Top LGBTQ-Welcoming Attractions this Holiday Season in Asheville, North Carolina
This winter, the Asheville area offers travelers a holiday season that bends to fit them. Couples, friends, multigenerational families and solo visitors alike will find fresh ways to make each moment their own alongside iconic seasonal traditions like Christmas at Biltmore, Winter Lights at the North Carolina Arboretum, and Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa's National Gingerbread House Competition. This year, the whole country gets a preview with the premiere of “A Grand Biltmore Christmas” on Saturday, Dec. 5. Filmed on location at Biltmore, it is the second Hallmark Channel movie set in Asheville and the follow-up to “A Biltmore Christmas,” which premiered in 2023. The new installment will give Hallmark Channel viewers a glimpse of Asheville as it appears every December, with a Gilded Age estate dressed for the season and a glowing, historic city just beyond the gates. Traditions, Made Personal: Nostalgic Asheville-area holiday events in 2026 The Asheville area’s holiday calendar is built on traditions that travelers return to year after year. This holiday season, visitors can embrace what feels familiar while discovering a new layer to their favorite seasonal rituals.
Christmas at Biltmore illuminates the estate | The iconic Asheville tradition returns for its 131st celebration with 36 decorated Christmas trees, 45,000 lights and 442 candles inside Biltmore House alone. At Candlelight Christmas Evenings, guests can experience the glow after dusk accompanied by live musicians and choral performances. This year’s celebrations are made even more special by the premiere of Hallmark’s “A Grand Biltmore Christmas.”
Merry music rings through the mountains | Warren Haynes’s Christmas Jam returns for its 34th year on Saturday, Dec. 12, at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena. The marathon night of music features Greta Van Fleet, The War on Drugs and Gov’t Mule and benefits local nonprofits like the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity and BeLoved Asheville. For a more classical take on the season, Asheville Choral Society presents its annual Yuletide Candlelight performances Dec. 4-5, filling Central United Methodist Church with seasonal favorites from a range of holiday traditions. On New Year’s Eve, the Avett Brothers return to the ExploreAsheville.com Arena for a second consecutive year, ringing in 2027 alongside Mountain Grass Unit and Homeboy Sandman.
Holiday favorites take center stage for families | Asheville Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” runs Dec. 11-13 at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, while “Frozen” runs at Asheville Community Theatre Dec. 4-20, offering the perfect first-theater-trip opportunity for younger audiences. Tree lightings spark the season | Just 20 minutes from downtown Asheville in Black Mountain, Peri Social House lays claim to the title of tallest lit Christmas tree in North Carolina, marking the occasion on Nov. 27 with a tree lighting celebration featuring an outdoor concert, letters-to-Santa writing station, scavenger hunt and hot chocolate bar. The next night, the Grove Arcade’s Holiday Tree Lighting Block Party lights up downtown Asheville with live music, dance performances and a holiday market. Celebrations in the streets | Downtown Asheville fills with floats, vehicles, costumes and performances on Nov. 21 for The Asheville Holiday Parade. In Black Mountain, Holly Jolly opens the season on Dec. 4 with shops open late, carolers, live entertainment and a visit from Santa in the walkable downtown, followed the next afternoon by the Black Mountain Christmas Parade down State Street.
Kwanzaa lights up the night | The YMI Cultural Center, one of the oldest Black cultural centers in the country, marks the season with an annual Kwanzaa celebration. The gathering features drumming and music, storytelling and candle-lighting led by local artists and community leaders.
