Nutcracker Market Anticipation Reaches New Heights — Your Sneak Preview

If the holiday decorations going up all over town (we’re looking at you Post Oak Boulevard and Highland Village) and the brief frosty weather have yet to get you in the spirt of the season, the Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market, which launches with the Preview Party Wednesday and continues through Sunday, is guaranteed to catapult you into the requisite merriment.

More than 260 merchants from across the country have been working like Santa’s elves for days, setting up their enticing booths at NRG Center where they are once again predicting record sales. With 100,000 shoppers at the ready to cross through the portals these four days and 1,000 volunteers (many Houston Ballet Guild members) on hand, the 39th annual Nutcracker Market is expected to bring in well over $5 million for the Houston Ballet Foundation.

Last year, the net raised was $5.5 million. Since its founding, the event, which began as a quaint church-like bazaar, has earned more than $68.8 million.

While market regulars will assuredly make their way to mainstays such as Paul Michael Company for holiday decorations, Peran & Scannell for high-end jewelry, and Donne di Domani for the homemade, must-have marinara sauce, 23 new merchants will join the party. Making their debut are Pomp and Circumstance Boutique with women’s clothing and accessories, Merrichase offering luxury jewelry, The Manly Gift Store, Karma Living with handmade home decor and accessories, and Jentry Kelley Cosmetics.

Each year, the market has a theme that is carried out in decor. In a nod to the ballet’s fantastical presentation of The Nutcracker, market chair Sara Wright Parr has dubbed the shopping extravaganza “Clara’s Dream,” executed by Kirksey Gregg Productions.

As one might expect, it takes a slew of top tier volunteers to organize the market starting with Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market CEO Patsy Chapman. The most high profile among the leadership pool are those chairing the special happenings  — Karen deGuerin and Peter Remington and Jo Lynelle and Matt Farina, Wells Fargo Preview Party chairs; Lynn Wyatt and Tony Bradfield, Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show and Luncheon chairs;  Gigi Harbison and Rhonda Miller, Macy’s Fashion Show and Luncheon chairs; and Silver Stone Events’ Elizabeth Stone, committee catering chairman.

Nutcracker Market ticket and special event information can be found here.