The holidays are such a special time of year, and when you choose to spend yours with us in Branson, we at Sunset Nightly Rentals can assure you that every moment will be filled with comfort, fun, and festive cheer. Branson shines at any time of the year, but during the holiday season there’s an extra brightness that will enhance your visit, a brightness that extends to the holiday hideaway you choose to make your own. This ultimate guide to celebrating the holidays in Branson will give you a peek into what makes these times of year special and give you a better idea of when you should plan your visit!
The Summer Holidays in Branson
You may have thought we were talking exclusively about the end-of-year holidays, as there is always an extra excitement attached to that time of year, but we don’t want to forget about the summer holidays, the three-day weekends that start the summer, celebrate our country’s birthday, or signify that summer has ended and it is time to start anticipating those end-of-year holidays!
Summer is warm in the Ozarks with temperatures tiptoeing into the 90s, so you will want to pack your summer clothes and perhaps include a lightweight rain jacket. This season is a popular time for visitors, and of course, the holidays that take place during this season are even more popular, and the vibe will be one of excitement and joy.
Memorial Day Weekend
Our all-American mountain town will offer quite a few wonderful events on Memorial Day Weekend, kicking off the summer excitement with a free summer concert series and beer garden held at Branson Landing. White Water, our local water park, officially opens for the season this weekend, and Silver Dollar City offers its Bluegrass & BBQ Festival. This is a wonderful time to visit the Veterans Memorial Museum, a museum honoring all veterans and offering a wall lined with the names of soldiers that have given the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for the last 100+ years. And although there aren’t any specific Memorial Day shows in town that weekend, many of our most popular shows offer a patriotic theme, including Dolly Parton’s Stampede.
Independence Day
July 4th isn’t always on a weekend, but it is a nice bonus day that helps break up the week, and because Branson always loves a party, you can count on there being a lot of celebrating going on during your visit. Like Memorial Day (and again, Labor Day), there won’t be any special music shows, but the standards are always a celebration of music, laughter, and our beautiful country. Fireworks displays are plentiful, and the College of the Ozarks, Branson Landing, and Chateau on the Lake are all local spots offering exciting fireworks displays that the whole family will love. Also offering beer gardens, live music, kids activities, and so much the 4th will be with you when you visit Branson for Independence Day!
Labor Day Weekend
Almost as quickly as summer begins, it ends again with another big bash, this one celebrating Labor Day Weekend. This holiday actually celebrates the hardworking Americans, giving us all a day off, and although there won’t be any ceremonies or special fireworks shows, this weekend is the perfect time to be lazy, live out your lake life fantasies, and maybe take in a show or three. If you need fireworks, Silver Dollar City, our 19th century themed amusement park, does end their Summer Nights with nightly fireworks shows that may continue through Labor Day.
Fall and Winter Holidays
We’ve given you a brief synopsis of what you can expect from a summer holiday visit, and now it is time to explore the ‘ber holidays, starting with Halloween and moving on through New Year’s. There is always something special going on during these holidays, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself cancelling your summer escape to Missouri and moving it into the fall or winter.
If you do have the time, however, you might want to plan two visits, so you can explore Branson in all her moods and most of her seasons. Just remember that there will be vastly different temperatures as we move closer to the end of the year, with the mercury dipping into the 60s and 70s during daylight hours in the fall and 40s and 50s in the winter months and you may even experience some snow!
Halloween
As your kiddos start clamoring for new costumes, the landscape of Branson turns to fire with all the trees donning their finest autumn attire. This is the season for pumpkin spice coffee and pumpkin patches, harvest festivals and haunted houses, and of course, costumes and trick or treating.
McKenna Family Farm, located at 3265 State Highway F in Branson, is one of our favorite places to explore, offering a pumpkin patch every fall plus hayrides, mazes, and a large number of kids’ activities. Be sure to soothe your children’s fears of missing out on trick-or-treating by telling them about our BOOnanza festival held the end of October at the Branson Park & Recreation Center. Offering safe trick-or-treating, and a variety of fall themed activities, including inflatables, this may be your kiddos favorite trip ever.
And finally, Branson is known for its year-round Castle of Chaos 5D Adventure, offering a 3D Film that blends special effects with the 3D activities on the screen and we can promise that this will make you jump in your seats, if not squeal aloud a few times!
Veterans Day
Veterans Day is another one of those fall holidays that doesn’t often offer a three-day weekend, but in Branson, that just doesn’t matter. We honor our heroes the entire week, offering a special sunrise service at the College of the Ozarks on November 11 and a parade that marches through downtown Branson starting at 11, also on November 11. There are ceremonies, services, banquets, even mini reunions for veterans of Vietnam, and unlike during the summer holidays, Pepsi Legends Theater offers a Veterans Celebration Show that should not be missed.
Thanksgiving
To our way of thinking, the best way to feel thankful at Thanksgiving is by visiting Branson, and as you might expect, there are a few things going on that will make you feel celebratory and thankful, especially when you choose one of our holiday havens to stay in! Our gourmet kitchens may entice you to cook the Thanksgiving feast, but if you just don’t want to go through all that work, there are many restaurants that will be open, cooking, serving, and clearing away the turkey dinner so all you will have to do is devour and enjoy. The Keeter Center has always been known for its Thanksgiving meal, but it does sell out quickly, so you may want to make your reservations much earlier in the season. The shows in Branson will be changing as well, but they will all be Christmas themed, as we all know that Christmas season begins almost before the last slice of pumpkin pie has been eaten!
Christmas
Christmas is a much loved holiday and if you are planning on visiting Branson at this festive time of year, there will be plenty of activities and events that will make you feel festive and joyful. So much is going on during this time of year, we will probably miss some of the smaller events, but that will just give you a nice surprise should you choose to visit at this time! The Ozark Mountain Christmas Pass, a free mobile app that will guide you to the most festive spots in town, including attractions, retailers, restaurants and so much more. This app will list all the shows, all the Christmas trees, anything that is Christmas, so it will definitely come in handy, but we have provided a listing of some of the light displays in the area, just to get the Christmas ball rolling!
Branson Twinkles Brightly With Christmas Lights
Christmas lights are one of our favorite parts of the holiday and in Branson, in addition to driving through the neighborhoods just to see what is out there, there are a beautiful selection of displays that you will make you ooh and ahh. Also, most of these displays will open in November, so you can start the Christmas adoration early! Bransons’s Lights of Joy Drive-Thru offers 250 displays, thousands of lights, and on weekends, hot cocoa, selfies with Santa, and the Santa Claus Gift Shop. The Trail of Lights at Shepherd of the Hills has been a local tradition for over 30 years, offering millions of Christmas lights, many of which are animated. And the Promised Land Drive Through Zoo is famous for its Let There be Lights trail that includes a Christmas village, a living nativity, and Santa with his REAL reindeer team!
New Year’s Eve
There’s an old New Year’s Eve belief that tells us whatever we are doing on New Year’s Eve, we will be doing the rest of the year, and we can’t help but think traveling to Branson is definitely something worthy of doing over and over. January is the beginning of our quiet season, as the snow begins to fall and travelers are busy reentering reality after the holidays. But there is this one last hurrah, the last night of the year, where visitors can explore what Christmas brought to Branson, celebrating with the rest of the world in our favorite place on earth.
There are a LOT of New Year’s Eve shows in Branson, with nearly every theater in town throwing a big party that we personally think is more fun and exciting than watching a ball drop in New York City! The Great Hall New Year’s Eve Event, Clay Cooper & the Haygood’s New Year’s Eve Celebration, and the Americana Theater’s All-Star New Year’s Eve Show, are just a few of our favorites. A balloon drop at midnight and a variety of fireworks shows round out the end of the year parties, helping guests enter the new year in all the best ways.
Celebrate Your Favorite Holiday in Our Home Sweet Homes (or Condos!)
We’ve hinted at a few of the ways our Sunset Nightly Rentals properties can enhance your holiday celebrations, adding warmth and luxury to whichever holiday you are enjoying. Offering fully equipped kitchens that may entice you to prepare your Thanksgiving feast, tranquil bedrooms furnished with premium beds in which your kids’ sugar plum dreams will be “aired” in all their technicolor glory, and swimming pools (both community and private) where summer holiday celebrations will just hit better, these spaces are sure to be the best part of your holiday travels.
And as you can see just how much there is to do in Branson over the holidays, you must know that our properties are really special. We’re excited to provide a home for tired travelers and their families and we are thrilled that you chose us for your soft place to land and we show both those emotions by giving you a vacation experience you will never forget.
It Will Be Like Celebrating at Home, Only Better!
Whatever your holiday traditions are, they can be enjoyed in our spaces, and as you read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to your children on Christmas Eve, put together the best costume ever on Halloween, and prepare the veteran in your family for a week of patriotic fun and heart felt events that thank him or her for all they have sacrificed for our country, you may find yourself wondering if you should extend your vacation a little longer, if only to explore all the magic of the next holiday in the lineup! Reserve your favorite holiday haven today and discover all the ways your life’s journey will shine brighter just because you managed to add a vacation to Branson during your favorite time of the year.
