Master Guide to Holiday Fun in Buffalo & Erie County, NY

The holiday season in Western New York is filled with fun as we prepare for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's! Here is your master guide to the holidays including events, concerts, activities, Christmas tree farms, and more!
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A Magical Christmas Adventure at Hidden Valley
Weekends Nov 28 - Dec 21, 2025Another Magical Christmas Adventure awaits at Hidden Valley Animal Adventure in Varysburg! The Lodge, in full holiday splendor, will host Santa’s Wonderland where you’ll decorate cookies, write letters to the North Pole, take holiday photos, and more before boarding your trolley for a journey through Hidden Valley’s Mystical Forest. There you’ll see herds of bison and elk, Randy the camel, llamas, and blackbelly sheep roaming the wintery terrain. Upon your return, pet and feed a variety of live animals in open-air stalls. Four consecutive weekends starting Black Friday, November 28 – December 21, 9am-4:30pm. Reservations Required. Book online at hiddenvalleyadventure.com. Allow 3 hours for the full experience.
Holiday Happenings at Genesee Country Village & Museum
There are so many ways to include Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford, NY, in your family's traditions this holiday season! With festive special events like our Holiday Market & Preparing for Winter (November 8 & 9), Yuletide in the Country Theatrical Tours and Dinners (December 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 19, & 20), Holiday Open House December 7 and Breakfast with St. Nick December 7 and 21... plus holiday cookies and shopping in the Flint Hill Store, GCV&M can help you plan ahead for a season of winter wonder.
101 Holiday Happenings around Buffalo
KidsOutAndAbout.com compiles a comprehensive list of holiday family activities in our area each year, organized under various categories. These categories include Santa Sightings, Light Displays, Living Nativities, Holiday Theatre, Holiday Concerts, Christmas Tree Experiences, Ice Skating, Hanukkah celebrations, Shopping & Craft Fairs, New Year's Eve events, and more. The list features both traditional holiday experiences like visiting Santa and viewing light displays, as well as unique local offerings. It's our mission to make it easy to plan your holiday schedule out and about; you'll be amazed at the wide variety of activities on the list!
Subscriptions Boxes: Gifts That Keep on Giving
Send thoughtful choices to the ones you love near and far, and plan some excellent expected surprises for your own family in the months to come. KidsOutAndAbout has put together of some of our favorite choices with a range for all different ages and interests.
Santa Sightings
Where can your kids visit with Santa? At plenty of places around our area! We also show you Breakfasts with Santa (and sometimes, Breakfast with the Grinch!). (Get your tickets early, because those Breakfasts with Santa tend to sell out early.) sell out.
FREE holiday events
You think you can't get anything free anymore? Nonsense! Here are a bunch of free holiday events (listed day by day) coming up in our area.
Chanukah
Hanukkah begins in the evening of December 14 and ends December 22, 2025.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is celebrated December 26-January 1 each year.
Lightbulb Day
Lightbulb Day is celebrated on the Winter Solstice, on or about December 21.
Holiday concerts and performances
There are lots of special concerts and shows... and some of them are free!












