Lakeville's Holiday Season Runs Through One Old Church on Holyoke Avenue

The building at 20965 Holyoke Avenue went up in 1932 as All Saints Catholic Church. By 1997 the parish had outgrown it. They built a larger church, deconsecrated the old one and sold it, and since then the former sanctuary has been a theater. Today it is the Lakeville Area Arts Center. From mid-November to the week before Christmas, it carries more of downtown Lakeville's holiday calendar than any other address in town.

Count the bookings and the pattern shows. Between Nov. 13 and Dec. 20, the Arts Center's 2026 listings show eight holiday productions with at least six different named companies and performers, all taking turns in that one room. Holiday on Main also centers on the building, with Santa photos inside. On some weekends the changeover happens within a single day. A downtown holiday season usually means scattered events. Here it works more like a shared stage schedule, and Holyoke Avenue is the lobby.

The warm-up lap on Oct. 24

The season starts outside the building. DLBoo is Saturday, Oct. 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with trick-or-treating at participating businesses across downtown Lakeville. It's a short, two-hour event. It also runs on the same few blocks of Holyoke that the Arts Center crowds will fill three weeks later. Families who go to DLBoo are walking the route Holiday on Main uses in December.

The full booking sheet

Here is the season inside 20965 Holyoke, in order. Prices are as listed on the Arts Center calendar.

Two details in that table stand out. The building hosts two separate productions of A Christmas Carol six days apart, each with a different format and a different company. And on Saturday, Dec. 12, the Community Band's 2 p.m. concert and the Radio Play's 7 p.m. opening share the same stage on the same day.

Three weekends of Ralphie, ending on Thanksgiving weekend

Expressions Community Theater opens the run with A Christmas Story, directed by Katlyn Moser. It has the longest booking of the season, three full weekends with the same shape each time: Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, so the last weekend of the run lines up with the holiday. Shows on Nov. 27, 28 and 29 give anyone hosting family from out of town a ready-made plan for the day after the turkey. The final curtain comes at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29. Two days later the building has a ballet in it.

Six days, six events

The schedule tightens here. From Tuesday, Dec. 1, through Sunday, Dec. 6, something is on at the Arts Center every day: a ballet, a family comedy, a carol concert, the busiest street event of the downtown year, and a bluegrass show.

1. Dec. 1–2, Mini-Nutcracker. Twin Cities Ballet cuts its full-length Nutcracker down to under an hour, using dancers from that production. Performances are Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Wednesday at 2 and 6 p.m. Tickets are $22 main floor and $18 balcony. Weeknight times and a runtime under an hour make it one of the easiest shows of the season for young kids.
2. Dec. 3, No Nose for Rudolph. A Thursday 6 p.m. family show where Santa, Slurrpy the Snowman and friends try to win Rudolph's nose back from Hank the Greedy Hog. The $15 ticket includes two slices of pizza and a drink, so it works as a weeknight dinner too.
3. Dec. 4, SimpleGifts. Billy McLaughlin's Christmastide concert of traditional carols and hymns plays Friday at 7:30 p.m. At $45, it's the highest-priced ticket on the calendar.
4. Dec. 5, Holiday on Main. The next morning the event moves outdoors. The Lakeville Lions host a free day of crafts, music, entertainment, sleigh rides and Santa. It runs along Holyoke Avenue between the Arts Center and the U.S. Post Office. Santa photos happen inside the Arts Center, and trolley rides run along Holyoke.
5. Dec. 6, A Bluegrass Christmas. Monroe Crossing plays Sunday at 3 p.m. They've been touring for 25 years, and the second half of every show is mostly audience requests. Tickets are $39 main floor and $34 balcony.

The detailed 2026 agenda for Holiday on Main hasn't been posted yet. Last year's version gives a sense of the format. The 2025 event featured Santa Land, a holiday art sale, a children's workshop with s'mores, a retailer scavenger hunt, reindeer, a Sip, Shop 'n Stroll and trolley service, and the Lions scheduled the tree lighting for 5 p.m. at Pioneer Plaza. Those details describe 2025. Check the 2026 times with the Lions or Downtown Lakeville before planning around the lighting.

The second half belongs to Scrooge

After Holiday on Main the community groups take over again. On Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m., the Lakeville Area Community Band, directed by Joe Lasko, plays Sounds of the Season, with tickets at $20 main floor and $15 balcony.

That Saturday evening, A Christmas Carol Radio Play opens at 7 p.m. and plays again Sunday at 2 p.m., with $15 tickets. Eagan Theater Company produced last year's version. The 2026 listing doesn't name a company yet.

The season closes Dec. 18–20 with CastleCo Theatre's staged A Christmas Carol. It runs about 90 minutes plus a 15-minute intermission, and the company recommends it for ages 7 and up. CastleCo also asks audiences to arrive early to walk past a series of creatively decorated Christmas trees before the show. The season guide calls that display the Hall of Trees. Tickets are $20 general and $15 for seniors.

If you saw the radio play the weekend before, CastleCo's version is a different show built on the same story. It runs full length with sets and costumes, and the trees are set out in the same building.

The block between curtain calls

The Arts Center sits at the end of a run of Holyoke Avenue addresses. Everything below is within a short walk of the lobby. Listed from the nearest address outward:

• Baldy's Tailgate Bar, 20944 Holyoke Ave.
• The Better Half, 20851 Holyoke Ave.
• Angry Inch Brewing, 20841 Holyoke Ave.
• Board & Brush, 20770 Holyoke Ave., a DIY workshop for custom wood signs and home décor
• B52 Burgers + Brew, 20751 Holyoke Ave.
• Toppers Pizza, 20730 Holyoke Ave.
• Babe's Hometown Bar, 20685 Holyoke Ave.

One block off Holyoke, Lakeville Brewing Company is at 8790 Upper 208th St. W.

Several of these businesses are part of the season, too. Angry Inch, B52, Babe's, Baldy's, The Better Half and Board & Brush were all on the list of participating businesses for Holiday on Main in 2025. Hours change seasonally and on event days, so check before planning dinner around a 7 p.m. curtain.

The schedule makes the pairing simple. Matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. leave time for a late lunch on Holyoke first. The 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows let out at an hour when the bars along the block are still open.

Elsewhere in town this fall

A few new businesses have opened outside downtown. Sunflour Cakes opened Sept. 8 at 17697 Kenwood Trail, with custom cakes and sweets, including vegan and gluten-friendly options. That's a useful lead if you're ordering for a holiday gathering. Pizza Ranch at 16995 Kenyon Avenue cut the ribbon on its expanded FunZone Arcade on Sept. 2. The city also issued building permits in August for a new ALDI at 17986 Cedar Avenue and a new Taco Bell at 7370 179th Street West in Marketplace at Cedar.

None of those openings changes where the season happens. From the last Christmas Story matinee on Nov. 29 to CastleCo's final Scrooge on Dec. 20, most of Lakeville's holiday calendar runs through one old church and the block around it.

If being a short walk from 20965 Holyoke is starting to matter to you, or you're wondering how the homes near downtown compare with the rest of Lakeville, Nicholas Thull knows these blocks well and is happy to talk through what's available near the Arts Center. Let's Connect.