Santa Claus makes his joyful grand entrance into historic downtown New Bern, escorted by local emergency vehicles and marching elves, kicking off photos at Santa’s Workshop and the month-long Beary Merry Christmas holiday festivities.
The Coastal Christmas Flotilla lights up the waterfront with dozens of powerboats, yachts, and sailboats decorated with thousands of twinkling holiday lights, animated displays, and festive music cruising past Union Point Park and Council Bluff Green.
Presented by the New Bern Woman’s Club, this beloved holiday tradition opens the doors to some of New Bern’s most breathtaking private historic homes and gardens, elegantly adorned for the season by local florists and interior designers.
Held on two Saturdays—December 12 and December 19, 2026, from 3:30 PM to 9:30 PM—Tryon Palace illuminates for the holidays with authentic 18th-century candlelit tours of the Governor’s Palace, historic homes spanning the 1770s to 1950s, Fife and Drum Corps, Jonkonnu musical processions, colonial performers, hot spiced cider, and a black-powder fireworks finale around 9:30 […]
Downtown New Bern transforms into a Hallmark-movie winter wonderland for Beary Merry Christmas! Enjoy faux real snow falling on Middle Street, live nativity processions, ice skating rink pop-ups, gingerbread house competitions, carriage rides, and shopping throughout December.