Cambridge Area Holiday Events 2012

If you weren’t sure we were in the Winter Holiday Season the weather in the Cambridge Mass area is definitely trying to give you a hint.  With temperature in the 30’s last week you are either ready to take refuge in a cozy warm restaurant or itching to hit the skiing slopes.  I know, I know things seem tropical this week in the upper 40s and even 50’s but don’t fear colder weather is coming back.

Holiday lights are always part of getting into the spirit this time of year.  Now that the Cambridge Black Out is behind us for now we can focus on enjoying some of the light displays around the city.  Harvard Square has already lined the trees of the area with their SparkleFest lights.  This event is actually a series of events put on by the Harvard Square Business Association.  In their words:

Sparklefest is a five week celebration of the holiday season in Harvard Square that begins on Plaid/Black Friday and culminates on New Year’s Eve.  With colorful holiday lights adorning the trees and street lamps, Harvard Square becomes the perfect festive location to shop, dine and enjoy the holiday season.  Set aside time to partake in all the family-friendly events, many of which are free and open to the public!

There are quite a few events from here to New Year’s so be sure to check out the Harvard Square SparkleFest 2012 event page.  A few that stick out for me are Jose Mateo’s Ballet performance of The Nutcracker, the opening of the Ice Skating Rink at the Charles Hotel and the Ciclismo Classico’s Annual Jingle Ride.  Of course there are various opportunities to shop.  If you need a bigger mall experience for some of your Christmas and Holiday Shopping the CambridgeSide Galleria also has some events like picture taking opportunities with Santa Claus.

We included the Ice Skating Rink a the Charles Hotel above but there are other ice skating options in Cambridge.  The Kendall Square Holiday on Ice event takes place on December 15th, the day before the rink at the hotel does.  Ice skating, especially outdoor ice skating is a great family event that gets everyone in the Holiday spirit.  The Kendall Square event puts on performances by world class professional skaters that you can watch with a “nice hot cup of cocoa” in your hands.  You can keep up to date with the Kendall Square Ice Skating rink by following their fan page on facebook. They also have their Twitter information there too.

The last event we want to highlight for enjoying the Holiday Season around Cambridge is Nashoba Valley’s Festival of Lights.  Not only can you participate in relatively close skiing they have a family friendly park with rides, games, food and wagon rides around a wonderfully lighted and decorated “winter forest”.  They are already open and plan to be open through December 23 for this festival but be sure to visit their events page which highlights what days and hours (evenings) they are open.

Enjoy the 2012 Holiday Season!

Here is a video which shows some of the happenings at the Festival of Lights at Nashoba: