Your go-to guide for navigating the Gulf\u00a0Coast\u2019s cultural calendar, from regional holiday traditions to snacks that fuel discovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perfect Pairings<\/p>\n
Spanish Flare: Before you head to Artis\u2014Naples for Gulfshore Opera\u2019s Carmen (December 7), a seminal opera set in Spain\u2019s southern city of Seville, prep your palette with a glass of sangria and a sizzling plate of parrilladas. You can find these traditionally grilled meats at Naples\u2019 new Spanish-Cuban hotspot, El Trovador Restaurant & Lounge.<\/p>\n
Jingle and Mingle: A holiday-themed cocktail from Chartreuse Craft Cocktail Lounge makes for an ideal nightcap after listening to the smooth stylings of Zach Bartholomew, the resident pianist at\u00a0Arts Bonita\u2019s Performing Arts Center. The musician celebrates the season with musical selections from A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio (December 11).<\/p>\n
Million Dollar Swing: After Friday\u2019s final tee-off at the Grant Thornton Invitational at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tibur\u00f3n\u2019s Tibur\u00f3n Golf Club (December 12), sidle over to nearby Beeline at Mercato for a treat worthy of champions. Named after the tournament\u2019s top prize, the Million Dollar Caviar offers all the gravitas of The Ritz itself: A dollop of Romanoff caviar is served with Ruffles Original Potato Chips, cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne.<\/p>\n
Get in the Spirit<\/p>\n
Seeing The Nutcracker\u2014at Artis\u2014Naples (November\u00a029 to 30) or with Gulfshore Ballet (December 20 to 21)\u2014 may be the Gulf\u2019s dearest holiday tradition, but it\u2019s not the only one. From fir-scented tree farms to\u00a0drives ablaze with lights, here are two more ways to\u00a0revel in the season\u2019s magic.<\/p>\n
Deck the Halls: For those who prefer real Christmas trees, Farmer Mike\u2019s U-Pick of Fort Myers and Bonita Springs is the place to go. The Southwest Florida staple grower hauls in a bounty of fresh Fraser firs from North Carolina\u2014available for purchase on weekends throughout the month. Need inspiration for your tree decor? Head to the Festival of Trees events at Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center (December 3-7) and The Naples Players (through December 21) to see trees decked out by local businesses.<\/p>\n
See the Lights: From mid-December through the first week of January, the residents of Naples\u2019 Victoria Park compose some of the most over-the-top lawn decorations in the region. Traffic comes to a crawl as sightseers hang out of car windows and lean from truck beds. Pro tip: Some of the grandest displays are tucked away on unassuming side streets\u2014from the arches on Windsor Way to the Ferris wheel on York Terrace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cracking the Cover<\/p>\n
A local artist looks back, manifesting 50 years of coastal inspiration in a new book.<\/p>\n
For more than five decades, Naples painter Paul Arsenault has chronicled Southwest Florida\u2019s evolving landscape, brush in hand. Launching this month, his new book,\u00a0 An Artful History of Naples & Collier County, written by Eileen Arsenault, traces local lore through his plein-air paintings, archival imagery, photography from local legends like Clyde Butcher, and lively stories of the dreamers, pioneers and landmarks that shaped the region. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of fun in it, a lot of whimsy. We cover everything from swamp buggies to the Naples Winter Wine Festival,\u201d longtime collaborator Donna Murphy says. The result is less retrospective, more cultural atlas\u2014a perfect holiday gift for art and history enthusiasts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Raise Your Voice<\/p>\n
As Opera Naples welcomes audiences for its December 11 Gala of Imperial Enchantment, artistic director Ram\u00f3n Tebar previews the company\u2019s 20th anniversary season and offers a peek into what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n
The new year marks Opera Naples\u2019 20th anniversary, and for artistic director Ram\u00f3n Tebar, the milestone marks a vision come to life. The company spent its first decade bouncing between high school performance halls and finding its footing with local vocalists. Today, it is a leader for opera in the Southeast, drawing stars like Renata Scotto and Sherrill Milnes, and partnering with the legendary Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Festival Under the Stars, the country\u2019s first alfresco winter opera festival, extends from its usual three weeks to five, with shows at Baker Park and Wang Opera Center. For the first time, the semifinal and final rounds of The Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition\u2014launched in 2025 as a revival of the maestro\u2019s famed contests\u2014will be open to the public.<\/p>\n
Ram\u00f3n is keeping an eye on the future, with standout seasonal shows like Derrick Wang\u2019s celebrated modern opera, Scalia\/Ginsburg. The composer will be involved from start to finish, coaching singers, speaking at the February preview event and attending performances. Notably, Ram\u00f3n says, Opera Naples quietly received a seven-figure gift to purchase land for the highly anticipated Theatre in the Garden. Construction dates haven\u2019t been announced yet, but the campus is set to include a 900-seat opera theater, outdoor amphitheater, restaurant, opera academy, museum and local headquarters for the Pavarotti Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your go-to guide for navigating the Gulf\u00a0Coast\u2019s cultural calendar, from regional holiday traditions to snacks that fuel discovery.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2405,14746,37752,684,28,30,29,14045,39219,106,37753],"class_list":{"0":"post-66938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-attractions","9":"tag-december-2025","10":"tag-emma-witmer","11":"tag-events","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-florida-headlines","14":"tag-florida-news","15":"tag-local-artists","16":"tag-performing-arts","17":"tag-things-to-do","18":"tag-visual-arts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}