Free Holiday Things to Do in Boston This December

December is the month when the whole region puts out lights, and a surprising amount of it costs nothing. This is a dated list of the free holiday things we could confirm for December 2026, in Boston first and then up the coast. Everything below was checked against an official city, park or organizer page on November 9. When an organizer has not posted something yet, we say so.

December 3: Boston Common Tree Lighting and Commonwealth Avenue Mall

The city’s signature holiday event is the annual Boston Common Tree Lighting on Thursday, December 3, from 6 to 8 pm, next to the Visitor Information Center at 139 Tremont Street. It is free. The tree is a gift from Nova Scotia, which has sent one every year since 1971 as thanks for the relief Boston sent after the 1917 Halifax explosion. This year Mayor Wu is scheduled to be joined by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.

Stay for the second half of the evening. At about 8:15 pm, right after the Common ceremony, the lights on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall are switched on from Arlington Street to Charlesgate. The city’s listing says 8 pm on its calendar and about 8:15 pm in the announcement text, so plan on a few minutes either way. The Friends of the Public Garden and the Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall run that display. The city’s parks line is (617) 635-4505 for questions.

December 6: Open Newbury Holiday Stroll

On Sunday, December 6, Newbury Street goes car-free from 10 am to 6 pm between Berkeley Street and Massachusetts Avenue for the Open Newbury Holiday Stroll, now in its third year. The city encourages businesses to put out pop-up activities and family programming, and the route is the same as the summer Open Newbury series. If the weather is bad, the stroll moves to December 13.

Browsing is free; whatever you buy is up to you. Parking is restricted on Newbury and certain cross streets, with enforcement from 6 am, and the intersections at Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford Streets are car-free. The other cross streets stay open to traffic, so cross with care.

December 5 and beyond: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth’s Illuminated Holiday Parade is on Saturday, December 5. The city says it is free and open to all. The evening starts at 5 pm with the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Market Square, hosted by the mayor and city council (5 to 5:30 pm). The parade steps off at 6 pm from Islington Street at Goodwin Park and takes about 20 to 30 minutes to reach Market Square. We wrote a full day-trip plan for that night, including parking and the Strawbery Banke Candlelight Stroll, in our Portsmouth Christmas day-trip guide.

North Shore weekends

Salem

Salem’s holiday season, run by Salem Main Streets and Creative Collective, officially starts on Friday, November 27 with Santa’s arrival and the downtown tree lighting, followed by Small Business Saturday on November 28. Two things carry into December: the Holiday Window Contest, in which more than 30 downtown businesses show off festive displays (a window-shopping walk costs nothing), and Wassail Weekend. The 2026 date for Wassail Weekend has not been posted, and last year’s version was a weekend of in-store specials, tastings and music across downtown. Check the Salem Holiday Happenings page for the date.

Also free in Salem: all buildings and programs at Salem Maritime National Historical Park. From November 15 through April 30 the Armory visitor center and the park store are open Wednesday to Sunday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, and Derby Wharf and the grounds are open 24 hours. The park’s buildings are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. See our Salem December guide for the rest of the town.

Rockport

Christmas in Rockport has a full December calendar:

• Friday, December 4: Holiday Shopping Night, 4 to 9:30 pm, starting at Dock Square.
• Saturday, December 5: Santa arrives by boat at T-Wharf at 1 pm, with photos from 1:15 to 3:30 pm, followed by the Dock Square Tree Lighting at 4 pm (carolers from 3:40 pm).
• Saturday, December 12: strolling carolers, 1 to 3 pm.
• Saturday, December 19: the Christmas Pageant, a torch-lit nativity re-enactment at 5 pm.
• November 27 to December 31: Sammy the Seagull Hide and Seek, a free kids’ scavenger hunt. Pick up a decoder sheet at the downtown visitor information shed, the T-Wharf restrooms or a participating business.

Newburyport

The Greater Newburyport Chamber is running a new celebration called The Port of Wonder, from November 30 through December 25, 2026, with the lighting of the Market Square Christmas tree at the start and weekend programming through downtown (State Street, Inn Street, Pleasant Street, Market Square and Water Street to the Tannery). The chamber has not published the weekend-by-weekend schedule yet, so check their events page before you go.

December 24: Louisburg Square bell ringing, if it happens

On Christmas Eve, Beacon Hill has a free tradition in which bell ringers and carolers gather on Louisburg Square. In 2024 a procession started at 7:30 pm from 55 Mount Vernon Street and the bell ringing began at 8 pm. We found no 2026 listing yet, so treat this as a “check the Nichols House Museum and Beacon Hill Bellringers pages in mid-December” item rather than a plan.

How to plan it

Sources

• City of Boston: Boston Common Tree Lightingboston.gov
• City of Boston: Commonwealth Avenue Mall Lightingboston.gov
• City of Boston: 2026 Open Newbury Holiday Strollboston.gov
• City of Portsmouth: 2026 Illuminated Holiday Paradeportsmouthnh.gov
• Christmas in Rockportrockportusa.com
• Salem Holiday Happeningssalemholidayhappenings.org
• Salem Main Streets: Holiday Happeningssalemmainstreets.org
• Greater Newburyport Chamber: The Port of Wonderbusiness.newburyportchamber.org
• National Park Service: Salem Maritime hoursnps.gov
• Nichols House Museum: Christmas Eve Bell Ringingnicholshousemuseum.org

Details such as dates, hours and prices come from the sources above and can change. Check with the organizer before you go.