- Traditionally, the 40 days of Christmas lasted from December 25th through February 2nd! Now that the 2025 Christmas season is officially over, here’s a roundup of some of our favorite FREE Christmas activities in the greater Hartford region of CT, to keep track of for next year!
1. At Santa’s Workshop (a beautifully decorated cabin) at Wickham Park in Manchester, drive your car into the park (which typically charges an entry fee but is free for this event!). Drive all the way up the hill to the North Pole (a log cabin), which gives a lovely view. Take pictures with (and get apples from) Santa, drop letters in the letters-to-Santa mailbox, get free hot cocoa & cookies from Mrs. Claus, see the elves working on toys, & watch the model trains!
2. Santa’s Flight Academy at Westfarms Mall in West Hartford – this 22-foot, massive Santa sleigh in the middle of the mall is a flight simulator with many interactive elements, including a flight tracker, holiday music, snow flurries, and much more. The pictures with Santa cost money, but the entire sleigh experience is FREE!
3. Fair Weather Growers in Rocky Hill – on weekends in the month of December, this wonderful agricultural operation offers free barrel train rides for kids, a holiday corn pit, and pictures with Santa & Mrs. Claus, along with free apples, hot cocoa & candy canes for snacks!
4. Carl Bozenski’s Christmas village in Torrington is a wonderful place to walk around. Visit 4 live reindeer with labeled names (Rudolph, Vixen, etc.). Walk into the amazingly-decorated Santa’s cabin. Mrs. Claus cabin, and elves’ toy-making workshop! Each kid gets to pick out a free, brand-new toy from Santa (and get candy canes from Mrs. Claus!).
5. Winterfest Hartford (at Bushnell Park) on select Saturdays in December offers Santa’s Workshop, where you can get free, beautiful printed pictures with Santa. There are also letters to Santa (with a Santa’s mailbox!), crafts, fun inflatables, games, and candy canes. For all of December and January, Winterfest also offers free ice skating and free ice skate rental!
6. Santa’s Wonderland at Cabela’s in East Hartford offers printed pictures with Santa, a digital video Christmas card, reindeer hats, candy canes, and letters to Santa with a Santa’s mailbox – all FREE!
7. Star Hill Family Farm in Portland offers free Santa hats, visits to farm animals, letters to Santa with a Santa’s mailbox, games, crafts, hot cocoa, and more. The horse wagon rides to a bonfire with smores cost money, but the rest of the Christmas experience here is free!
8. The gingerbread house festival (a massive display) at Wood Memorial Library and Museum in South Windsor is free to attend!
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In addition, keep an eye out for:
1. Free breakfasts with Santa – like the one at East Hampton High School (which includes crafts, printed pictures with Santa, and face painting) and the one at Harley-Davison in East Hartford (which also features Mrs. Claus)!
2. Free pizza lunches with Santa – like the ones at St. James Church in Manchester and at American Legion Post 197 in Marlborough, both of which feature free toys for children!
3. Free Christmas light parades – like the ones in Glastonbury, Portland and Middletown.
4. Free library Christmas storytimes, crafts and holiday music events – like the Polar Express reading and craft (and free book copies!) at Russell Library in Middletown, and the Wee Rock holiday edition music class at Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury.
5. Free town tree lighting events – like the ones at:
-Christmas on Main in Old Wethersfield,
-Magic of Middletown,
-Holidays on Main in Manchester,
-Lighting the Center in Glastonbury, and
-Night of Lights in Newington (which also includes free rides on a Christmas train and Christmas hayride wagon!).
6. Free Christmas light displays – like the
-Wethersfield Lights,
=Blue Orchard lights in Middletown,
-lights at 263 Sand Hill Road in Middletown (with a trail through which you can walk!),
-Keeney’s Holiday Thrill on Chalker Hill in Glastonbury (also with a trail through which you can walk), and
-the lights at Eastbury Pond in Glastonbury.
