By Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

Deep in the Ozarks, the Christmas season begins early at Branson, Missouri. Throughout the month of November and early December, every show in town sports a holiday-themed performance, and the area attractions transform themselves into winter wonderlands.

One of the most magical places at Christmastime is Silver Dollar City. The theme park started in 1960 as a recreated 1880s Ozarks mining town atop Marvel Cave. Since then, it has morphed into a megapark complete with thrill rides, a dozen musical shows, plenty of shopping, and one hundred resident craftspeople demonstrating their skills. For the park’s An Old Time Christmas festival, Silver Dollar City becomes a twinkling fantasyland with four million lights, hundreds of decorated trees, holiday-costumed characters, and special wintertime treats. The festival includes a Broadway-quality production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a living Nativity, a five-story special-effects Christmas tree, holiday light parade, and new this year, Christmas on Main Street, a light show incorporating all the buildings and trees around the square.

Another Branson classic, the Shepherd of the Hills Historic Homestead and Old Mill Theatre, is a nostalgic stop during the Christmas season. This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of the book, The Shepherd of the Hills, by Harold Bell Wright, the book that started the Branson tourism boom. Following its publication, visitors flocked to the Ozarks to see the places and people Wright had written about. Soon Silver Dollar City, the Baldknobbers, and the Presleys began entertaining visitors, too. The visitors kept coming, and Branson kept growing.

The Shepherd of the Hills park offers the nightly outdoor drama based on Wright’s book, the Sons of the Pioneers Chuckwagon Dinner Show, guided tours of the historic homestead, and horseback trail rides. It’s easy to spend the entire day at the homestead.

For the holidays, the Shepherd of the Hills produces the Trail of Lights, an elaborate drive-through light display, and Christmas on the Trail, a chuck wagon dinner show featuring cowboy Christmas music and singalong.

For a memorable vacation, book a cabin at Big Cedar Lodge, one of the finest resorts in the country. Located off Route 86 about fifteen minutes south of Branson, Big Cedar (bigcedarlodge.com) overlooks Table Rock Lake and offers a luxurious experience in a rustic setting. Even if you don’t stay there, at least drop by for a meal in the Devil’s Pool Restaurant. The exposed beam-and-log hunting lodge décor is typical of Bass Pro Shops, which owns Big Cedar Lodge and nearby Dogwood Canyon, a ten-thousand-acre nature park that offers special Christmas in the Canyon holiday dinners.

The flagship store of Bass Pro Shops is in Springfield, about thirty minutes north of Branson. It’s one of the top tourist destinations in the state of Missouri—and a store like no other you’ve ever visited. There’s also a Bass Pro Shops in the new Branson Landing district of downtown Branson, but it is smaller than the Springfield store. You’ll still want to stroll through Branson Landing while you’re in town and browse through the stores, dine in the restaurants, and enjoy the holiday lights and decorations. Don’t miss the elaborate water-light-sound show at the Branson Landing Fountains in the town square near the Lake Taneycomo waterfront.

The Branson Area Festival of Lights includes drive-through light displays at Branson, Kimberling City, Indian Point, Hollister, and along Route 76.

Labels: Branson, Christmas, Holiday, Missouri