High Point, NC - High Point University invites the community to campus for a variety of holiday events in December.

Some events require complimentary registration as noted below. Registration and the complete list of community events can be found at www.highpoint.edu/christmas.  Individuals can sign up to receive email updates about community events at HPU by visiting this link.

Join HPU for Home for the Holidays: Holiday Open House on Saturday, Dec. 2 from 6-7:30 p.m. at Sechrest Art Gallery. Home for the Holidays, a folk-art exhibition by HPU Class of 1986 alumna Dianne Myers, will run from Dec. 1-15. Myers is a maker of charming folk-art paintings that visualize memories of her years growing up in rural North Carolina. Plan to come and enjoy Myers’ whimsical and deeply personal works, which she has made over more than four decades, during Sechrest Gallery’s Holiday Open House. No tickets required.

HPU’s Department of Theater and Dance invites the public to the “Nutcracker in a Nutshell” on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 1:30-2 p.m. at the Charles E. Hayworth Sr. Memorial Chapel. The 30-minute presentation includes highlights of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite as performed by HPU students. This is a perfect family event with a chance for kids to meet the dancers and take pictures afterward. No tickets required.

HPU’s annual Lesson and Carols service will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 6 from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Charles E. Hayworth Sr. Memorial Chapel. This special candlelight service is the final chapel service of the fall semester, bringing the community together to remember and retell the Christmas story. The service will feature members of the university community reading scripture as well as music led by the Chapel Choir. The service is based on the traditional Festival of Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge, England. No tickets are required for this event.

“Amahl & the Night Visitors” will be performed Wednesday, Dec. 6 and Thursday, Dec. 7 from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Hayworth Fine Arts Center, Pauline Theatre. Mark your calendar and make plans to attend this beloved holiday performance presented by the Greensboro Opera and HPU. Three Kings follow a star to Bethlehem. A miracle happens when they stop for shelter at the home of Amahl, a poor, crippled shepherd boy who lives with his widowed mother. Inspired by the Wise Men’s tale of a kingdom “built on love alone,” Amahl offers his own simple gift to the Christ Child. In this warm and compassionate story, Gian Carlo Menotti has captured the essential spirit of Christmas. The event is free, but only a limited number of seats remain. Registration is required at www.highpoint.edu/Christmas.

HPU invites the community to attend the 52nd Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast on Friday, Dec. 15 at 8 a.m. in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena. For 52 consecutive years, HPU has brought the wider High Point faith community together for the Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast. This year’s event includes an inspiring message from Rev. Dr. Thomas Tewell and music provided by LaDonna Gatlin. A silent prayer is also held every year in memory of alumni and members of the university family and the community, as well as other friends who have passed away during the past year. Sponsors are Digger Enterprises, Fence Builders, Haggai Prayer Breakfast Fund, Johnson’s Modern Electric Company, River Landing at Sandy Ridge and Smith & Jennings, Inc. Complimentary registration is required and available at www.highpoint.edu/prayer-breakfast.

Enjoy the holiday season with a magical ride through campus for the annual Christmas Drive celebration Dec. 18-27. The free event is a fun and festive way for families to enjoy the holiday decorations and sounds of the season. Enjoy more than 100,000 Christmas lights, a life-size Nativity, more than 230 nutcrackers, giant wreaths and garland, the state’s tallest Christmas tree at 70 feet and more! This event will run for 10 nights from 5-8 p.m.