Presented by the Muskegon County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Festival of Trees
November 17 – November 27
The Muskegon Museum of Art’s 12th annual Festival of Trees community holiday celebration runs Thursday, November 17 through Sunday, November 27. The Festival will be open daily 11:00am to 5:00pm, noon to 5:00pm on Sundays, and closed on Thanksgiving. Vintage Downtown Muskegon holiday city scenes will be the backdrop of this year’s event. Professionally designed themed trees and décor will set a festive holiday mood and will be available for purchase through silent auction over the 10 days of the Festival. Raffles, music and holiday gift shopping will add to the fun. Special events include the popular Teddy Bear Breakfast, Senior Day, Family Day, Deck Your Halls holiday design workshop and two performances of A Christmas Carol.
Purchase admission tickets at the door: $8 Adult | $5 MMA Member | $3 child 3-17 yrs. (under 3 free) | $14 All Festival Pass
Festival of Trees Special Events
Festival Senior Day – Tuesday, November 22, 10:00am – 5:00pm
$1 off Festival admission for ages 65 and older. Enjoy free coffee and cookies, raffles, and entertainment throughout the day. Call 231-720-2571 for group bookings. Calling ahead to reserve an arrival time for your group will help us plan welcoming assistance and easier traffic flow.
Festival Family Day – Wednesday, November 23, 10:00am – 5:00pm
Get out of the house for holiday fun the day before Thanksgiving! Discounted family rate and kids’ activities will add to the fun. Call 231-720-2571 for group bookings.
Teddy Bear Breakfast – Saturday, November 26, 8:30-10:30am
Grab your teddy bears and get ready for another Teddy Bear Breakfast—great fun for ages 3-8 (and their adults). Includes full breakfast, visit with Santa, craft activity, and teddy bear checkup. Like last year, the event is longer with one more breakfast seating and fewer diners per seating. This change will provide more seating room. Tickets are limited, and always sell out. Plan to purchase early. Tickets: $12 for adults/$7 ages 1-17. Includes Festival admission. Call 231-720-2580 for tickets.
Deck Your Halls Design Workshop – Sunday, November 27, 2:00-4:00pm
Enjoy wine, coffee, and snacks while Le Fleur Shoppe and Wasserman’s Festival designers demonstrate how you can make creative and affordable décor for gifts or for your own home, using new ideas inspired by Pinterest and other DIY sites. The many items crafted during the program will be given away to one-dollar raffle winning audience members. Tickets: $20 per person/$15 MMA member/$25 at the door. Includes Festival admission. Cash bar. Call 231-720-2580 to purchase tickets.
Hands on a Hardbody
November 18 – December 4
November 18 – December 4, Muskegon Civic Theatre invites you to the Beardsley Theater for “Hands on a Hardbody!” Inspired by true events, and infused with a “fresh roots-rock vibe,” this is the hilarious musical about a hard-fought contest in which only one winner can drive away with the American Dream. Ten contestants are determined to endure four sleepless days in the Texas heat for a chance to win a brand-new Nissan hardbody truck. All they have to do is fight to keep at least one hand on the truck and they will drive it away. Last one standing wins! Tickets are $20 & $22. For more information, visit www.frauenthal.org.
Ornament Extravaganza
November 21- December 24 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Now through Christmas, you are invited to the Red Lotus Gallery/Muskegon Center for the Arts for their Ornament Extravaganza! Christmas ornaments have been created by local artists and will be available during the months of November and December. They make wonderful Christmas gifts. For more information, call 231-206-0426.
USS Silversides November Lecture Series
November 21 @ 6:00 pm
Monday evenings through November 28 at 6:00pm, you’re invited to the USS Silversides Submarine Museum’s November Lecture Series! The cost is $5, or free for museum members. www.silversidesmuseum.org
November 21: The Discovery of the USS Conestoga presented by David Ruck, MFA, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
This was one of the top unsolved maritime mysteries since it went missing in 1921, until it was found in 2016, 95 years later. Come hear about the discovery and identification of the USS Conestoga as told by documentary film maker David Ruck.
November 28: WWII Through the Eyes of a Tank Commander presented by Clyde Rinsema.
Retrace the steps of Clyde’s father Sgt. George Rinsema through the European Theater of the war from D-Day through the many battles and ending at the Elbe River in Germany in 1945. The presentation will include quotes from letters sent home, video and photographs from WWII as well as anecdotes and comments made by Germans 50 years after the war when George & Clyde revisited the combat route taken during his time in the war.
Mystery of the Christmas Star
Tuesdays and Thursdays @ 7:00 pm
Investigate the signs that led the Wise Men to travel to Bethlehem in “Mystery of the Christmas Star” at Muskegon Community College’s Carr-Fles Planetarium! No reservations are needed for this free, 35-minute program, which includes a brief lecture on the current sky conditions,as projected on the planetarium dome. Runs every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00pm November 1-December 1. The doors open at 6:45pm. There will be no show on Thanksgiving. Call (231) 777-0289 for more information.
Beats and Eats: Thanksgiving Eve Party
November 23 @ 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Wednesday, November 23, come to Bella Maria’s to celebrate the biggest party night of the year, Thanksgiving Eve! “Beats & Eats” features live music from Hip Pocket, the Midwest’s premiere R&B/Horn band. You can also enjoy an Italian/American Buffet with stuffed peppers, buffalo wings, toasted ravioli, Florentine cod, chicken tetrazzini, tortellini and so much more! The buffet is from 5:00-8:00pm. The music is from 8:00-11:00pm. Call 231-563-6914 for your $10 music tickets or for more information. www.bellamariasristorante.com
Run Muskegon’s 5k Turkey Trot
November 24 @ 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Thursday, November 24 at 9:00am, join “Run Muskegon” Thanksgiving Morning and turkey trot down the Lakeshore Bike Trail! Burn some calories and work up an appetite before your big turkey dinner. Registration is free, but in lieu of a registration fee, they are asking participants to bring a cash donation for Run Muskegon so they can clear the bike trail this winter. Register at www.runmuskegon.com and see you on Thanksgiving morning!
Thanksgiving Brunch at SE4SONS
November 24 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Forget cooking this year. Bring the entire family out for a delicious brunch on Thanksgiving! Reservations are available from 11:00am-2:00pm on Thursday, November 24. Call 231-755-3737 for reservations or more information. The cost is $26 for adults, $10 for kids 5 to 11. Children 4 and under are free
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
November 25 @ 8:00 pm
Mannheim Steamroller will present the best the holiday has to offer this season. The group will perform live for one performance only in Muskegon at the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts Friday, November 25 at 8:00pm. Tickets are available at the Frauenthal Center Box Office, by phone at 231-727-8001 or online at www.startickets.com.
Holidays in the City
November 26
Saturday, November 26 visit downtown Muskegon for discounts, sales, giveaways, historic holiday tours and carriage rides, and the holiday lighting of Hackley Park with Santa Claus as Muskegon celebrates Small Business Saturday with Holidays in the City! Be sure to get your card stamped for an opportunity to win a beautiful basket of goodies from local merchants which can be viewed at the Convention & Visitors Bureau in the old train depot! For more information visit www.downtownmuskegon.org.
Holiday Artisan Market
November 26 @ 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Shop items created by local artisans in the elegance of the Greater Muskegon Woman’s Club. Begin your Christmas shopping with one of a kind gifts chosen just for the people on your list! www.muskegonwomansclub.org
Holiday Tours – Hackley & Hume Site
November 26 & 27 @ 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Visitors will have an opportunity to tour the homes of Muskegon’s most well-known lumber barons decorated to celebrate the holiday season! Holiday tours of the Hackley & Hume Historic Site will begin on Saturday, November 26, with special activities including horse drawn-wagon rides from the Site to Hackley Park for the city’s lighting of the Christmas tree. A tent will fill the courtyard between the two houses where visitors can listen to Christmas carolers, sip hot chocolate, and decorate cookies.
Tours begin in the Hackley house where a tree in the bay window of the Reception Hall greets visitors as they embark on their journey through the homes built in the late 1800s. The holidays are also being celebrated across the courtyard in the Hume family home. A tree decorated using a family photo as a guide is always popular with visitors. The tours are walk-through style with guides placed throughout the houses to answer questions.
The groups decorating the two houses this year include Delta Kappa Gamma, Women’s Division of the Chamber of Commerce, Muskegon’s Woman’s Club, Shoreline Victorian Ladies Society, Muskegon County Medical Society Alliance, Helen and Elizabeth Sherman, Minerva Dill Questers, Lakeshore Animal Hospital, Barb Lloyd and Jane Arndt, and the Interpretive Staff of the Historic Sites.
Tours will continue November 27 from 1:00 – 4:00pm, December 3 from Noon to 5:00pm, Monday, December 26 from 4:00 – 8:00pm and Tuesday, December 27 from 1:00 – 4:00pm. Tours are $7 for adults and teens, $5 for age 65 and older, and free for visitors 12 and younger. www.lakeshoremuseum.org
2016 Holiday Tour Schedule:
November 26 from 4 – 8 pm
November 27 from 1 – 4 pm
December 3 from 12 – 5 pm
December 26 from 4 – 8 pm
December 27 from 1 – 4 pm
Muskegon Lumberjacks Home Game
November 26 @ 7:15 pm
Saturday, November 26 at 7:15pm, come to the L.C. Walker Arena as the Muskegon Lumberjacks take on the Lincoln Stars! The Jacks are offering fans a special promotion, for just $16, fans get a ticket to the game and a movie ticket redeemable anytime and for any movie at Cinema Carousel. This special must be redeemed at the Lumberjacks sales office inside LC Walker Arena during regular business hours (9:00am-6:00pm). Also on that night, kids tickets are absolutely free with the purchase of an adult ticket as part of Muskegon’s Family Night promotion.The Jacks currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, and had two players honored with USHL player of the week honors last week. Andrei Svechnikov, the Jacks’ star rookie, was named forward of the week, while 3-year veteran and Jacks captain Bo Hanson was the defenseman of the week. Call 231-724-5225 today to reserve your seats! For more information, visit www.muskegonlumberjacks.com.