On Saturday, November 21, a sheet of ice opens inside TD Amp Ballantyne at 11115 Upper Avenue. It will stay through January 10, 2027. goBallantyne calls it The Bowl's very first outdoor ice skating rink. Six days after it opens, the Carolina Holiday Light Spectacular returns to Ballantyne's Backyard, a short walk away.
The two are close on the map, but they work as two separate outings. They keep different hours and close on different nights, and you enter them from different sides of the campus. Planning for that is what makes the rink useful through all of December, not just on the night you also see the lights.
The rink keeps after-school hours, seven days a week
Ice Skating at The Bowl opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays and closes at 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 p.m. on Fridays. Saturday hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday hours are noon to 9 p.m. Sessions last one hour.
Admission is $20, or $15 for children 5 and under. Skate rental is included. Bring your own skates and it's $18. Buying online adds a small convenience fee, and the posted prices are flat if you buy at the rink. Skate helpers are free while supplies last. Military and first responder discounts are available with a valid ID, but only on tickets bought in person. Every skater has to complete a digital waiver before buying a ticket. Filling it out at home saves time at the window.
School breaks shift the schedule earlier:
- Thanksgiving break, Nov. 25 to 27: noon to 10 p.m.
- Winter break, Dec. 20 to Jan. 2: noon to 10 p.m., with Saturdays starting at 11 a.m.
- Christmas Eve: noon to 6 p.m.
- Christmas Day: 3 to 10 p.m.
- Dec. 14: closes early at 5:30 p.m. for a private event
Your ticket also earns perks at The Bowl's restaurants and shops all season. Show it at Postino for a free order of Donut Dots or at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery for a free Bavarian Pretzel. Both are dine-in only. Honeysuckle Gelato takes 20% off.
The lights run on fewer nights and enter from the other side
The Carolina Holiday Light Spectacular runs November 27 through December 30 at Ballantyne's Backyard, 11611 N. Community House Road. It's open on select nights only. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., the last ticket sells at 9 p.m., and the show closes at 9:30. The show is dark on Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and 2, Dec. 7 through 9, Dec. 25 and Dec. 31. On Christmas Eve the last ticket sells at 7:30 p.m. and the show closes at 8.
The entrance matters most for anyone combining the two. The show's only entrance is at the Wells Fargo building, where parking is always free. Some guests walk over from the shops and restaurants at The Bowl, but there is no entrance from that side. If you skate first and walk over, you'll be going around to the Wells Fargo entrance, not straight in.
General admission starts at $20, and Twilight tickets after 8 p.m. start at $10 on select nights. VIP starts at $49, a Family Pack of four general admission tickets is $99, and an Anytime Admission good on any day is $30. Children 2 and under are free. Most tickets are tied to a date, and prices rise at the gate. Santa photos are free on open nights through December 23. New this season is Santa's Private Workshop: Elf Academy, which takes just 10 children a night. It costs $49 in advance or $68 later, and children check in by 5 p.m. Booking is online only, and there are no refunds for late arrivals. Elf Academy is an add-on and needs separate show admission.
| Ice Skating at The Bowl | Carolina Holiday Light Spectacular | |
|---|---|---|
| Season | Nov. 21 to Jan. 10 | Nov. 27 to Dec. 30 |
| Open | Every day, with set hours | Select nights only |
| Weekday start | 4 p.m., or noon during breaks | 5:30 p.m. |
| Entrance | TD Amp Ballantyne, 11115 Upper Ave. | Wells Fargo building, 11611 N. Community House Rd. |
| Base price | $20, rental included | From $20, Twilight from $10 |
| Christmas Day | 3 to 10 p.m. | Closed |
The nights the lights are closed are good rink nights
Seven nights in the light show's season are closed: Nov. 30, Dec. 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 25. The first six are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On those nights the rink runs its regular weeknight hours, 4 to 9 p.m.
Monday through Wednesday is also when the goBallantyne app offers 20% off rink admission to Northwood office tenants and Ballantyne campus residents. For anyone who qualifies, an early-week skate after school or work on a dark light night is likely the cheapest time on the ice all season.
December 2 adds a daytime stop. The free Ballantyne Holiday Market runs that Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Brixham Park, 15810 Ballantyne Medical Place, with local vendors, Santa photos, live music and food trucks.
Christmas Day also splits. The light show is closed, and the rink opens at 3 p.m. and runs until 10.
Weekends put more within walking distance
Weekends are when the light show and The Bowl are busiest at the same time.
Opening day has the most going on. The free Jingle Bowl runs on Bowl Street that same Saturday, November 21, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with Santa selfies, a DJ, Frozen princesses and crafts. The rink opens at 11 a.m. that day.
For four weekends, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery's Christmas Market fills 15025 Bowl Street: Nov. 27 to 29, Dec. 4 to 6, Dec. 11 to 13 and Dec. 18 to 20. Admission is free. It has more than 50 vendors, Glühwein, hot cocoa and a holiday food menu, and Santa visits on Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. The pretzel perk on your rink ticket is good at OMB's Brauhaus, dine-in only.
Culinary Dropout is the newest warm-up stop. It opened November 4 at 15220 Bowl Street, across from TD Amp. The two-story, nearly 10,000-square-foot gastropub has indoor and rooftop bars, patio seating, a live music stage and weekend brunch. It's the brand's second Charlotte-area location, after South End. That puts a sit-down meal across the street from the rink, a short walk from the light show's entrance.
The Ballantyne hotel keeps its own daytime calendar
The Ballantyne hotel, at 10000 Ballantyne Commons Parkway, runs its own schedule, mostly in the daytime:
- Gingerbread Lane and Cocoa House, Dec. 13 to 27, closed Dec. 25. The display is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a vote of $1 or more supports Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital. WBTV called it a 20-year event when it covered the 2025 edition.
- Holiday Afternoon Tea, Dec. 3 to 27, Thursday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., except Dec. 25. Reservations are required. It's $70 per adult and $45 per child 12 and under, plus tax and a 24% service fee.
- Children's Toy Drive for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Nov. 26 to Dec. 24. The drop-off takes new, unwrapped toys.
Gingerbread Lane closes at 6 p.m., before the light show opens and after the rink opens. A Saturday in mid-December could cover all three.
The rink keeps going after the lights close
The light show's last night is December 30. The rink stays open 11 more days, through January 10. Its winter break hours of noon to 10 p.m. run through January 2. The rink is also a drop-off point all season for the Holiday Meal Kit Drive. The drive is run by The Bowl and Novant Health Ballantyne Medical Center with Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors in Need, which supports families at 12 Ballantyne-area public schools. There's a donation bin at the rink for canned chicken, beans, biscuit mix and the other meal-kit items, and monetary donations also count. Each kit costs about $10.
I'm glad the season now has something open every day for seven weeks. If you're thinking about how close you want to live to The Bowl, or how a home near Ballantyne's core might sell, Josh Tuschak can talk it through over a free valuation and strategy consult.
