12 Days of Christmas at the Dallas Arboretum

All right, let's turn things over to Berkeley with more on the Dallas Arboretum and the forecast. And she also has a guest, the president and CEO of Dallas Arboretum, I hear, huh? Yes, I know. I've told you all of my knowledge that I have about the beautiful displays, the iconic traditions here at the Dallas Arboretum. But we want to get the inside scoop from the expert herself. I want to bring in CEO and president of the Dallas Arboretum. This is Sabina Carr. Thank you so much for, number one, waking up bright and early on a Saturday morning and bundling up because it's a little chilly out here. But it's perfect for the festive feel that Dallas Arboretum brings this time of year. I've talked about the iconic It's an iconic tradition of the gazebos. I mean, it's been 12 years what this means every year you set them up. What are people most excited about? Is there a favorite one that people flock to? And how you feel about wrapping up this tradition after 12 years? Oh, well, thank you for being here this morning. I can't believe we're both in like our puffer coats. It's unbelievable. So the 12 days of Christmas in particular has been such a tradition for 12 years. And I think it's all generations from grandparents to their littles, you know, their little grands. It's the thing that people love to do. Holiday at the Arboretum will always be here. But the 12 days of Christmas have kind of seen their run. They were supposed to be up for... Thank you. I really want people to come out, you know, walk off that holiday ham and turkey. That is a great idea. Yeah, get off the couch, come out here, and for a great deal, $12 for the 12th year of the 12 Days of Christmas Gazebo. I see the theme. I love it. It's a great way to get in the holiday spirit. I've talked about this year is kind of cherishing the old traditions and ushering kind of in a new era. What are some of the new things that people can look forward to when they come out to holidays at the Arboretum? So there are a couple of really cool new things this year. One of them is called the Sugar Plum Lounge, and it's based on a holiday speakeasy, so to speak. And it's free to enter, and it has a menu that you can't get anywhere else during the day or at night. And it's 21 and over. So yeah, mostly it's a date night kind of thing. So it should be fun. And we've also created a beer garden for all people, right? All ages serving German beers right outside the Christmas village. And so I think it's going to be another new tradition for folks. And we have huge screen television so y'all can watch the games. Yes. No, that's, I think that's really important because maybe people are hesitant to come out on college football Saturday or NFL Sunday. You don't have to pick between the two, which is so nice. So smart, big screen and holiday cheer. Sign me up, sign me up. You told me a little bit earlier before off camera. What we can expect with the new holiday display, because I know a lot of people are thinking, well, with no gazebos, what does that mean for holidays at the Arboretum? Can you give us a sneak preview of what's to come? Yes, of course. Well, we'll still, this is going to be in 2028, so we're going to need one more year to pull together another fabulous, another dazzling Christmas tradition, right? So we are not getting rid of Christmas. There have been some rumors around that, so I'll clear it up with you first. We'll be doing a, we'll celebrate a Christmas narrative, but it'll be every year. We'll be a different narrative. For example, one year might be the Nutcracker and the next year might be Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Okay. And we'll just continue to do new narratives. Not only will we have massive sculptural entities with bringing the life, the nutcracker, or whatever it may be. It'll culminate in a light show as well. So we'll kind of get the best of all worlds for the holidays. No kidding. I think that'd be fun to have a new rotation to look forward to every year and wait on the theme announcement. I'm sure that will be fun. Last quick question I have to ask for you before we wrap things up. Do you have a favorite gazebo that you look forward to seeing set up every year? Oh my gosh. I have two actually. I wish I could choose, but Partridge in a Pear Tree is spectacular and Five Golden Rings right here is so beautiful. And the kids really love that one. It's so, I mean, I love it. I love it. The animals balancing the rings and we've got four calling birds and the carols are so lovely to hear. I mean, it's such a Such a great tradition, again, this last year. Come out, come see it, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., right? Yes, that's right. Okay, seven days a week. Seven days a week. And holiday specials. So what more could you ask for? That's right. Sabina Akar, thank you so much again. CEO and President of the Dallas Arboretum, thank you for your insight.