Holiday Festive Traditions on Staten Island!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Between shopping for loved ones, drinking hot cocoa by the fireplace, decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols in your neighborhoods, baking Christmas cookies, watching your favorite holiday movies and tons more, it brings everyone plenty of happiness during the darkest time of the year (literally). It is nearly impossible to not be excited for Santa to come and for all the wonderful events Staten Island has to offer this month!

St.George Theatre:

The gorgeous St. George Theatre is always reliable for having a fabulous time! This month they are celebrating their 18th Annual Christmas show and The Nutcracker presented by Vicky Simegitos Dance Company. The tradition continues with this marvelous show they perform for family and friends. The Christmas show is based off a sweet plot on how a grandmother reads a story to her grandkids, all about the wonderful things that makes the holiday season so remarkable. This production includes some of the most famous Christmas tunes as “White Christmas,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Let it Snow,” and “Silver Bells,” as well as religious numbers including “O Holy Night” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” performed to a live orchestra led by musical director Michael Morreale.

The Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company have performed The Nutcracker featuring their most prestigious and trained dancers. The Nutcracker play is a classical ballet in two acts, originally based on Hoffmann’s 1816 fairy take The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The Nutcracker ballet is fun, fast paced and exciting. The dancers have took on this ambitious project every year. Each year this full length ballet, The Nutcracker leaves their audience at awe with amazement every year!

If you haven’t scored tickets yet, here’s how to! Just visit the St. George Theatre website and click box office. There it will take you straight to ticket master and the tickets range from just $10 – $50 each with a Sunday night special offer of $10 – $30 all levels. Group rates are offered as well through the box office at 718-442-2900 x 503. All proceeds will go to the fundraiser for the St. George Theatre Restoration, Inc. The dates of the show are listed below:

The Christmas Show:

12/18 – Sunday 3pm

12/18 – Sunday 7pm

The Nutcracker:

12/19 – Sunday 1pm

12/19 – Sunday 6pm

Snug Harbor/Lantern Festival:

Another holiday activity Staten Island offers is the Lantern festival! Its back! This festival is hosted 10/29/2021 – 01/09/2021 (Friday – Sunday), 12/24/2021 – 01/02/2022 (Sunday – Saturday) | 4:30 PM – 9:30 PM. In order to purchase tickets, click here for the Lantern Festival. This pop up show is located at Snug Harbor. They do an incredible job every year. It truly feels like you are walking through a winter wonderland. It’s an awesome thing to do with family and friends. Tickets range from $16.99 for kids and $24.99 for adults. After walking through the colorful lanterns at the end you will be able to indulge in some hot chocolate and food. There are multiple food trucks serving hot drinks and food for all! It’s a great time so you should definitely grab your tickets now!

Empire Outlets:

The Empire Outlets on Staten Island are hosting a few holiday events with picture taking being one of them. Super busy and don’t have time to set up a family photoshoot? No worries at all, visit the empire outlets website for their winter calendar to pick out a date that best works for you and your family. Once you picked out the date and time you’ll have a series of options to take a picture with Santa, photo with The Grinch, photo with Santa digital downloads, the photo with Grinch digital downloads, and there is even an option to reserve now and decide later on your magical village holiday experience! The prices are found on this page as well!

Another event the Empire outlets are hosting is located directly by their 40 foot Crystal Christmas tree! The third level of the mall on December 10th, 6pm – Wagner Highschool Theatre returns to perform holiday classics. If you can not make that date they are performing another show on December 17th 6pm with the Salem Church Choir who will perform holiday caroling. All performances are FREE! Can’t beat that family fun!

On December 11th from 11am to 8pm you can have your kids write a letter to Santa and drop it off at the magical Santa mailbox located on level 3 at Lo’Kel-Li Empire Outlets! The kids will have a blast writing letters, drinking hot cocoa, crafting will be involved, shopping, local vendors will be present and snacks to grab! The vendors will be teaching the kids how to make their own hats. Don’t miss the chance for your kids to get their last wishes in before Christmas! Only nice kids allowed at this function. Leave the naughty ones at home!

Cherry Hill Programs is collaborating with Autism Speaks to provide an awesome Sensory friendly event that will bring magic to all! Everyone is welcome from all ages and abilities. On December 12th from 9:30am to 10:30am Santa magic photo experiences will be sensory friendly. The crowds will be reduced, hardly any wait times, low music volume or no music at all and they will be supplying the perfect amount of lighting in order for it to be at a comforting level. Sensory Santa Day is a chance for children with autism and/or sensory processing disorders to have a visit with Santa in a noiseless and supportive environment.

Richmond Town/Eggers Igloos Winter Wonderland Experience: 

Holidays are so special because you build memories with family and friends and that’s the greatest gift of all! Eggers Richmond Town officially announced they are holding their second annual Winter Wonderland Igloo experience! This is the ultimate fun thing to do this holiday, whether with the girls or family! It is perfect for picture ops as well! Then, after the picture taking, what’s a better combo than hot cocoa and ice cream! The igloos are decorated beautifully with all types of Christmas decor! They provide blankets and pillows leaving your imagination to believe you are in the center of the North Pole. Just visit their website to reserve a time, igloo and the amount of people in your party! Slots are limited though, so make sure you act fast! This experience was so popular last year! They were constantly booked but check out their website to see their availability!

ICE SKATING ON STATEN ISLAND (WWII VETERANS MEMORIAl & STATEN ISLAND SKATING PAVILION):

Last but not least, Christmas Time calls for some ice skating! Ice skating can look hard but it’s a lot of fun once you get the hang of gliding. It is a great experience to do with family and friends. There are two locations right now that are open for business on Staten Island where you can go reserve a time and visit!

One location is the WWII Veterans Memorial Ice Skating rink! This is located 1305 Victory Blvd near Clove Lakes Park. Here are the times:
Friday 4pm – 10pm
Saturday from 12:00pm – 4:30pm and 7pm – 10pm and
Sunday from 12pm – 6pm

The other location is Staten Island Skating Pavilion which is located in 3080 Arthur Kill Road and their times are:
Monday 1pm – 5pm
Tuesday 9am – 11pm
Wednesday 9am – 11pm
Thursday 9am – 10pm
Friday 2pm – 10pm
Saturday 6:30am – 12:30am
Sunday 6:30am – 10pm

Sunday, December 12th they are hosting an event 2:30pm – 4:30pm to the public. All you have to is pre-register on their website. The event will include hot cocoa and decorating cupcakes!

Saturday, December 18th they are hosting another event where you can skate with Santa! Kids can have a chance for skating on the ice with Santa and his helpers! Admission is $15! Find out more info on their website by clicking here.

MOST BEAUTIFUL DECORATIVE HOMES ON STATEN ISLAND FOR CHRISTMAS:

Also, are you looking for the most gorgeously Christmas decorated homes in Staten Island? Look no further! If you and friends or family want to go out after dinner to see all the Christmas lights right here on Staten Island. There are a bunch of options in this Facebook group. Check out the page because it shows the zip codes where to find the stunning Christmas lights. I will always cherish those long car ride drives during Christmas time with my family and just looking through the car window up at all the beautiful lights!

 

 

Don’t forget the elves are watching and will report back to Santa Claus,

xoxo SIL!