Rivermont's Holiday Season Follows Randolph's Semester and Is Mostly Over by Dec. 20

Most of Rivermont's holiday season this year takes place on Randolph College's campus, so it follows the college's semester. The first event on the list is a free Star Party at Winfree Observatory on Saturday, Nov. 21. After that come a jazz matinee, a maker fair, the Candlelight Concerts and a holiday talent show. The Maier Museum of Art closes for winter break on Dec. 21.

So the neighborhood's December is mostly over by the weekend before Christmas. The calendar is short and packed, and one Sunday holds more than any other day.

Winter Break Sets the End Date

The Maier Museum of Art is open Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m., and admission is free. Its visit page lists the gallery as closed from Dec. 21, 2026 through Jan. 1, 2027 for Randolph College's winter break. It reopens Saturday, Jan. 2. Monday the 21st is the first closed day, so with Wednesday-through-Sunday hours, Sunday, Dec. 20 is the last afternoon to see the galleries before the break. The museum also closes around most major holidays. Before planning a visit around Thanksgiving, call 434-947-8136 to confirm hours.

Two exhibitions are up through the season. SEWN + COLLECTED opened Nov. 1 and runs to March 5, 2027. It pairs Elizabeth Mazyck's sweetgrass basketry with pieces from collector Allison Gulick Muller's collection. The 115th Annual Exhibition, American Solastalgia, has been up since Aug. 30 and also closes March 5, 2027. It looks at environmental change and loss in American landscapes. The permanent collection is on view as well.

Both shows run into March, so missing them in December is no great loss. Bringing holiday visitors to them is a different matter. Anyone hosting family between Christmas and New Year's will find the doors closed.

Late November and Early December

The run starts with a Star Party at Winfree Observatory on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. Randolph's calendar lists it as free and open to the public. No December Star Party appears on the calendar, so Nov. 21 is the only observatory night on the list this season.

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church holds its Christmas Dinner and Chrismon Service from 5:55 to 7 p.m. It starts with a potluck in Fellowship Hall and ends with a tree-lighting service in the Cheatham Center.

Randolph's events pick up the following weekend:

• Sunday, Dec. 6, 3 p.m., Wimberly Recital Hall, Presser Hall. The Guest Artist Series brings in the Steve Haines Trio with pianist Joey Calderazzo, Steve Haines on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums. Saxophonist Gregory Tardy joins them. Randolph's listing says the rhythm section has played together for more than 15 years and calls the show straight-ahead jazz.
• Wednesday, Dec. 9, noon, Student Center. The Happy Earth Market is a free sustainable maker fair put on by the Office of Sustainability and the Campus Events Committee. Randolph College artists will sell alongside local eco-conscious businesses, and the market is collecting donations for the campus food pantry.

The jazz date is a Sunday matinee and the market falls at midday on a Wednesday. Both fit the hours of people who live a few blocks away.

Sunday, Dec. 13

The season's busiest day is the second Sunday in December. Here is what overlaps on campus and nearby:

1. 2 p.m., Maier Museum of Art. "Spotlight Tour: Seasonal Impressions" looks at works that show nature changing through the year.
2. 3 p.m., Houston Memorial Chapel. First Candlelight Concert.
3. 7 to 8 p.m., Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The Choir Christmas Cantata, with the church's Sanctuary Choir singing works by John Leavitt and Dan Forrest.
4. 7:30 p.m., Houston Memorial Chapel. Second Candlelight Concert.

The schedule pairs up neatly. The 2 p.m. tour starts an hour before the 3 p.m. Candlelight Concert, and the afternoon concert leaves the evening open for the cantata. If you go to the cantata, the 7:30 Candlelight is out, since the two overlap. Anyone who wants both Candlelight and the cantata should take the afternoon concert.

Randolph describes Candlelight as a performance by its dance and music students, often with the Chorale and the Chamber Orchestra together. This year's calendar listing calls it poetry, dance and music. Last year's printed program described a family-friendly concert that opened and closed with a candlelight procession, featured the Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, and included readings.

The 2026 listing doesn't give a ticket price. In 2025, the Candlelight event page charged $5 for general admission, and Randolph students and children 12 and under got in free. That's the most recent pricing on record. Check Randolph's calendar for 2026 terms before you go.

The Dec. 13 date also falls a week later than last year's concerts, which ran Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. If you've been going on the first Sunday of December out of habit, this year it's the second.

Dec. 18 Is Already Sold Out

The last campus event before winter break is the most local one. Endstation Theatre Company is Randolph's professional theatre company in residence. It was founded in 2007, runs its summer program from campus and performs in Thoresen Theatre and other venues. Its Homegrown Holidays talent competition is set for Friday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. in Thoresen Theatre, inside the Harold G. Leggett Building.

Endstation's own listing describes the evening this way:

"Come watch your fellow community members compete for prizes with their best holiday-themed acts! All local talent is welcome to submit an act to perform in front of a live audience on Friday, December 18th at 7:00pm."

Tickets were $15, and there are holiday refreshments for the audience. Endstation's ticket page now lists the show as sold out and has a waitlist open. That puts the show at capacity more than a month out. For anyone who wants in, the waitlist is the only option left.

Endstation also invites local performers to submit acts, with details on how to apply still to come. That's the other way into a sold-out house.

Two days after Homegrown Holidays, the Maier has its last open afternoon of the year. Monday the 21st, campus goes quiet.

After the Campus Closes

Once Randolph is on break, the neighborhood's holiday events move to Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Its Christmas Eve services are on Thursday, Dec. 24. A family Lessons and Carols service starts at 5 p.m., followed by 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. services with Communion and orchestra.

For something on Rivermont Avenue itself, TNT Game Bar is newer than most of this calendar. The News & Advance covered its opening this summer and described a cozy, social pool-and-games lounge on Rivermont Avenue run by owner Tianna Tyler. The paper photographed her there on July 21, 2026. It's a good place to bring out-of-town family once the museum and the chapel are closed for the year.

Here's the season in order, for the fridge:

If you're thinking about a move in or out of Rivermont in the new year and want someone who knows the neighborhood's calendar as well as its houses, Rucker Wynne is glad to talk it through. Schedule a Consultation.