A New Chapter for a Beloved Tradition —
Mystic Seaport Museum Announces Lantern Lights: A Mystic Holiday
Mystic, Conn. (November 4, 2026) – This December, Mystic Seaport Museum invites you to step into a living holiday card. We’ve listened to our visitors and expanded the holiday experience, weaving the daily Museum offerings together with the magic of Lantern Light Village for one seamless visit. Lantern Lights: A Mystic Holiday welcomes guests to explore the grounds, wander through our exhibitions, and immerse themselves in the traditional holiday activities they’ve come to love. The Museum will be open December 3–6, 10–13, and 17–23, from 2:00 to 8:30 p.m. for this new holiday experience. Create family memories and beloved new traditions here at Mystic Seaport Museum.
From the moment you arrive, you’ll find yourself surrounded by live period performances, caroling, carriage rides, hand-crafted interpretive experiences, visits with St. Nick, and festive crafts to take home. As dusk falls, the Magic Hour illuminates the Museum into a glowing holiday wonderland with thousands of twinkling lights. Every visit includes the festive sights and traditions guests love, along with Museum exhibitions—including Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO® Bricks—holiday performers, and special seasonal experiences throughout the grounds.
Plan Your Visit
Lantern Lights: A Mystic Holiday
Dates: December 3–6, 10–13, and 17–23
Hours: 2:00–8:30 p.m. (timed entry)
Tickets are priced by day.
Members enjoy special member pricing on tickets, plus an additional discount on Member Day, December 5.
What’s Included: One ticket provides access to Museum exhibitions, the seaport village, and the whaleship CHARLES W. MORGAN, plus all the holiday experiences in Lantern Lights: A Mystic Holiday.
“We can’t wait to welcome you aboard for this new chapter of a beloved tradition,” said Arlene Marcionette, Director of Museum Programs. “By bringing the full Museum experience together with the magic of the holidays, we’re creating a visit that’s richer, more immersive, and more memorable than ever before.”
Tickets are on sale now. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://mysticseaport.org/lantern-lights/.
On December 26, we return to our normal seasonal operating hours of 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
About Mystic Seaport Museum
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 650 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship CHARLES W. MORGAN. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
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