It's Jolly Holiday Time

Your 2025 guide to Plano’s best holiday lights and seasonal events

Plano knows how to do the holidays right. Each year, the city lights up with more than 50 festive happenings, from twinkling light displays and live performances to artisan markets and family parades. Whether you’re here for a day or the whole season, there’s plenty happening in Plano to keep your spirits bright.

Festive Events

Lights at Legacy
November 23
Kick off the holidays at The Shops at Legacy East, where free train rides, live entertainment, toy soldier stilt walkers, and balloon artists will bring the fun. Enjoy complimentary bites and sips from local restaurants before the tree lighting ceremony at 6:30 pm. Snap a photo with Santa and Mrs. Claus for $30, with 50% of the proceeds benefitting My Possibilities.

Dickens in Downtown Plano
December 6
Historic Downtown Plano transforms into a vintage holiday village for this free annual celebration. Expect vendors, live music, a snow globe, and family-friendly activities, along with late-night shopping and the city’s official tree lighting.

Step back in time for Dickens in Downtown Plano.Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

Plano Holiday Parade
December 13
The beloved community parade marches through downtown with festive floats, marching bands, drill teams, and Santa himself. Arrive early to grab a good viewing spot for this long-standing Plano tradition.

Holiday Lights

Lights on the Farm
November 28-December 23
Take a magical quarter-mile stroll through more than a million lights at the Heritage Farmstead Museum. Meet Santa, sip cocoa, toast s’mores, and enjoy themed nights like Frozen Adventure and Grinch Night.

Lights on the Farm Plano Meet Santa at Lights on the Farm.Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

Make way for the Plano Holiday Parade.

Deerfield Holiday Lights
December 1-30
The Deerfield neighborhood’s famous light displays are a Plano must-see. Nearly every home joins in with dazzling decorations, synchronized music, and glowing holiday spirit for a free experience unlike any other.

Holiday Productions

The Gift of Christmas
December 5-14
At Prestonwood Baptist Church, this multimedia spectacular features a cast of nearly 1,000, a live orchestra, flying angels, live camels, and stunning special effects. It’s a Plano holiday institution that often gains national attention.

Prestonwood Baptist Church The Gift of Christmas No, this isn't New York — it's Prestonwood Baptist Church.Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
December 19-21
Listen (and watch) as the classic holiday film comes to life with this stage adaptation told through voices and sound effects, presented by Repertory Company Theatre and performing at the Courtyard Theatre.

Home for the Holidays with the Plano Symphony Orchestra
December 21
This year’s performance features celebrated vocalist Charles Billingsley, one of Christian music’s most distinctive artists with 24 solo albums and performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Joining the Plano Symphony Orchestra is the award-winning Plano West Senior High School Choir, under the direction of Sarah Council.

Holiday Shopping

‘Neath the Wreath Holiday Gift Market
November 6-9
The Junior League of Collin County’s annual fundraiser brings together more than 125 merchants offering decor, fashion, gourmet treats, and unique gifts at the Plano Event Center. All proceeds from the event benefit the local projects and programs of the Junior League of Collin County.

Plano Holiday Market
November 22-23
This free market at Carpenter Park Recreation Center highlights handmade crafts, home decor, jewelry, and small-batch foods — a great stop for thoughtful, locally made gifts.

Christmas Shopping Days Vendor Market
December 6-7
Find the perfect present at this community market filled with local artisans, festive eats, and plenty of small-business holiday cheer.

Legacy West
Luxury shopping, festive photo ops, and holiday sparkle define Legacy West this time of year. Look for seasonal pop-ups, live music, and more as you check off your list in style.

Downtown Plano Arts District
Shop small in Plano’s walkable historic district, home to indie boutiques, galleries, and cafes. December’s Mistletoe Market is the perfect time to find handcrafted gifts from local makers.

Plan your full festive itinerary at VisitPlano.com.

plano holiday video holiday lights holiday parade neath the wreath legacy west lights on the farm plano symphony orchestra lights at legacy dickens downtown plano deerfield holiday lights prestonwood baptist church the gift of christmas plano holiday market promoted

Movie Review

Great acting and directing drive The Christophers to artistic heights

Photo by Claudette Barius

Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in The Christophers.

Director Steven Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who — aside from the Ocean’s series — never seems to make the same kind of movie twice. He is somehow able to adapt his abilities to all sorts of different stories, making each of them as compelling as any other. His latest masterclass is in the London-set film, The Christophers.

Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), who restores art for a living, is approached by brother and sister Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) with a scheme. They want her to become the new assistant for their aging father, Julian (Ian McKellen), a famous artist known for a series called “The Christophers,” in order to gain access to unfinished paintings from the series and complete them herself.

Lori accepts the deal despite having some uneasy feelings about Julian, with whom she had a bad interaction years ago. Julian is just as wary, both because he knows of his children’s interest in the unfinished works, and because he would prefer to be left in peace. Although the trepidation on both sides continues for the bulk of the story, a grudging respect arises between two artists who know skill when they see it.

Directed by Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, who last collaborated on No Sudden Move, the film is astonishing in its ability to be compelling with such a small story. Much of the film is spent inside Julian’s multi-story home as Julian and Lori have low-level confrontations about a variety of things, including the meaning of his art, her abilities, the fate of the remaining “Christophers,” and more. Each conversation brings out more detail about their worldviews and their thoughts about their lot in life.

Much of the success of the film lies in the performances of McKellen and Coel. The 86-year-old McKellen has not lost his ability to astonish with the spoken word, and the monologues he delivers are engrossing even when they’re about mundane things. Coel, best known for the 2020 HBO show I May Destroy You, is a great foil for McKellen, never backing down from his challenges and giving her own unique takes on her lines.

While the film can be enjoyable for non-art lovers, those who appreciate the vagaries of the art world will have a lot to chew on. Soderbergh and Solomon debate a lot of aspects of art, including whether it’s possible to separate the art from the person making it, why some art is valued more than others, the ethics of forgery, and more. Because the film is about a fictional artist, it gives the filmmakers a bit more freedom in their criticisms.

Aside from McKellen and Coel, Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Corden are the only other two people who get significant screen time in the film. Both of them are, let’s say, acquired tastes, and each gives an elevated performance that matches the energy of their respective characters. Tilly Botsford makes a nice impression in a small role as Julian’s masseuse.

Soderbergh’s last three films — Presence, Black Bag, and now The Christophers — have nothing in common other than the expert filmmaker helming all of them. When you can make a ghost story, a spy film, and a small film about artists equally interesting, you know you’re doing something right.

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The Christophers is now playing in theaters.

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