The Lakeville Area Arts Center has something on its calendar for 13 of the first 20 days of December 2026. That count includes Santa photos during Downtown Lakeville's Holiday on Main. Before December starts, the same stage hosts a three-week run of A Christmas Story that ends on Thanksgiving weekend.
So in Lakeville, the holiday season mostly happens at one address, 20965 Holyoke Avenue. Ticket prices there run from $15 to $45. Planning the season mostly means picking which nights in that room are worth the drive downtown.
A 1932 sanctuary with 300 seats
The building came before the arts center. In a Minnesota Prairie Roots feature from April 2026, writer Audrey Kletscher Helbling describes the Arts Center's Performing Arts Building as the former All Saints Catholic Church. It's a large 1932 brick building that took on its new role in 2001. She writes that the old worship space is now a theater with 300 tiered seats in a long, narrow room, and the stained glass windows are still there.
That room size shapes everything that follows. Three hundred seats is small enough that a bluegrass band or a community theater cast doesn't feel lost on stage. It's also small enough that the popular weekend shows can sell out. Some December events price the main floor and the balcony separately, so where you sit is part of the cost.
Three weeks of Ralphie, ending the weekend after Thanksgiving
The season opens with Expressions Community Theater's A Christmas Story, directed by Katlyn Moser. According to Sun ThisWeek's announcement on HometownSource, tickets are $20 each. The show is the stage version of Jean Shepherd's story about Ralphie Parker and his campaign for a Red Ryder air rifle.
Every weekend of the run follows the same pattern:
- Fridays, Nov. 13, 20 and 27: 7 p.m.
- Saturdays, Nov. 14, 21 and 28: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Sundays, Nov. 15, 22 and 29: 2 p.m.
That adds up to 12 performances. In a 300-seat room, the whole run has space for about 3,600 people. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, so the final weekend opens the next night with a 7 p.m. Friday show. Saturday the 28th has a matinee and an evening show, and the run closes with a Sunday matinee on the 29th. If you're hosting family that weekend, a 2 p.m. Saturday show at $20 a ticket is the easiest outing of the season to plan with relatives of different ages.
The Arts Center keeps its regular programming going alongside the holiday run. Before A Christmas Story opens, November has three non-holiday nights:
- Pub Night: Time After Time: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 to 9 p.m., $15, or $72 for the season package.
- Duelly Noted: Friday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m., $25 floor or tables, $20 otherwise.
- Power of 10: Saturday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m., same $25 and $20 pricing.
December, show by show and price by price
Once the play closes on Nov. 29, the December calendar starts two days later. Here is the full lineup with times and posted prices from the Arts Center's event pages.
| Date | Event | Time | Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue–Wed, Dec. 1–2 | Mini-Nutcracker | Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.; Dec. 2 at 2 and 6 p.m. | $22 main floor, $18 balcony |
| Thu, Dec. 3 | No Nose for Rudolph | 6 p.m. | $15, includes two pizza slices and a beverage |
| Fri, Dec. 4 | SimpleGifts | 7:30 p.m. | $45 |
| Sun, Dec. 6 | Monroe Crossing: A Bluegrass Christmas | 3 p.m. | $39 main floor, $34 balcony |
| Wed, Dec. 9 | Pub Night: Frankie Torres | 6 to 9 p.m. | $15 |
| Fri–Sat, Dec. 11–12 | Sounds of the Season: Lakeville Area Community Band | Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.; Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. | See event page |
| Sat–Sun, Dec. 12–13 | A Christmas Carol Radio Play | Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.; Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. | $15 |
| Fri–Sun, Dec. 18–20 | A Christmas Carol & Hall of Trees | See event page | $20 general, $15 seniors |
The cheapest December nights cost $15, and three different shows sit at that price. The most expensive single ticket is $45 for SimpleGifts on Friday, Dec. 4. That's three times the price of the $15 nights.
The $15 shows are also very different from each other. No Nose for Rudolph starts at 6 p.m. on a Thursday and includes pizza and a drink, which makes it the simplest school-night outing on the calendar. Frankie Torres's Pub Night runs 6 to 9 p.m. on a Wednesday. Both Pub Nights this season, Nov. 4 and Dec. 9, are on Wednesdays. The radio-play version of A Christmas Carol on Dec. 12 and 13 is also $15. A week later, a separate A Christmas Carol program paired with the Hall of Trees runs Dec. 18 through 20 at $20, or $15 for seniors. So the same Dickens story is on the calendar on two consecutive weekends, at two price points.
Saturday, Dec. 12 is the busiest single day. The Lakeville Area Community Band plays Sounds of the Season at 2 p.m., and the radio play starts at 7 p.m. That's two different holiday shows in the same room on the same day.
Holiday on Main weekend is the busiest stretch
The Arts Center's calendar clusters around one downtown date. Visit Lakeville lists Holiday on Main for Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026. The listing describes Santa photos at the Lakeville Area Arts Center, trolley rides down Holyoke Avenue, and events at downtown businesses and restaurants. Visit Lakeville sends readers to the Downtown Lakeville site for details, and that's where to check hours and the list of participating businesses as the date gets closer.
Look at what surrounds that Saturday. SimpleGifts, at $45 the most expensive show of the season, plays the night before at 7:30 p.m. Monroe Crossing's bluegrass Christmas, the second most expensive, plays Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Mini-Nutcracker and No Nose for Rudolph come earlier in the same week. Between Tuesday, Dec. 1 and Sunday, Dec. 6, the building has something going on every day: two kids' programs, two ticketed concerts, and Santa in the lobby area for Holiday on Main.
For anyone planning around that weekend:
- Friday, Dec. 4: SimpleGifts at 7:30 p.m. is the highest-priced evening of the season.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Holiday on Main on Holyoke Avenue, with Santa photos inside the Arts Center.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: Monroe Crossing at 3 p.m. Balcony seats are $5 less than the main floor.
With a 300-seat room, a three-show weekend, and a downtown festival in the middle, these three days will probably be the most crowded of the season. Parking and ticket timing will matter more then than on any other weekend.
Picking your nights
The Arts Center calendar is the most complete holiday schedule in Lakeville this year, and it has options at several price points:
- Under $20 a person: No Nose for Rudolph, either Pub Night, the Radio Play, senior tickets to A Christmas Carol & Hall of Trees, and balcony seats for Mini-Nutcracker.
- About $20: A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol & Hall of Trees general admission, and main-floor seats for Mini-Nutcracker at $22.
- $34 to $45: Monroe Crossing and SimpleGifts, the two concerts on either side of Holiday on Main.
The December calendar on the Arts Center's site links to every event page, including the community band concert, which doesn't list a price yet. The November calendar covers A Christmas Story and the early-month nights. Most of the December shows play only once or twice, and none come close to the twelve performances of A Christmas Story. If you have a particular show in mind, especially one in that Dec. 4 to 6 stretch, buy tickets early.
At The Kent Group, we follow how places like the Arts Center and Holyoke Avenue shape life in different parts of Lakeville. If you're wondering how being close to downtown affects your home's value, we're glad to talk it through over a home value estimate.
