By the calendar, the holiday season in Lincoln starts the week of Thanksgiving. By the ticket pages, it started weeks ago. Zoo Lights sells its evenings in fifteen-minute slots. The Sip + Shop preview night at Love, The Locals sells no tickets at the door. And the ticket page for Wax Buffalo's Winter Market on O Street lists every paid tier as sold out.
Put the dates side by side and they bunch up. Most of what people plan around falls on two weekends, Dec. 5 and 6 and Dec. 12 and 13. Zoo Lights runs underneath both of them. If you have family coming in or kids already counting down, these decisions really get made now, in the last days of October.
The season, laid out by ticket rule
Here's how the 2026 dates stack up, along with what each event asks of you before you show up.
| Date | Event | Where | What it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 20 to Dec. 30 | Zoo Lights Powered by LES | Lincoln Children's Zoo | Timed ticket; no gate sales once a slot sells out |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | A Magical Cirque Christmas | Lied Center Main Stage | Ticket, from $34 adult and $17 youth |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Sip + Shop Preview Night | Canoyer Garden Center | Limited ticket, none sold at the door |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Pioneers Park Holiday Run | Pioneers Park | No cost listed |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Love, The Locals Holiday Market | Canoyer Garden Center | $6, ages 18 and under free |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Carols at the Capitol | Nebraska State Capitol | Listed on the Capitol calendar |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Wax Buffalo's Winter Market on O Street | 727 O St. | Limited ticket |
| Sat., Dec. 12 and Sun., Dec. 13 | The Nutcracker | Lied Center Main Stage | Ticket |
Three of those eight entries land on Sunday, Dec. 6. Two land on Saturday, Dec. 12. Zoo Lights is the one event that runs long enough to spread out, and it's also the one built to run out of room on any given night.
Zoo Lights sells evenings in fifteen-minute pieces
Zoo Lights Powered by LES runs Nov. 20 through Dec. 30, 2026. It's closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The zoo describes light shows set to holiday music, light tunnels, hanging vine lights, more than 30 lit animal silhouettes, holiday train rides, and s'mores and hot cocoa stations. Guests 21 and up can get adult hot cocoa, hot cider, beer and wine every evening.
General admission is timed, with entry slots every fifteen minutes from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. That works out to nine windows a night. The zoo says dates and times will sell out, and once a slot is gone, you can't buy it at the gate, so the zoo strongly recommends buying ahead. Anyone age 2 and up needs a ticket, and tickets are non-refundable. You can only transfer them if you bought Ticket Assurance. A general admission ticket also means arriving inside the fifteen-minute window you picked.
General admission is $13.95 for zoo members and $16.95 for nonmembers, and the train is $3 more. A family of four without a membership pays $67.80 to get in, or $79.80 with everyone on the train. VIP tickets run $22.95 for members and $25.95 for nonmembers, and they include the train ride. VIP holders can come in at 5:30 p.m. or anytime later in the evening. For a nonmember who wants the train anyway, VIP costs $6 more than general admission plus a train ticket. Mostly, that $6 buys you out of the fifteen-minute window. On a night with a fussy toddler or a dinner that runs long, the extra might be worth it.
One small housekeeping note. The event page lists hours of 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and the zoo's FAQ says 5:30 to 9 p.m. Plan on the earlier closing time if you're cutting it close.
December 6 is the day to plan backward from
The first weekend of December carries more than any other day on the calendar, and it starts Saturday night.
Love, The Locals holds its Sip + Shop Preview Night on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Canoyer Garden Center, 2601 Long Pine Road. The organizer calls it a slower, more intimate evening where shoppers get first pick before the main market. Tickets are limited, every person who attends needs one, children included, and no tickets will be sold at the door. The organizer set Monday, Oct. 26, as the day sales open.
The main Holiday Market follows on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the same garden center. Admission is $6, and kids 18 and under get in free. The market has been running since 2015, so the Sunday crowd is an established one.
That same Sunday fills up across town:
- 10 a.m. The Pioneers Park Holiday Run starts at Pioneers Park, 3201 S. Coddington Ave. The city's Pioneers Park page lists no cost for it.
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Love, The Locals main market is open at Canoyer Garden Center.
- 2 to 3 p.m. The Epic Vocal Ensemble performs Carols at the Capitol in the second-floor rotunda of the Nebraska State Capitol.
You could fit a morning run, an afternoon of carols and the market's last couple of hours into one day without overlapping anything. Then there's a Zoo Lights slot that evening if you have the energy. Only two pieces of that day need action ahead of time. One is the Saturday preview night, if you want it. The other is the Zoo Lights ticket.
The week before carries one more ticketed night. A Magical Cirque Christmas plays the Lied Center Main Stage at 12th and R streets on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $34 for adults and $17 for youth.
December 12 is where the timing gets tight
The second weekend has fewer events. They're the ones with the tightest supply, though, and they share a Saturday.
Wax Buffalo's Winter Market on O Street runs Saturday, Dec. 12, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 727 O St., under the O Street Bridge. Kids 5 and under get in free, and pets aren't allowed. The Downtown Lincoln Association listing bills it as the market's fifth anniversary, with a larger German-inspired festival. It promises beer and wine gardens, candle-making, a tree-decorating contest, a Santa and kids zone, and discounted ice skating at the Railyard for ticket holders. The listing also called tickets limited and expected to sell fast.
The ticket page lists six options:
- General admission, $15
- Admission plus swag bag, $29
- Kids stocking add-on, $7
- Silver Patron, $100
- Gold Patron, $175
- Free entry for kids 5 and under
Every paid tier on that page shows "Sold out." Swag bags and stockings have to be picked up at the event, and tickets are non-refundable. If you already have a ticket, Dec. 12 is settled. If you don't, keep an eye on that page.
Later that same day, the Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company opens its 42nd annual Nutcracker at the Lied Center. Performances are Saturday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m. The production features nearly 200 student dancers from southeastern Nebraska alongside professional guest artists. Since the market closes at 5 p.m., a Saturday market visit fits with the 7 p.m. performance but runs into the 2 p.m. one. Families who want both on one day are really shopping for the evening show. Anyone who wants the market Saturday and the ballet as its own outing has the Sunday matinee.
That's three Nutcracker performances, against a cast big enough that a lot of seats will go to the dancers' own families. Of the shows on this calendar, it's the one where choosing early pays off the most.
Thanksgiving week, with guests in town
The first weekend of Zoo Lights comes the week before Thanksgiving, and the holiday itself closes some doors that visiting relatives might expect to find open.
The Nebraska State Capitol is closed to the public on Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after. Guided tours start again at 10 a.m. the following day. Zoo Lights is closed on Thanksgiving Day itself, so Friday, Nov. 27, is its first open night after the holiday. If you're hosting a houseful over the long weekend, that Friday night may be the most sought-after evening the zoo sells all season. That's an inference from the calendar, not a figure the zoo has published, but it's a good reason to book that slot first.
The order that makes sense for most households, going by when each option disappears:
- Zoo Lights slots for any night your guests are in town, starting with the Friday after Thanksgiving.
- Love, The Locals preview night tickets for Dec. 5, if you want the quieter evening, since nothing will be sold at the door.
- Nutcracker seats, picking between the Saturday evening show and the Sunday matinee depending on whether the Winter Market is part of your Dec. 12.
- Cirque tickets for Dec. 3, if a weeknight show fits.
The Sunday market, the Holiday Run and Carols at the Capitol can all wait for the week of. Those three make up most of Dec. 6, and they're what keeps that day easygoing.
From our place out on a Seward County acreage, most of our December plans run on chores and weather. The Lincoln outings we love still need a calendar. If your holiday guests are the type who start asking what life outside town looks like somewhere between Zoo Lights and the Nutcracker, I'm always glad to talk land, horses and Nebraska small towns. Reach out to Ashley Terry, and Let's Connect.
