Christmas Trees in 2016 have taken on a style of their own. This year, explore the most magnificent, one-of-a-kind, and beautiful trees in Kansas City. Fashion, music, magic, and splendor await.
Fashionable Trees: Powell Gardens
Powell Gardens' (1609 NW Hwy 50, Kingsville, MO) winter exhibit this year features couture Christmas Trees. The beautiful trees are decorated as fashion masterpieces and my girls loved them! The best time to visit Powell Gardens in December is during a special event.
- 2016 Gardens by Candlelight: A Luminary Walk: Dec. 10 & 11 from 5-7:30 p.m. Enjoy the yuletide spirit with a stroll through the Gardens aglow with the light of hundreds of luminarias. The path will take you across the Island Garden, where you can warm your hands over a fire before moving on to the peaceful holiday beauty of the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel.Take the trolley back to the Visitor Center to see the Christmas Couture display, visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, make and take a luminaria craft, and warm up in the cozy comfort of the Grand Hall with a glowing fire and live jazz. Enjoy hot chocolate and complimentary homemade cookies (while supplies last). Admission is $7/adults, $5/seniors 60+, $3/kids 5-12, and free/members and kids under 5.
- Central Standard Men's A Cappella Ensemble Holiday Performance: Dec. 10 at 4pm. Celebrate the season with a festive performance by Central Standard, Kansas City's internationally ranked men's a cappella ensemble. The 25-member chorus will sing a number of traditional and contemporary holiday songs. $14 or $10/member of Powell Gardens
- Chamber Ensemble of the Heartland Men's Chorus Performance: Dec. 11 at 4pm. Enjoy the sounds of the season with one of Kansas City's favorite choruses! Space is limited. Reserve your seats today by calling Linda at 816-697-2600 x209. $14 or $10/member of Powell Gardens
Musical Tree: Legends Outlets
Legends Outlets in Kansas City, KS is home to the city's most musical tree! A 45-foot holiday tree returns this year as the Legends Outlets' main centerpiece, located at the center of the Civic Courtyard Fountain in front of AMC Legends 14 Movie Theater. The tree is decorated with festive LED-lighted snowflakes and a three-foot-six-inch snowfall topper featuring a mix of static LED light bars and double-sided LED animated show tubes that light choreographed to music. Other events include:
- #LegendsHoliday Contest: Legends Outlets is excited to announce its #LegendsHoliday contest is back for the third consecutive year, providing local shoppers the opportunity to win nearly $1,300 in prizes by posting their holiday photos at Kansas City’s only designer outlet shopping to social media. The popular hashtag contest, formerly hosted on Instagram, has expanded to include Facebook and Twitter, providing shoppers with even more ways to enter – and potentially win – this year. Through Monday, Dec. 19, guests are encouraged to share their holiday spirit by taking festive pictures at Legends Outlets and posting to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #LegendsHoliday. Legends Outlets will track the hashtag #LegendsHoliday and award 13 lucky winners with various prizes throughout contest, including designer accessories, $50 gift cards from retailers like Victoria’s Secret, Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Made in KC, Nike Factory and Francesca’s Outlet, and a $500 Legends Outlets gift card as the grand prize.
- Support Local Businesses: Made in KC will join other locally owned concepts at Legends Outlets, including KC Soda Co., a Lawrence-based craft soda shop, Sports Nutz, a Kansas City sports apparel and memorabilia store, and Chiusano's, a mom-and-pop style brick oven pizzeria. Together with its more than 75 brand name stores, Legends Outlets makes it easy to shop both locally curated merchandise and favorite designer labels in one convenient location this holiday season.
Tallest Tree: Mayor's Tree a Crown Center
Crown Center (2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO) is home to the Kansas City Missouri Mayor's Tree. The 100-foot-tall Mayor's Christmas Tree, one of the nation's tallest, is the centerpiece for an illuminating holiday celebration. The tree is a symbol of the Mayor's Christmas Tree Fund, which is dedicated to assisting the city's less fortunate. Crown Center is a favorite holiday destination. With live theaters, beautiful shops, holiday performances, visits with Santa, and Ice Skating, this is your premier holiday destination:
- Crown Center Holiday Choirs thru Dec. 20. Beautiful music fills the halls of Crown Center, as more than 130 area school, church and community choirs perform throughout the holiday season.
- Crown Center Ice Terrace Kansas City’s only public, outdoor ice skating rink is open for the season.
- Santa’s Gingerbread Station thru Dec. 31. All aboard for a favorite holiday tradition at Crown Center! Kids and families can explore this interactive exhibit, meet and have their photo taken with Santa Claus (through December 24), climb aboard the Crown Center Express Train Engine, and enjoy Gingerbread Village. Photos with Santa are available for a fee, or you may take your own. After visiting Santa, head over to The Coterie for a live production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical.
- EBT Laughing Santa and Santa’s Countdown to Christmas thru Dec. 31 Crown Center Shops, Level 1 Showplace, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO. FREE. 816-274-8444. Don't miss one of Kansas City's favorite pieces of Christmas nostalgia, EBT Laughing Santa, who first appeared at KC's Emery, Bird, Thayer department store in the early 1900s. The mechanical marvel has chuckled his way through the holidays at Crown Center since 1979. Not far away, you'll find Santa's Countdown to Christmas display, a popular photo opp during the holidays.
MagicalTree: Lee's Summit Magic Tree
Lee's Summit Magic Tree is located at I-470 and View High Drive (a great addition to your Christmas in the Park light-seeing trip). Hours of Operation: 5:00-1:00 daily. The tree is lit with more than 12,000 LED lights in every color of the rainbow. You are invited to pull into the drive, take photos with the family and share them on social media with #LSmagictree. Donations are accepted at the tree in partnership with Lee’s Summit Social Services to provide a charitable outlet for those interested in supporting the community’s families in need.
Tastiest Tree....for a Lion:Kansas CityZoo
The Kansas City Zoo is celebrating all month long with special events including Santa diving with penguins, and winter fun. But, they earn a spot on our unique tree list with their meatball tree for the lions! Head to the zoo Dec. 10 & 11 for Winter Wonderland at the Zoo. Celebrate the holiday season with the Zoo’s furry, feathery and fluffy friends Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Zoo will be transformed into a magical winter wonderland. Polar Bear Passage will become the North Pole while Helzberg Penguin Plaza turns into the South Pole. Enjoy delicious treats, letters to Santa and much more! Our gentoo and king penguins will venture outside in the frosty air for a Penguin March at 11 a.m. See Santa dive underwater with our penguins at 2 p.m. What would a lion do with a Christmas tree decked in ornaments and presents underneath? Find out at 10 a.m. See our lion pride explore fully decorated trees trimmed with meatball ornaments and garland. Underneath the trees will be gift wrapped boxes, each filled with a special enrichment item. At the Polar Bear Passage, help wish Berlin a Happy Birthday on Sunday, December 11. Watch the Zoo’s resident polar bear dig into her very own birthday cake.
Also, participate in the Zoo's Giving Tree. The Zoo's 1,700 animals need love year round and we are asking for your help! Animal enrichment is an important part of keeping our animals happy and healthy. Many of these enrichment items can be found in your home. Maybe you were going to throw out that old bucket, but Berlin would love to play with it. Zoo lovers can choose an item from the giving tree in the Zoo Lobby or from the list below and donate that item to our animals. The zoo will be distributing your donated enrichment items to the animals throughout the year. Items can be dropped off at Guest Relations during normal business hours in December.
Victorian Trees: Vaile Mansion
Victorian Crystal Fantasy is the theme this Christmas at Vaile Mansion in Independence. Open for tours. Monday-Saturday 10 to 4, Sunday 1 to 4. See the elaborate decorations that were the hallmark of the Victorian Era on gorgeous Christmas trees throughout the mansion (lead photo above shows one interior tree). Our favorite every year is the upside down tree!
Do you have another unique tree to add to the list? Email kristina@kcparent.comkristina@kcparent.com!