a coastal christmas

Moody Gardens makes holidays bright with dazzling shows, lights, cruises, and more

Houstonians looking to celebrate the holidays and toast the new year have a one-stop shop at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

Winter holiday fun starts with A Christmas Wish: Holiday Spectacular. Created in partnership with Mirage Entertainment, this one-hour extravaganza is a rich tapestry of live musical theater-style songs, dynamic dance performances, daring stunts, and acrobatics, interlaced with comedic moments and a heartwarming holiday narrative.

A blend of Broadway and Cirque du Soleil, the show aims to enrapture audiences of all ages with its captivating visual and special effects. Guests can indulge in light snacks, explore all of Moody Gardens' attractions, and take in a dinner show performance

Admission to the show includes admission to the popular Festival of Lights, an illuminated walking trail illuminated with 2 million lights themed to holiday music.

Moody Gardens holiday Moody Gardens decks out for the holidays. Photo courtesy of Moody Gardens

Families will delight in the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 4D film, along with other holiday flicks in 3D. Swoosh down the Arctic Slide, catch a train ride, and enjoy that most popular of campfire cuisine, s'mores.

New Year’s fun, cruises, and more

One of the island's top attractions has multiple options, including the New Year's Palooza, NYE Silver Celebration celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Moody Gardens Hotel, a New Year's Eve Cruise, or a fine five-star dinner at Shearn’s.

Taking place all weekend long, New Year's Palooza is a multi-day party with games, tasty food, and activities for all ages.

Check out the entertainment in the Convention Center. No celebration would be complete without fireworks, which illuminate the sky over Offatts Bayou. The celebration concludes with a kids' New Year's Countdown and Beach Ball Drop, while adults can raise a toast with sparkling cider and bubbly. When the calendar flips to January 1, there's breakfast, games, activities, and a Mimosa and Bloody Mary Bar.

Colonel Paddlewheel boat on the water. Moody Garden's New Year's Palooza includes a series of events, including performances, dinners and more. Enjoy a performance of A Christmas Wish: Holiday Spectacular stroll through the Festival of Lights, set sail on the Colonel Paddlewheel, and enjoy an elegant dinner at Shearn's. Moody Gardens

Photo courtesy of Moody Gardens

Moody Gardens Festival of Lights blends holiday with coastal charm.

Moody Garden's NYE Silver Celebration is a sophisticated, adults-only soiree. The Mambo Jazz Kings headline the show, where guests can ring in the New Year with dancing. The celebration also includes appetizers and an iconic champagne toastat midnight.

Guests who reserve their table at Shearn’s on New Year’s Eve can feel like VIPS. They'll indulge in a five-star meal and take in the fireworks display from the restaurant's panoramic 9th floor. The dinner package also includes tickets to the NYE Silver Celebration.

Those looking for something that feels like a trip back in time will enjoy the Colonel Paddlewheel boat's New Year's Eve Cruise, where guest will have a waterfront view of the Festival of Lights displays complemented by music, dance, gourmet hors d'oeuvres, and two complimentary drink vouchers. A midnight Champagne toast completes the evening.

Those spending the New Year's holiday at the hotel, or those wishing to drop by for a day or two, can also take part in the rest of the attraction's festivities.

Reservations and more information can be found on the Moody Gardens website.

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep welcomes spooky season with PG-scary new movie

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

movies film

a coastal christmas

Moody Gardens makes holidays bright with dazzling shows, lights, cruises, and more

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep welcomes spooky season with PG-scary new movie

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