The 8th annual FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS opens Friday, November 27, and runs nightly through December 31. Beginning at 6:00 pm each night, weather permitting, this spectacular outdoor light show featuring more than 100,000 Christmas lights set to music will bring delight to all as they enjoy the display from inside their cars. Open until 11:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
DONATIONS OF NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS OR CASH TO SUPPORT THE CHURCH’S FOOD PANTRY ARE APPRECIATED.
Show our amazing small businesses your support by spending the day shopping and dining in Bel Air!
Themed, decorated Christmas trees ranging in size from miniature to six feet tall will be on display in downtown shop windows and available for purchase. Proceeds will go to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health’s Cancer LifeNet services and cancer related programs at the Kaufman Cancer Center. Formerly the Chespeake Cancer Alliance Festival of Trees, this event will bring a variety of trees and wreaths throughout downtown. A walk through downtown and deciding on your favorites is a great way to get in the holiday spirit! Trees will be on display and for sale from November 16th – December 6th.
Raise your voice and sing your favorite movements from Handel’s Messiah with Harford Choral Society members and other music lovers from the community. Bring your score, purchase a score, or share with someone. If you don’t sing, enjoy sitting among the singers and just listen. It’s a joyous start to the holiday season.
Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door.
Shop local this Small Business Saturday! Bel Air has so many terrific locally owned businesses and when you shop with them, you find unique items and more of every dollar you spend stays right here in our community. Your support makes a huge difference to our small business owners.
Get into the Christmas spirit with a trip through the magical and unique train garden designed especially for Bel Air! The garden features a lighted Christmas train, ice skaters, a ferris wheel, a circus and plenty of town and countryside scenes that are sure to delight people of every age! You can even participate in a scavenger hunt to find items located throughout the garden. Admission is free. the train garden will be open Saturdays November 27, December 4, 11 and 18 from 2pm – 8pm and Sunday, December 5th from 3pm – 8pm (parking and access is limited this day between 3-5pm due to the Bel Air Christmas Parade).
Special thanks to volunteer and town resident, Joe Bragg, and his team of volunteers for bringing this amazing display to life for our community.
This holiday season, visit downtown Bel Air and enjoy its festive Winter Wonderland! Take in beautiful light displays on Main Street, visit with Santa, plus enjoy horse drawn carriage rides, funnel cakes, hot chocolate and live music.
Downtown will be shining bright with special light displays at the Frederick Ward Armory Park, the Harford County Sheriff’s building and at the Harford County Courthouse. Lights will be on every evening from 5-11pm starting November 27, 2021 and through January 2, 2022. Extended store hours and special events will occur each Saturday November 27th – December 18th.
Horse drawn carriage rides will be available each Saturday, November 27 – December 18 from the front of the Bel Air Armory. In person reservations are required, space is limited and rides are available on a first come-first served basis. Enjoy shopping in our downtown stores or grab dinner with your family while you wait!
See the list of other special attractions with their dates and times under the Winter Wonderland tab on this website!
Sponsored through a partnership between the Town of Bel Air and the Greater Bel Air Community Foundation.
The Bel Air Arts & Entertainment District is proud to support Artists Sunday this November 28, 2021, an art-focused shopping day that celebrates artists and craftspeople and helps local artists sell more of their work. Think of it like Black Friday or Small Business Saturday but for shopping for art! In addition to our premier gallery with Harford Artists’ Association at Armory Marketplace, over 15 local stores and restaurants carry and sell locals artists’ work.
Commit this season and buy from local artists and craftsmen in your community!
We hope you’ll join us and the growing community supporting passionate and talented artists on November 28!
Join the Rockfield Foundation as we kick off the holidays at our Annual Manor Tree Lighting for the community. There will be light refreshments, live holiday music and a visit from Santa as a part of the special evening. Please bring an unwrapped new toy to donate to Toys for Tots as your admission.
A holiday tradition will be returning to Bel Air this year! On Saturday, December 4, the Liriodendron Mansion will hold it’s popular Holiday Open House from 10 am to 5 pm. Visitors can tour the beautifully-decorated historic mansion while listening to live music throughout the day. Local art and craft vendors will be selling handmade gifts, and holiday decor – including live greenery – will be available for purchase.
Kids can visit with Santa outdoors on the covered portico, and can take part in other kid-friendly activities. Waffle’n Joe Food Truck will be on site selling hot drinks and snacks. In addition, a Crabby Christmas basket full of holiday goodies will be raffled off.
Suggested donation is $5 per family, and proceeds will benefit the non-profit Liriodendron Foundation, which preserves and maintains the historic venue and provides free and low-cost programming for the community year-round.
The Liriodendron Mansion, located at 502 W. Gordon St. in Bel Air, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as an architectural treasure, cultural center, and events venue. Owned by Harford County, it is operated by the non-profit Liriodendron Foundation. This stunning example of Palladian architecture was built in 1898 as the summer home for Dr. Howard A. Kelly, a founding physician of Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medical School, and his wife and 9 children.