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection” through Feb. 15. Organized alongside the nation’s 250th anniversary, the exhibition draws from several collections to examine varied depictions of American people, places and histories.

A retrospective of photojournalist Bernard Boston runs through Feb. 24 at McLean Project for the Arts and Historic Pleasant Grove Church. Boston, a longtime McLean resident, was the first Black member of the White House press corps and photographed presidents from Harry Truman through Bill Clinton.

The community exhibition “Imagining Together: Share Your Memories and Dreams” closes Dec. 13 at the PARC Gallery, 8508 Leesburg Pike in Tysons. It features work by artists ages 7 and older exploring personal memories, aspirations and intergenerational connections.

Rik Freeman’s “Wade in the Waters” runs through Feb. 19 at Phillips@THEARC. The Washington artist’s paintings trace waterways, Black history and the African diaspora from Bahia to the Anacostia River.

The Rubell Museum DC is presenting “Material Witness,” featuring 30 artists who work with unconventional materials including squid ink, Coca-Cola, ostrich eggs, oil, discarded metal and animal hides, through fall 2026. The museum is also showing four monumental quilts by Basil Kincaid in “Spirit in the Gift” through the same season.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston pairs Kimberly M. Becoat and Hong Hong in “A Land and 河/River” through Dec. 20. Becoat explores displacement and New York’s former Seneca Village, while Hong uses paper to consider water, migration and family history.

At the National Building Museum, “Building Stories” offers children and adults an interactive look at architecture and design in children’s literature. The exhibition includes installations, drawing, reading and building activities, with special attention to children in kindergarten through third grade.

More exhibitions and seasonal attractions

“Colorburst,” a show centered on bold color across multiple artistic styles, remains at the Sherwood Center in Fairfax through Dec. 19.

“Subtle Energy” is on view at the Fred Schnider Gallery of Art, 888 N. Quincy Street in Arlington.

McLean Project for the Arts’ Bernard Boston retrospective continues alongside several other long-running regional shows, while the Fairfax Art League is presenting its new fall exhibition.

Smithsonian’s National ZooLights runs through Jan. 3. The nighttime attraction features glowing animal lanterns, live music and one million LED lights. General admission is $9 for visitors ages 2 and older, parking costs $30, and an adults-only evening is scheduled for Dec. 17.

Outdoor skating returns

The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink is open through March 1, weather permitting. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Admission covers two consecutive 45-minute sessions and costs $15 for ages 13 and older. The price is $12 for children 12 and younger, adults 60 and older, military members and students with identification. Skate rentals cost $7, and season passes are $250.