NYCB Nutcracker 2026 Schedule: Matinees, Christmas Week and New Year’s

Photo: W. Radford Bascome / New York Public Library, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

ByBlog Writer

NYCB Nutcracker 2026 Schedule: Matinees, Christmas Week and New Year’s

New York City Ballet’s George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker has 47 performances on the BuyTickets.com board at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, from Friday November 27, 2026 through Saturday January 2, 2027. This guide is the performance calendar: the Thanksgiving weekend opening, which December days have matinees, what is on around Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and the closing weekend. Every date links to its own listing, and the full board is on our NYCB Nutcracker tickets page.

Nutcracker 2026 dates at a glance

  • Thanksgiving weekend: 5 performances from opening night, Friday November 27 at 8:00 PM
  • December 1 to 20: 25 performances, Tuesday to Sunday, with weekend matinees every week
  • December 21 to January 2: 17 performances, with extra weekday matinees for the school holidays
  • 19 of the 47 performances start at 1:00 or 2:00 PM; the rest start at 5:00, 7:00 or 8:00 PM

Thanksgiving weekend opening

The run opens the day after Thanksgiving. These five performances are the first on the board:

There are no performances listed on Monday November 30 or Tuesday December 1; the next one is Wednesday December 2 at 7:00 PM.

The December weekly pattern

From December 2 to December 20 the listed schedule follows a steady week:

  • Tuesday and Thursday: 7:00 PM
  • Wednesday: 7:00 PM, plus a 2:00 PM matinee from December 9
  • Friday: 8:00 PM
  • Saturday: 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
  • Sunday: 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM

Mondays are dark in this stretch. The Sunday 5:00 PM performance is a good middle option for families who want an earlier finish than an 8:00 PM curtain without the crowds of the 1:00 PM matinee. A 1:00 PM and a 5:00 PM performance on the same Sunday are different listings with different seat maps, so check the time before you buy.

Christmas week and New Year’s

From December 21 the schedule shifts to the school holidays, with more weekday matinees:

The Christmas Eve matinee is the only performance on December 24, and nothing is listed on Christmas Day. New Year’s Eve has a single 2:00 PM matinee, there is no performance on January 1, and the run closes on Saturday January 2, 2027 with a 2:00 PM matinee and a final 8:00 PM evening.

Choosing seats at Koch Theater

David H. Koch Theater has an orchestra level and four rings. Center orchestra is closest to the dancers; the front of the first and second rings shows the whole stage, which matters for the snow scene and the growing Christmas tree. The third and fourth rings are high and usually the lowest price, and some side ring seats are partial view, which the listing notes when it applies. Thanksgiving weekend, December weekend matinees and Christmas week usually cost the most; Tuesday to Thursday evenings in early December are often the value.

Koch Theater sits on the south side of the Lincoln Center plaza. It is not the Metropolitan Opera House or David Geffen Hall, and Balanchine stagings by other companies in other cities are separate events. See also David H. Koch Theater tickets and New York tickets.

Buying Nutcracker tickets on BuyTickets.com

BuyTickets.com is independent ticket resale since 1999 — not New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center or Ticketmaster. You see the all-in total before you pay, and every order has our 100% ticket guarantee. Delivery timing is shown on each listing. Start from the George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker tickets page to compare every performance.