Several Christmas light shows open for Christmas Day | Best Bets

ALMOST DAILY | Through 01.01

Drive-through displays illuminate into New Year’s weekend

▪ “The Greatest Christmas Light Show,” 5:30-9 p.m. daily through Saturday and Monday-Dec. 30 – at North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex, at S.C. 90 and Robert Edge Parkway. $15 per vehicle with 1-15 passengers, $30 with 16-30 guests, and $60 with 31 or more (call 843-280-5570 to schedule buses). parks.nmb.us/festivalsevents/special-events/the-great-christmas-light-show/

▪ “Conway Celebration of Lights,” 5:30-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 5:30-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, through Jan. 1, at Marina Drive and Ash Pond Road in downtown Conway, along Elm Street – use Third Avenue exit from U.S. 501 Bypass. $5 per vehicle with 1-7 passengers, $10 with 8-14 guests, $15 with 15-24, and $25 with 25 or more. 843-488-1950 or www.cityofconway.com/celebration_of_lights/index.php.

Also, escape for:

▪ “Holiday Festival of Lights,” daily through Jan. 1: 5:30-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, and 5:30-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays in Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission’s James Island County Park, 871 Riverland Drive, Charleston – From U.S. 17 south: Cross Ashley River, then go south on S.C. 171, west (right) on S.C. 700 (Maybank Highway) and south (left) on Riverland Drive; or from downtown Charleston, take S.C. 30 to its end point, then right on Folly Road, left on Central Park Road, and left on Riverland.). Admission per vehicle – $20 for 1-15 guests ($15 Mondays-Thursdays with donation of canned food item or dog/cat food to benefit Lowcountry Food Bank); $40 Mondays-Thursdays, $50 Fridays-Saturdays for 16-30; and $100 Mondays-Thursdays, $150 Fridays-Saturdays for 31 or more. 843-795-4386 or www.ccprc.com/index.aspx?NID=1546.

▪ “Holiday Lights on the River,” 6-10 p.m. daily through Dec. 31, in Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission’s Saluda Shoals Park, 5605 Bush River Road, Columbia (From Interstate 20, take Exit 63 and head right – west – on Bush River Road, and left on St. Andrews Road – Enter at 6071 St. Andrews Road, between Wendy’s and Aldi. $15 carload, $25 passenger van, $40 bus. Rides and other activities cost extra. 803-772-3903 or www.icrc.net/holiday-lights.

SATURDAY | 12.24

See groups on HTC Channel 4 ‘Christmas Card,’ join Menorah lighting in park

The 21st annual “HTC Christmas Card to the Community” will premiere at 8 p.m. Saturday, on the Conway-based cable TV system’s local access Channel 4. See musical presentations by the chancel choir and orchestra from Belin Memorial United Methodist Church in Murrells Inlet, including “Gloria Deo”; and the Long Bay Symphony and Carolina Master Chorale in concert for Handel’s “Messiah,” at All Saints Church in Pawleys Island.

HTC also plans to air “Christmas Card to the Community” programs from previous seasons this Friday and Saturday. More Channel 4 details at www.htcinc.net/digital-cable/htc-channel-4.

Also earlier Saturday evening, join the annual “Lighting of the Menorah,” at 5:30 p.m. – on the first night of Hanukkah – in Myrtle Beach’s Valor Memorial Garden, at The Market Common, with Rabbi David Weissman. Also, the “Hanukkah Happening,” is 7 p.m. Saturday at Temple Shalom – a Reform Jewish congregation based at 4023 Belle Terre Boulevard, off U.S. 501, near Forestbrook community – for $15 ages 13 and older, $10 ages 4-10, and free ages 3 and younger. Details at 843-903-6634 or www.templeshalommyrtlebeach.org.

ALMOST DAILY | Through 01.01

Christmas shows start home stretch; Medieval Times open Christmas Day

Prices vary for each:

▪ Dolly Parton’s “Christmas at Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show,” at Pirates Voyage, on U.S. 17, near northern junction of U.S. 17 Business in Myrtle Beach – 6 p.m. -Thursday-Friday and Monday-Dec. 31. 843-497-9700, 800-433-4401 or piratesvoyage.com.

▪ “The Carolina Opry Christmas Special – The Christmas Show of the South,” at Calvin Gilmore Theater, 8901 N. Kings Highway (U.S. 17 Business), at junction of U.S. 17, on northern tip of Myrtle Beach – 7 p.m. Thursday, and Monday-Jan. 1. 843-913-4000, 800-843-6779 or www.thecarolinaopry.com.

▪ “The South’s Grandest Christmas Show,” at Alabama Theatre, on north end of Barefoot Landing, on U.S. 17 in North Myrtle Beach – 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, and Monday-Dec. 30, and 3 and 9:15 p.m. Dec. 31. 843-272-1111, 800-342-2262 or www.alabama-theatre.com.

▪ Legends in Concert, 2925 Hollywood Drive, Myrtle Beach, at U.S. 17 and 29th Avenue North, at Broadway at the Beach, through Dec. 31, with tributes to Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, and the Blues Brothers – 8 p.m. Monday-Dec. 30, and 7 and 10 p.m. Dec. 31. 843-238-7827, 800-960-7469 or www.legendsinconcert.com/myrtle-beach.

▪ “A Redneck Christmas Show,” 7 p.m. Thursday, Tuesday and Dec. 29; and 6 p.m. Dec. 31, at GTS Theatre, 1220 Port Drive, Myrtle Beach, off southbound U.S. 17 Bypass, near Jamin Leather – and also accessed from S.C. 707 via Macklen Road, near Super 8 motel. 843-756-4386 (4FUN) or www.gtstheatre.com.

Also, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, at 2904 Fantasy Way – close to U.S. 501 and George Bishop Parkway, just west of Myrtle Beach and the Intracoastal Waterway – does not shift into a Christmas edition, but shows go year round, including holidays into New Year’s: 6 p.m. Thursday-Friday, and Monday-Dec. 31, and Jan. 1; 5 p.m. Sunday; and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 31. 843-236-4635, 800-436-4386, 888-935-6878 (WE-JOUST), or www.medievaltimes.com/myrtlebeach.aspx.

NEXT WEEK | 12.26-12.31

Planetarium open extra days during Christmas week

Ingram Planetarium, 7625 High Market St., Sunset Beach, N.C., continues its Sky Theater end-of-year lineup with this schedule for Thursday-Friday, and Monday-Dec. 31:

“Season of Light” at noon and 6 p.m., “Earth, Moon & Sun” 1 p.m., “Undiscovered Worlds” 2 p.m., “Seven Wonders” 3 p.m. (half-price admission for this show only), “The Sky Tonight” 4 p.m., and “Laser Holidays” 7 p.m.

Prices per show are:$9.50 ages 13-61, $8.50 ages 62 and older, $7.50 ages 3-12, and free ages 2 and younger. Details at 910-575-0033 or www.museumplanetarium.org.

ALMOST DAILY | Through 01.02

Escape to skate on full rink at Florence Civic Center

Public ice skating, in two-hour sessions on a full-size rink, continue through Jan. 2 at the Florence Civic Center, 3300 W. Radio Drive, at Interstates 95 and 20, with this schedule:

▪ Noon, and 3, 6 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday and Monday-Dec. 31.

▪ 3, 6 and 8:30 p.m. Jan. 1.

▪ Noon, and 6 and 8:30 p.m. Jan. 2.

▪ No sessions this Saturday-Sunday.

Admission is $8 ages 13 and older, $6 ages 12 and younger – and skate rental $3. Group specials and private sessions are available. A portion of proceeds benefits SNAC (Shelter and Nutrition for All Children, in Florence Public School District 1 – www.snacsc.com) and Help 4 Kids of Florence (www.help4kidsflorence.org).

To reach the arena from Myrtle Beach, take U.S. 501 north, onto S.C 576 west, then U.S. 76 west, then right (west) on David McLeod Boulevard – the I-20 spur – for about a mile, then left on West Radio Drive.

Details at 843-679-9417 and www.florenceciviccenter.com/assets/doc/2016-Flyer-983f481ea4.pdf.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Several Christmas light shows open for Christmas Day | Best Bets."