For twenty years, one December evening drew about 25,000 people to Broadway between Columbus Circle and 70th Street. That evening was Winter's Eve at Lincoln Square, which the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District calls the city's largest free holiday festival. It ran from 2000 to 2019. At its height it filled the stretch with food from more than 30 local restaurants at three outdoor tasting venues. It had stages in both Richard Tucker Park and Dante Park and drew participation from 100 neighborhood businesses.
The festival is over, but the stretch of Broadway it used is still where the holidays happen. The BID's 2026 program, Holidays in Lincoln Square, lays the season out as a walk you can take on any December evening. It starts at the nightly Star Show at The Shops at Columbus Circle, continues up Broadway past enhanced holiday lighting on the BID's ten Broadway Malls, and finishes at the light-and-sound shows in Dante and Richard Tucker Parks. That covers most of the old Winter's Eve footprint. The difference is that it now runs every night for weeks.
The walk, south to north
The route has three stops. The first lights come on at 4:30 p.m., at the northern end of the walk.
- The Shops at Columbus Circle. Holiday Under the Stars runs through January 3, with 300,000 lights and 44 illuminated stars. The central show repeats every 30 minutes from 5 p.m. to midnight.
- The Broadway Malls. The BID has added enhanced holiday lighting across its ten Broadway Malls.
- Dante Park and Richard Tucker Park. The two triangles sit across from Lincoln Center at Broadway and 64th Street and Broadway and 65th Street, and their light-and-sound shows start at 4:30 p.m. every night. In Dante Park the lights are set to festive recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera. In Richard Tucker Park they are set to arias by the tenor the park is named for, courtesy of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Because the park shows start half an hour before the first Star Show, someone heading uptown at dusk reaches 64th Street with the lights already running. Columbus Circle keeps going until midnight for anyone heading the other way later.
Where the bigger evenings land
Winter's Eve put everything on one night. The 2026 program spreads its larger moments through December. Almost all of them start between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., and almost all of them happen within two blocks of Broadway and 64th Street.
The season opens with the Magical Lights Ceremony on Tuesday, December 1, at 4:30 p.m. in Dante Park. The program begins with classic circus acts given a holiday twist, followed by a free set from Kaufman Music Center's Special Music School Chorus. Then the Saints of Swing play for dancing: Jim Mola and Kati Mac on vocals, Grisha Alexiev on drums, Tim Ouimette on trumpet, Ken Foy on trombone, Dale DeMarco on saxophone and Lew Scott on bass. The 2026 kickoff is three days earlier than last year's, which the BID held on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
One week later, on Tuesday, December 8, at 5:30 p.m., the BID and Chabad of the West 60's hold a Chanukah candle lighting in Richard Tucker Park. The evening includes Richard Tucker arias, made possible by the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Between those evenings, the Fabulous Fezziwigs carol along the neighborhood's sidewalks in Victorian costume, named for the hosts of the Christmas party in Dickens's A Christmas Carol. They sing on seven nights: December 4, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17 and 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. That is half an hour longer than last year's 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. slot. The BID's description is written for people already out on the sidewalk: "Whether you're strolling, shopping, or heading home from work, you're sure to be delighted."
The calendar from publication through the solstice
The table puts the BID's program alongside what runs at the southern end of the walk and the free events on the Lincoln Center campus.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov 19 | Broadway Under the Stars | The Shops at Columbus Circle | 5–6 p.m. |
| Fri, Nov 20 | WeBop Holiday Jazz Jam, Jazz at Lincoln Center | The Shops at Columbus Circle | 1:30–2:15 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Family Holiday Storytime with POWERHOUSE Books | The Shops at Columbus Circle | 10–10:45 a.m. |
| Fri, Nov 27 | The Nutcracker opens, New York City Ballet | David H. Koch Theater | Ticketed |
| Tue, Dec 1 | Magical Lights Ceremony | Dante Park | 4:30 p.m. |
| Tue, Dec 1 | Columbus Circle Holiday Market opens | Columbus Circle | 11 a.m.–7 p.m. |
| Thu, Dec 3 | Broadway Under the Stars | The Shops at Columbus Circle | 5–6 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Songs of the Season, New York Philharmonic | Clark Studio Theater | 2 p.m., free |
| Mon, Dec 7 | The High Low: A Night of Blues on Broadway | Lincoln Center Theater Lobby | 7 p.m., free |
| Tue, Dec 8 | Chanukah Candle Lighting | Richard Tucker Park | 5:30 p.m. |
| Dec 9–13 | Handel's Messiah | Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall | Ticketed |
| Fri, Dec 11 | The Magic Flute holiday presentation opens | Metropolitan Opera | Ticketed |
| Mon, Dec 21 | WinteRamble | Sidewalks of Lincoln Square | 5 p.m. |
What fills the southern end before December
The Broadway parks light up on December 1, so for the rest of November the season sits at Columbus Circle. Tonight, Thursday, November 19, brings one of the evenings of Broadway Under the Stars, free hour-long performances with Q&As moderated by Broadway alum George Psomas. The series returns December 3, 10 and 17. The lineup includes casts from Maybe Happy Ending, Operation Mincemeat, SIX, The Outsiders, & Juliet, The Fantasticks, The Lion King, Aladdin, Chicago and The Book of Mormon, among others.
The daytime schedule there is built for families. The Family Holiday Storytimes with POWERHOUSE Books are new this year and run Saturday mornings from 10 to 10:45 on November 21 and December 5, 12 and 19. Jazz at Lincoln Center's WeBop Holiday Jazz Jam meets on Friday afternoons, November 20 and December 11 and 18. The Personalization Station offers hand-calligraphed gift tags on Saturdays and holiday embroidery on Sundays, from noon to 6 p.m. through December 20. The Little Star Seekers scavenger hunt runs through January 3, with activity passports at Ground Floor Guest Services.
From December 1 through 31, UrbanSpace's Columbus Circle Holiday Market brings in local artisans, designers and food vendors. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday. On the Fezziwigs' weekday nights, the market closes half an hour before the carolers finish uptown.
The ticketed season across the street
Across Broadway from Dante Park, Lincoln Center's ticketed holiday programming runs on the same weeks. New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker runs at the David H. Koch Theater from Friday, November 27, through December 31. The New York Philharmonic performs Handel's Messiah December 9 through 13 at the Wu Tsai Theater in David Geffen Hall, with Jeannette Sorrell conducting Apollo's Singers. The soloists are Jeanine De Bique, Rachael Wilson, Ed Lyon and Paweł Horodyski. The orchestra's family-friendly Sounds of the Season follows on December 11 and 12.
The Met's Magic Flute holiday presentation is the abridged, English-language Julie Taymor production, running December 11 through January 2. It comes with activity books, lobby photo opportunities and face painting before matinees. There are Holiday Open Houses before the December 13 and 19 performances, and the December 26 matinee is a relaxed performance.
Two free evenings on the campus fill out the calendar. On Saturday, December 5, the Philharmonic presents Songs of the Season at 2 p.m. in the Clark Studio Theater. On Monday, December 7, The High Low: A Night of Blues on Broadway fills the Lincoln Center Theater Lobby at 7 p.m.
The one night that still feels like Winter's Eve
The WinteRamble is the part of the old festival that survived intact. The BID says the Frost Giants from Processional Arts Workshop were a Winter's Eve favorite, and the puppets came straight over into the new program. The fifth annual procession steps off on Monday, December 21, at 5 p.m. It is the BID's winter solstice walk, with towering Frost Giant puppets and J.C. King's Kalimbascope, a rolling ensemble of amplified thumb pianos. According to the BID, hundreds of residents, neighbors and visitors join the route each year carrying icicle lanterns and ringing chimes. Volunteers at a free workshop help participants make mini lanterns. This year's date is four days later than in 2025, when the procession ran on Wednesday, December 17.
From 2022 through 2025, the BID listed the procession's starting point on Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets, outside 1886 Broadway. The lantern workshop was held across the street at TD Bank, 1873 Broadway, running from 3 to 5 p.m. in the years the BID listed hours. West Side Rag's account of the 2023 procession describes a route that headed south on Broadway, turned onto Central Park West, and passed Dante Park twice before it was done. West Side Rag also covered the 2024 edition and placed that year's lantern workshop across the street at TD Bank. The BID's 2026 page lists the route as along the sidewalks of Lincoln Square.
If your December walks up Broadway have you thinking about a home within sight of Dante Park's lights, Luca Paci Real Estate can tell you which Lincoln Square buildings face those blocks and what the apartments with that view have traded at. Request a discreet consultation.
