Can you skate at The Bowl, walk through a million holiday lights at Ballantyne's Backyard and eat dinner on Bowl Street without moving the car? The Backyard's paths connect to The Bowl and The Amp across more than 100 acres of trails and catch-and-release ponds. Even so, Ballantyne's holiday season is two outings next to each other. They have different front doors, different parking and different nights off, and your evening goes better if you plan around that.
This is also the first December with two big new neighbors in the district. Wegmans opened its first Charlotte-area store on Oct. 14 at 11550 North Community House Road and reported more than 25,000 shoppers on opening day. Culinary Dropout was set to open Nov. 4 at 15220 Bowl St. with close to 300 seats on two levels. Both bring more cars to the same few blocks during the busiest weeks of the year.
The Calendar, Side by Side
Here is everything on the schedule from now through the rink's final day on Jan. 10, grouped by where each event happens.
| Event | Where | Dates | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Skating at The Bowl | TD Amp Ballantyne, 11115 Upper Ave. | Nov. 21 to Jan. 10 | $20, or $15 for ages 5 and under, skate rental included |
| Jingle Bowl | 15119 Bowl St. | Sat., Nov. 21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Free |
| OMB Christmas Market | 15025 Bowl St. | Nov. 27–29, Dec. 4–6, Dec. 11–13, Dec. 18–20 | Free |
| Carolina Holiday Light Spectacular | Ballantyne's Backyard, 11611 N. Community House Rd. | Nov. 27 to Dec. 30 | $10 to $50 |
| Holiday Market | Brixham Park, 15810 Ballantyne Medical Place | Wed., Dec. 2, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Free |
Saturday, Nov. 21 is the first big day. The rink opens that morning, and the Jingle Bowl runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with Santa selfies, a DJ, Frozen princesses and crafts. The rink's Saturday hours start at 11 a.m., the same time the Jingle Bowl begins. A family can do both before lunch.
Six days later, Friday, Nov. 27, the light show and the first weekend of the OMB Christmas Market open together. The market brings more than 50 local vendors, holiday food and drinks, and Santa on Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. From that weekend on, the rink, the market and the lights all run at once.
The Bowl Side Runs on a Three-Hour Clock
On The Bowl side, the rink is the anchor. It sits inside TD Amp Ballantyne at 11115 Upper Avenue and runs on these regular hours:
- Monday through Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, 4 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.
School breaks stretch those hours. The rink is open noon to 10 p.m. from Wednesday, Nov. 25 through Friday, Nov. 27, so it is open on Thanksgiving Day. Winter-break hours, noon to 10 p.m., begin Sunday, Dec. 20 and run through Saturday, Jan. 2, with Saturdays starting at 11 a.m. Christmas Eve hours are noon to 6 p.m., and on Christmas Day the rink opens from 3 to 10 p.m. Weather can still close the rink on any given day.
Your rink ticket also works on Bowl Street during the rink season. Show it at Postino for a free order of Donut Dots, at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery for a free Bavarian Pretzel, and at Honeysuckle Gelato for 20% off. The Postino and brewery offers are dine-in only. The rink is also a donation site for Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors in Need, which provides food assistance to local families.
Where you park decides how long you can stay. The Bowl's parking page sets three tiers:
| Where you park | Free time | After that |
|---|---|---|
| Boyle Garage, Upper Avenue, Lower Avenue | No time limit | Free |
| Other surface lots and garages | 3 hours | $8 for 181–240 minutes, rising to $20 for 361 minutes to a full day |
| Bowl Street and Mid Street | 30 minutes | $4 for 31–60 minutes, $6 up to 2 hours, $8 up to 3 hours, rising to $20 |
The curb spaces on Bowl Street and Mid Street are the easiest to grab and the quickest to start charging. They work for picking up a gelato. They cost money for a skate session followed by dinner, which can easily take two or three hours. Boyle Garage and the Upper and Lower Avenue spaces have no clock at all, and the rink itself sits on Upper Avenue. Visitors register their vehicles by scanning the Legacy Parking QR signs posted on site. On Thursday through Saturday evenings, valet is offered from 4 p.m. on Mid Street between North Italia and Flower Child.
For dinner after skating, The Bowl's dining directory lists Bossy Beulah's, Brasserie Copain, Flower Child, Fly Kid Fly, Harriet's Hamburgers, Honeysuckle Gelato, North Italia, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, PopUp Bagels, Postino WineCafe, Rooster's Wood-fired Kitchen, South Block and The Salty Donut. Mister O1 also appears on The Bowl's store directory. The Charlotte Observer reports that Culinary Dropout plans live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and during Saturday and Sunday brunch, with DJ sets on Saturdays and a rooftop patio upstairs.
The Backyard Side Has Its Own Entrance
The Carolina Holiday Light Spectacular is the reason to plan the two sides separately. The light show takes over Ballantyne's Backyard with millions of lights across more than 40 scenes, magic snowflake wands, free live entertainment and Santa's Private Workshop. According to the event's visitor page, parking is always free at the Wells Fargo building, 11611 N. Community House Road. Guests are asked to use that entrance and not to come in from The Bowl side. Light show guests enter from the Wells Fargo building side only.
So a combined night means moving between two parking areas, or picking one side per evening. On the nights it is open, the light show runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and the last ticket is sold at 9 p.m. Tickets are sold by date, and on select nights a cheaper Twilight ticket covers entry after 8 p.m. One workable order is to skate at the rink from 4 p.m., eat on Bowl Street, then drive around to the Wells Fargo lot for a Twilight entry.
Some nights the light show is dark while the rink is open, so check the date before you build a plan:
- Monday, Nov. 30
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, and Wednesday, Dec. 2
- Monday, Dec. 7, through Wednesday, Dec. 9
- Friday, Dec. 25
On Christmas Eve, the light show sells its last ticket at 7:30 p.m. and closes at 8. The rink closes earlier still that day, at 6 p.m. On Christmas Day, when the light show is closed, the rink's 3 to 10 p.m. session is the holiday option still open in Ballantyne.
The Dec. 2 Holiday Market at Brixham Park falls on one of the light show's dark nights. It is a weekday morning event, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with Santa photos, live music and food trucks, at 15810 Ballantyne Medical Place. It is a third location with its own address, so it works best as a separate outing.
Where Wegmans Fits
Wegmans sits on North Community House Road, the same road that leads to the light show's Wells Fargo entrance at 11611. The store opened with more than 25,000 shoppers on its first day, and WSOC reported that officers were directing traffic in the area that day. Before the opening, The Charlotte Observer reported that the site has 664 parking spaces.
For holiday grocery runs, The Charlotte Ledger's shopping tips suggest turning right toward North Community House Road, where more parking tends to be open. To leave, the Ledger recommends the road that wraps around the back of the store, which meets Community House Road at a traffic light. On a Friday or Saturday in December, a stop for hot cocoa supplies can share the same corridor with the light show's evening arrivals. Leaving through the back of the store helps keep you out of that traffic.
The light show sells tickets through ncholidaylights.com, and the rink's event page lists its hours and any weather closures.
If your family is spending more of this season close to home in South Charlotte, we would be glad to share what we know about the area, from the best parking for skate night to which weeks the light show is closed. Reach out to the team at Carolina Living & Estates anytime. Contact Us.
