RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2025
CONTACTS:
Anne Mancour, Marketing Manager, Sloan Museum of Discovery/Longway Planetarium
Direct: 810.237.3443 | Email: AMancour@SloanLongway.org
Phillip Krapohl, Communications & Marketing Manager, Flint Institute of Arts
Direct: 810.237.7387 | Email: PKrapohl@FlintArts.org
The Holiday Walk Celebrates 40 Years When It Returns to the Flint Cultural Center Campus Tuesday, December 2, 2025 -Tree Lighting Ceremony Kicks Off the Event at 5:15 p.m. -
Flint, MI – The 40th Annual Holiday Walk returns to the Flint Cultural Center campus on Tues., Dec. 2, 2025, 5-8 p.m. This Flint holiday tradition takes place on the beautifully decorated 33-acre campus of the Flint Cultural Center and is free to the public. The campus will be transformed into a winter wonderland with imaginative holiday light displays, reindeer, festive live music and performances, seasonal children’s crafts, free planetarium holiday sampler shows, holiday shopping in the gift shops, and free photos with Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus in the FIM Whiting Auditorium. The Claus’s –along with Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley and Greater Flint Sports Hall of Famer Ervin Leavy—will kick off the Holiday Walk at 5:15 p.m. with the annual tree lighting ceremony. To accommodate a live 25-foot-tall Holiday Tree, the kickoff ceremony will be in the Durant Plaza located between FIM Whiting Auditorium and Sloan Museum of Discovery off of E. Kearsley Street.
Food trucks from Northern Smoke BBQ and Bella Concessions will be selling food on East Kearsley Street during the event. Parking is free at all Flint Cultural Center public parking lots. Each venue along the Holiday Walk route will have event maps in advance and during the event to plan your walk to the various organizations on campus. Visitors are encouraged to help our neighbors in need with a donation to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan by texting holidaywalk2025 to phone number 855-800-4975 to make a donation.
Participating organizations and free activities include:
Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony | 5:15 p.m. (located in Durant Plaza, between FIM Whiting Auditorium and Sloan Museum of Discovery) With Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus, Mayor Neeley, and Greater Flint Sports Hall of Famer Ervin Leavy.
FIM Whiting Auditorium | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• FREE Photos with Mr. & Mrs. Claus (line closes at 7:30 p.m.)
• EBFE live Mariachi Band
• Special holiday treats and activities Applewood Estate | 5-8 p.m.
• Carolers and reindeer
• Ice sculptures and holiday lights
• Hot cider and cookies
Longway Planetarium | 5:30-8 p.m.
Free sampler shows of Cosmic Christmas
(tickets available starting at 4:30 p.m. in E. Kearsley St. tent, first-come, first-serve; show
times: 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m. (No Late Seating)
FIM Elgood Theatre/Flint Repertory Theatre | 5:30-8 p.m.
• A musical cabaret of new and old holiday classics
• Special holiday treats
Flint Institute of Arts | 5-8 p.m.
• Glass blowing demonstrations in the Hot Shop until 7 p.m.
• Make & take art activity in Isabel Hall
• Museum galleries open, including an original Andy Warhol painting on loan
• Special Holiday Walk menu at the Palette Cafe
• Museum Shop open for holiday shopping
Gloria Coles Flint Public Library | 5:30-8 p.m.
• 5:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. performances – Carman Ainsworth High School String Orchestra
• 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. performances – Tap Dancers from Tapology
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Children’s crafts
• Refreshments provided by Friends of the Library
Whaley Historical House | 5-8 p.m.
(corner of East Kearsley and Chavez Drive)
• Wandering Lantern Carolers
• Tours and crafts
• Historic interpreters
FIM Dort Music Center | 5:30-8 p.m.
• Flint School of Performing Arts ensemble performances and Piano Trio performances
• Flint Youth Theatre Improv Squad performances
• Photos in the giant Nutcracker rocking chair (line closes at 7:45 p.m.)
• Hot chocolate and cookies, provided by Allegro
Sloan Museum of Discovery | 5-8 p.m.
• Discovery Hall hands-on science gallery
• Hagerman Street early childhood interactive gallery
• History Gallery
• Durant Historic Vehicle Gallery (including a rare look under the hood of Sloan’s historical cars)
• Coffee Beanery Café selling hot cocoa, coffee and snacks
• Sloan Museum Store open for holiday shopping sales
Flint Cultural Center Academy (FCCA)
• Maker’s Fair with items available for purchase and popcorder/refreshments
For more information, visit FlintCultural.org/HolidayWalk, or the FCC Facebook page. ################# About the Flint Cultural Center Holiday Walk:The Holiday Walk has been a tradition for 40 years and began as the Flint Cultural Center’s way of giving back to the community. Thousands of visitors attend the free event each year. The 2025 Holiday Walk is supported in part by these sponsors: The View Newspaper Group; FlintPrints; WJRT-TV ABC12; the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; and the Genesee County voters who approved the Arts, Education & Cultural Enrichment millage. Learn more at www.FlintCultural.org. |
