Southern christmas show

How it works

It is a consumer show, not a parade. Vendors sell décor, gifts, food, crafts, and household goods. Features around the booths change by year: an entertainment stage, designer rooms, a décor contest, Santa, and extras such as Early Bird VIP hours. You need a ticket for the day you go. A new ticket is required for each day. Weekday and weekend general admission are different types in the 2026 rules.

The 2026 show is listed for 11–22 November at The Park Expo and Conference Center, 800 Briar Creek Road, Charlotte, NC 28205. Hours: Sunday through Wednesday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Early Bird VIP on Saturday 14 November runs 8 to 10 a.m. Opening day, 11 November 2026, is a Wednesday and is also Veterans Day; the show marks that date as a feature, not as a closure.

This is November in the Carolinas, not 25 December. The show is a shopping season event that sits before Thanksgiving. Christmas Day remains the 25th of December. You will not be in this hall on the feast unless you work there. You may leave with the wreath you hang on the feast.

Doors, parking, and the ticket in your pocket

Buy from the show’s own sale. Advance adult prices run at a discount through 10 November 2026, then rise to the door rate on opening day. Group tickets for 20 or more are listed at 16 dollars a person, advance only, and may be used on any general admission day. Discount and complimentary tickets are not valid for Early Bird VIP. Children have their own rate; the ticket pages state free admission for ages five and under on general admission. Harris Teeter sells discounted adult general admission at listed stores in a window the show publishes each year.

Parking is paid on site. For 2026 the show lists general parking at 12 dollars, valet at 25 dollars with limited spaces, and bus parking at 50 dollars. Lots open two hours before the doors. Advance parking purchase is not offered. Overflow uses nearby lots on the coliseum campus; golf-cart shuttles run from some of them. Rideshare can drop at the door if the attendant is told it is a drop. Bring a disabled placard if you need that lot; tell the attendant on the way in.

Pick a day. Note whether it is a weekday, a weekend, or the Saturday VIP morning. Buy the matching ticket type from the official sale, one day per ticket. Arrive toward opening if you want parking close to the door.

Wear shoes you can stand in. Halls are long. Bags fill faster than you think. If you need a wheelchair, the show offers standard push chairs at coat check, first come, against a driving licence; you may bring your own motorized chair.

The building is an expo hall: lit, loud, and dry, not a market in a square. Food is concessions plus what vendors sell. If you need quiet, go a weekday morning. You will not see every booth in forty minutes unless you came for one maker you already know.

How to use a day without fighting the calendar

Make a short list: a wreath, a gift for one person, food to walk with, nothing. A list with twelve family members and no names is a panic. Vendors are small businesses in booths; stock is what they brought, not a warehouse. Cards and cash both appear in a hall this size, but you should not assume every table takes a tap. The rest of Charlotte is still open that November week. This show is one building. Leave time to get out of the parking lot before you book a dinner across town at the minute the doors close.

The organizer is Marketplace Events. Other cities have holiday shows with similar shapes and different names. This page is Charlotte’s Southern Christmas Show only. 2026 is 11–22 November at the Park Expo. If you are reading after that window, the next edition will have its own listing. Do not drive to Briar Creek Road in December expecting the same halls to still be a Christmas market.

A Southern Christmas Show bag in November is a plan. The same bag on 26 December is storage. Shop the week that is actually open. Charlotte magazine readers voted it a Best of the Best holiday event in 2024 and 2025. That is a local poll, not a reason to skip the ticket type. Bring the confirmation and a bag you can carry. 25 December is still a month away, which is the point of going in mid-November.