Strathmore's holiday season opens at the Mansion, weeks before any of the big December names arrive at the Music Center. From Thursday through Saturday, November 12 to 14, the Mansion hosts the Museums & Makers Holiday Market from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Admission is free with a suggested $10 donation.
The market brings the shops of regional museums and gardens to North Bethesda for three days. A month later, on December 18, the Strathmore Jazz Orchestra plays its first Christmas concert at the Music Center. Strathmore's 2026 holiday announcement says the concert "launches a new holiday tradition." Most of the Music Center's December bookings are touring acts and partner organizations. The market and the new concert are both Strathmore's own productions.
Three Days in the Mansion
Strathmore describes the market as a gathering of "the area's best museum shops and artisans," and says purchases support nonprofit museums and artists. The published 2026 roster lists seven participating shops:
- The Mansion at Strathmore
- Brookside Gardens
- Hillwood Museum
- President Lincoln's Cottage
- GW Textile Museum
- The Phillips Collection
- Woodend Nature Shop
For three days, gift counters from gardens, house museums and art collections share one building in North Bethesda. The artists' side of the roster is just as specific. It names fifteen artists and studios, including ceramics studio Mudpie Clay Works, SE Carter Chaos Candles, Jillian Jenkins Roper of Jump Jack Studios, Karmic Kollections and The Artsy Farmer. The roster also lists individual artists Begoña Morton, Eileen Martin, Airen Hall, Jennifer Kahn Barlow, Martina Sestakova, Ellen White, Julie Gross, Eunice Turner, Britaney Padin and Ladan Ebrahimian.
The practical details shape when to go:
- Parking: The Mansion lot has limited space, and staff will be on site to direct cars. Overflow parking is in the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro garage, which is free on weekends and $5.20 when you exit on a weekday. If you plan to use the garage, Saturday saves the fee.
- Strollers: The page asks visitors not to bring them.
- Food: Seasonal snacks and drinks are for sale.
- Donation: You can add the suggested donation when you RSVP online or pay it at the door by cash or card. It supports Strathmore's visual arts programs, including its free exhibitions.
Saturday Lines Up With a Free Weekend on Old Georgetown Road
The market's last day overlaps with a second North Bethesda event. On Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15, the Josiah Henson Museum & Park at 11410 Old Georgetown Road offers free admission for Montgomery County Remembrance and Reconciliation Weekend. The weekend includes special archaeology tours and hands-on family programs, and no registration is required.
The archaeology is the reason to go that weekend. Montgomery Parks' fall guide says the work done at the site tells the story of the life of Rev. Josiah Henson and others who lived on the historic Riley Plantation.
Hours differ between the two days, so a Saturday that includes both stops could run like this:
- 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday: The Josiah Henson Museum & Park is open free.
- Parking: Use Wall Local Park at 5900 Executive Boulevard, which the guide says is a block and a half from the museum. The museum has limited accessible parking on site.
- Until 6 p.m.: The Museums & Makers market stays open at the Mansion, so you can shop after the museum closes.
Sunday hours at the museum are noon to 4 p.m. Wall Park covers 12 acres at Old Georgetown Road and Nicholson Lane, with a playground, basketball court, exercise station, HeartSmart Trail and picnic area. Children who have spent the morning on archaeology can use the playground while the adults return to the car.
The museum has another program the following week. On Thursday, November 19, from 6 to 7 p.m., its History Hour covers Woodlawn Manor and the Underground Railroad. It is for ages 12 and up and costs $5. The museum is regularly open Friday through Sunday.
December at the Music Center, Sorted by Who Presents Each Show
Once the market closes, the season moves to the Music Center. Strathmore's holiday announcement groups the December shows by who presents them. Sorting them that way shows how much of the month comes from touring artists and partner organizations.
| Date | Performance | Who presents it |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 1 | Cherish the Ladies: Celtic Christmas | Touring act, Strathmore booking |
| Dec. 3 | Voctave: It Feels Like Christmas | Touring act, Strathmore booking |
| Dec. 5 | Leslie Odom, Jr.: The Christmas Tour 2026 | Touring act, Strathmore booking |
| Dec. 6 | NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet | Strathmore partner |
| Dec. 9 | Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour 2026 | Touring act, Strathmore booking |
| Dec. 11 | Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Cirque Nutcracker | Strathmore partner |
| Dec. 12 | The Tenors: Season of Hope Tour | Touring act, Strathmore booking |
| Dec. 14 | Strathmore Youth Chorus: A World of Celebration "2026 Winter Concert" | Strathmore's own ensemble |
| Dec. 18 | Strathmore Jazz Orchestra Christmas | Strathmore's own ensemble, first year |
| Dec. 19–20 | National Philharmonic's Handel's Messiah | Strathmore partner |
| Dec. 21–22 | The Washington Chorus' A Candlelight Christmas | Strathmore partner |
Eleven December shows are listed. Five are touring acts that Strathmore books, and four come from its founding and presenting partners. Two come from Strathmore's own ensembles, and the Jazz Orchestra's concert is new this year. The partner bookings carry into the new year with the BSO's Beethoven's Ninth: New Year's Celebration on January 2 and Gatz Loft Concerts' Salute to Vienna on January 3.
The announcement also notes that tickets under $30 are available for Strathmore Presents performances at the Music Center. Tickets are sold online or by phone at 301-581-5100.
The New Concert on December 18
The Strathmore Jazz Orchestra Christmas is on Friday, December 18, at 8 p.m. The program features Duke Ellington's Nutcracker and Christmas songs from what Strathmore calls "the golden era of jazz." Daniel Jamieson conducts. The guest artists are Christie Dashiell, Taisha Estrada, Gerson Lanza and Dante' Pope, all alumni of Strathmore's Artists in Residence program. The official event page lists tickets from $28 to $78.
On December 18, every featured guest is an alumnus of Strathmore's own residency program. The same arrangement shows up at the market, where a 2026 roster of local makers sells beside the museum shops, and in the Youth Chorus concert on December 14.
Where the Orchestra's Guests Come From
Strathmore's Artists in Residence program also produced the season's free holiday show, though that show is not at the Music Center. On December 12, Elijah Balbed and The JoGo Project present The JoGo Big Band Holiday Show at the Good Hope Neighborhood Recreation Center. The free concert is part of Strathmore's Bloom at Good Hope Concert Series and mixes go-go, jazz and big band. Balbed, a Washington, D.C., native, was in Strathmore's Artists in Residence class of 2014.
Strathmore describes itself as a nonprofit cultural institution based in North Bethesda since 1983, with programs at the Music Center, the Mansion and other sites in Montgomery County. This year's calendar shows that in practice. Alumni of its residency headline its newest holiday concert and play the free community show. Its youth chorus has a December date, and its Mansion fills with museum shops and local artists for three days before any touring act arrives.
For North Bethesda households, that gives the season a few fixed dates. The market runs November 12 to 14, the museum's free weekend is November 14 to 15, and the house orchestra plays its first Christmas concert on December 18.
At The Schuman Team, we follow the community calendars around Strathmore and Old Georgetown Road the same way we follow the homes nearby. If you're thinking about what your North Bethesda home is worth this season, we're glad to talk it through over coffee after the market.
