{"id":983292,"date":"2026-08-05T23:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/983292\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T23:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:17:17","slug":"dallas-arboretum-saying-goodbye-to-the-twelve-days-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/983292\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Arboretum saying goodbye to The Twelve Days of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

After becoming one of North Texas\u2019 most beloved holiday traditions, The Twelve Days of Christmas exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum<\/a> will come to an end this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its Fall 2026 issue<\/a>, Bloom magazine, published by the Dallas Arboretum, announced that the upcoming holiday season will be the last time visitors can stroll through the monumental scenes inspired by the classic English Christmas carol as part of the annual Holiday at the Arboretum celebration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The exhibit will open on Nov. 11, 2026, and remain on display through Jan. 3, 2027, marking the end of a tradition that has defined the holiday season in Dallas for 12 years and attracted thousands of visitors from across the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The story of The Twelve Days of Christmas began in 2012, when the Arboretum was looking for a new attraction for its holiday celebration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Dave Forehand and Tobie Smith, authors of the Bloom article \u201cHoliday at Night, One Final Chorus,\u201d benefactors Phyllis and Tom McCasland proposed creating a large-scale holiday experience inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas, the traditional English carol about 12 gifts given during the Christmas season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The authors wrote that the project was funded by the McCaslands and brought to life by Tommy Bourgeois, production designer for the Dallas Opera, working alongside Greg Blackburn and the team at Dallas Stage Scenery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project required nearly two years of design, engineering and fabrication before making its debut in 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each verse of the carol was brought to life inside illuminated gazebos featuring life-size figures and many handcrafted details that could be enjoyed both during the day and at night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years, The Twelve Days of Christmas became one of the most visited holiday attractions in North Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The exhibit is installed each year by off-duty members of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, who begin transporting, assembling and installing the displays in August. They also build the Neuhoff Family Christmas Village.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beginning with the 2027 holiday season, the Dallas Arboretum will debut The Art of Hybycozo, a luminous outdoor exhibition featuring larger-than-life geometric sculptures created specifically for the Dallas Arboretum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, if you\u2019re a fan of The Twelve Days of Christmas, make plans to visit the Dallas Arboretum this year and take one last photo with the illuminated gazebos and the dazzling holiday displays before they disappear for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After becoming one of North Texas\u2019 most beloved holiday traditions, The Twelve Days of Christmas exhibit at the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":983293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,7709,358,290169,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-983292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-dallas","tag-holidays","tag-texas","tag-tp-dallas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117045457529917814","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/983293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}