Richland County is ready to spread holiday cheer with brilliant light displays, free holiday tours, and craft fairs to shop for everyone on your list. After last year’s holidays were full of the unexpected, here are some ideas to make this holiday season a memorable one for all the right reasons!
Lights & Sites
Start the holiday season with the picturesque views in a brisk run along the B&O Trail as you work up an appetite for your Thanksgiving feast at the Mansfield & Lexington Turkey Trot (Nov 25).
Kingwood Hall has been decked for the holidays, the gardens too! Christmas at Kingwood (Nov 27 – Dec 30, closed Mondays) at Kingwood Center Gardens features a Trail of Lights with nearly 200 string light trees, over 101,000 LED bulbs, and over 7 linear miles of lights illuminating the grounds. See historic Kingwood Hall decorated for the holidays, including, for the first time, the bedrooms on the third floor. This year, Christmas at Kingwood is featured in Ohio. Find it Here.’s Holiday Lights Trail alongside a curated selection of the state’s best and brightest holiday displays. Please note, advanced registration is required for all evening light tours, including for Kingwood Members and children 12 & under.
Malabar Farm State Park, the historic home and working farm of Pulitzer Prize-Winner Louis Bromfield, is celebrating the season with Candlelight Holiday Tours (Dec 3-5, 10-13).
Experience the deeper meaning of the Christmas season at BibleWalk, with free admission to The Life of Christ Tour (Dec 1-31, closed Sundays and Mondays).
Get in the hometown spirit of the season with the 6th Annual Christmas in the Village (Dec 2-4) in downtown Plymouth, and the Ontario Christmas Tree Lighting (Dec 2) in Marshall Park.
Other area attractions are also getting in the Christmas spirit. Historic Oak Hill Cottage, a perfectly preserved Gothic Revival home, offers special Christmas at Oak Hill Cottage Sunday Tours (Nov 21-Dec 26), including a living history tour of the home from its past residents with the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Dec 4). Hunt for the ghosts of Christmas Past with Ghost Walks (Nov 26, Dec 3), Public Ghost Hunts (Nov 27, Dec 4) ) at The Ohio State Reformatory.
Make a List and Check it Twice
With shipping delays and an overwhelmed postal service, shop local and you won’t have to worry about whether your gifts will arrive in time. The Tiny Tim Christmas Shoppe (Nov 27 & Dec 3, 4, 11, 18) at Downtown Mansfield Inc., a volunteer assisted Christmas shop for children ages 12 and under, will help your little ones shop for you — they’ll even help wrap and tag gifts too!
Shop local boutiques for specialty gifts during the First Friday Shop Hop (Dec 3) in downtown Mansfield. Find gifts from over 120 vendors during the Ontario Community Craft Show (Dec 4) at the Richland County Fairgrounds. Don’t miss the Christmas Market (Dec 11-12) at Kingwood Center Gardens, part of Christmas at Kingwood. Support Ohio artists and designers at the Mansfield Art Center 52nd Annual Holiday Fair (Nov 20-Dec 24, closed Mondays) where you’ll find fine arts, functional crafts, and gifts for almost everyone on your list.
The 2nd Annual Holiday Sip & Shop (Nov 27-28) at The Hub at Village Square will feature over 65 local makers and small shops. Find the softest gifts around at Christmas at Alpaca Meadows (Nov 27-28) where you’ll find alpaca wool blankets, socks, mittens, ornaments, sweaters, and so much more.
The Seasons On Stage and Screen
Catch the family favorite, Mansfield Symphony: Holiday Pops (Dec 18) at The Renaissance Theatre where the Mansfield Symphony and Chorus will ring in the season with contemporary and classic holiday tunes and carols. The Renaissance Theatre will also present a screening of the beloved holiday film, The Polar Express (Dec 19).
The newly renovated Mansfield Playhouse presents The Magician’s Nephew (Dec 3-12), a stage dramatization of C.S. Lewis’s beloved children’s book from the Chronicles of Narnia series. Catch the Stage Reading of De Luxe by Louis Bromfield and John Gearon (Nov 18) at The Ohio State University at Mansfield. This rarely-presented work is staged in partnership with the Malabar Farm Foundation in honor of the 125th anniversary of Louis Bromfield’s birth and the 65th anniversary of his death.
How will you celebrate the holiday season? Find more happenings and events on the Destination Mansfield calendar of events, including live music at your favorite local restaurants.