22nd annual Lighting of the Green to kick-off the holiday season featuring Nashville’s Ellie Holcomb Tuesday, Dec. 1

22nd annual Lighting of the Green to kick-off the holiday season featuring Nashville's Ellie Holcomb Tuesday, Dec. 1

Community invited to FREE concert, festivities to celebrate the start of holiday season.

Kim Chaudoin | 10/22/2026

Although the weather outside may still feel a bit like summer, the Lipscomb University community is already making plans for the Christmas season! Once again, Lipscomb University invites the community to join them in kicking off the holiday season with the 22nd annual Lighting of the Green, which will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Beloved Nashville singer-songwriter Ellie Holcomb returns to host this year's edition of Lighting of the Green. Joining Holcomb will be some special musical guests along with performances by Lipscomb Academy and Lipscomb University ensembles and choirs, Sanctuary and the Lipscomb Gospel Choir. This year, Lighting of the Green will take place inside Allen Arena, bringing all of the festivities under one roof.

Holcomb is known for songs that hold hard things and hope side by side, often drawing straight from scripture, and for writing music that families share across generations. After eight years touring with her husband's band, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, she launched a solo career that earned her the GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and has since brought her multiple Dove Awards. A mom of three, she has also become a favorite voice in family homes through her bestselling children's books and music, including Sounding Joy, her Christmas book and album, whose title track won the 2023 Dove Award for Children's Recorded Song of the Year.

Festivities begin at 4 p.m. with the FREE concert to follow at 6 p.m. Food will be available for purchase from Lipscomb Dining Services in the Allen Arena concession stands, in Lipscomb's Bennett Campus Center (Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Creek Stone Grill, and Wild Blue Asian Fusion) and in the Student Activities Center (Freshens).

Merry Marketplace, a collection of holiday vendors who donate a portion of their proceeds to benefit Lipscomb scholarships, is also a traditional feature of the Lighting of the Green festivities. The Marketplace will take place in the North Lobby of Allen Arena on the Gold Level Concourse beginning at 4 p.m. and free pictures with Santa begin at 4:30 p.m.

Each year thousands of community members turn out to kick-off the holiday season with this free event. Through the past decade, the holiday concert has featured a number of popular entertainers including Michael W. Smith, Jordan Smith, Brenda Lee, Stephen Curtis Chapman, Lennon & Maisy from the hit ABC show "Nashville," Vince Gill, Danny Gokey, Nicole C. Mullen, Mandisa, Melinda Doolittle, CeCe Winans, Point of Grace, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Buddy Greene, Ruth McGinnis, Cody Fry, Jon and Valerie Guerra, David Phelps, Guy Penrod, Dave's Highway and the Annie Moses Band.

Get more 2026 Lighting of the Green information!