Festive Fun On Tap Again at Christmas Bars Across the OBX

Posted September 23, 2026

In Culture & Events, Editor's Picks, Fall 2026

It’s going to be a long December for any Scrooges on the Outer Banks. With festive cheer being spread far and near, you’ll hear nary a “Bah! Humbug!” from Manteo to Corolla.

By Steve Hanf

Eight years after Lucky 12 Tavern owner Mark Ballog got the (Christmas) ball rolling with pop-up bar Jingle 12, the tradition of transforming local eateries into holiday-themed attractions has exploded. From the 12 Bars of Christmas to the Misfits Bar Crawl to the Festive Four and more pop-ups, there are as many places to eat, drink and scream “Merry Christmas!” as there are tacky sweaters on store shelves and holiday songs playing on the radio.

“I love the fact how much people love it,” Ballog says. “I think it’s great for everybody. There could be 150 Christmas bars as long as people do it the right way, you know? If you’re creative enough to do one, then good for you. It’s really created an economy that we kind of need. We can’t be busy just three months of summer.”

Christmas bars have become such an escape from the winter doldrums and such an economic driver, in fact, that the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau has awarded Event Grants to help run and promote them.

Crystal Hall, for instance, of Crystal B. Hall Productions, is helping with the 12 Bars of Christmas this year.

Revelers gather for Christmas cocktails at 1903 Bar and Kitchen, which is one of the “Festive Four” pop-up bars making spirits bright—or is that making bright spirits?—across the Outer Banks this November and December.

“Yes, we are mixing profit and nonprofit, but it’s the season of giving, and that’s why each bar takes its own charity and then does events with it,” Ballog says.

“I’ve been a patron every year, but I’ve always wanted to be a part of it and they’ve grown so much, so to be able to be a part of what they’re doing is just really exciting,” Hall says. “I help in whatever they need—I mean, they have a pretty well-oiled machine going, but my buddy put it best: ‘I’m just putting the sparkle on things a little more.’ ”

The 12 Bars of Christmas this year will run Nov. 27 through Jan. 2—a little extra cheer thanks to New Year’s Day falling on a Friday. From Poor Rudolph’s (Poor Richard’s), Deck the Hulls (Outer Banks Distilling), North Pole Yacht Club (Blue Water Grill) and Ol’ Cedar Brown’s (Basnight’s Lone Cedar) in Manteo all the way to McCallister’s Corner (Two Roads Tavern) in Kitty Hawk, there’s plenty of fun to be had.

Decorations galore. Speciality drinks and food. And extra surprises in store, like running into the Grinch . . . or maybe even Santa! Ballog encourages everyone to visit the website 12BarsOfChristmas.com to learn all about the different pop-ups, check operating hours, and decide where to purchase the 12 Bars passport.

Specialty drinks, holiday food items and the chance to collect “passport” stamps all attract locals and visitors alike to the “12 Bars of Christmas” and other pop-ups.

While the Christmas bars are designed to help support locals working in the kitchen, behind the bar, at dishwashing stations and waiting tables, another fun side benefit has been the charitable donations from collecting passport stamps. Each of the 12 Bars has a specific charity it supports, and wherever the passport is purchased, that restaurant is the one that gets credit for the donation.

Last year, more than 3,800 passports for the 12 Bars were purchased.

“Once people buy the passport, they’re not required to buy a drink or an appetizer to get a stamp. Our hope is that they understand that they’re helping a local business wherever they choose to buy their passport.”

In similar fashion, locals and visitors also can purchase a postcard to get stamps at the 16 spots that have called themselves “The Misfits,” inspired by the castaway toys from the 1960’s TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The Christmas spirit shines through at these restaurants and bars with the nostalgia from a show that gave us the train with square wheels, a jack-in-the-box named Charlie, and a fearsome abominable snowman named Bumble … who turned out to be just fine once his sore teeth were pulled.

Susie Stanovsek, the owner of Noosa Beach Grille, loves having the 33-foot tall Bumble blowup outside the restaurant throughout Christmas.

“Everyone picked out a Misfit, and that’s their toy they sort of all just center around,” Stanovsek says. “Our dishwashers will actually put on the Bumble costume and come out because we have ‘Brunch with Bumble,’ we have a ‘Bourbon with Bumble.’ Everyone just gets into it, the spirit, the fun, and they love it. It’s just a fun thing to do.”

A friendly Bumble tends bar at Noosa Beach Grille, which is one of the popular “Misfits” Christmas bars that add to the festive fun.

Last year’s Misfits also stretched from Manteo to Kitty Hawk, with locations like Lost Colony Brewery, Sam & Omie’s, Kill Devil Grill, The Salt Box Cafe and TRiO. This year’s fun runs from Nov. 20 to Dec. 31 with live music and plenty of other fun surprises. Last year saw proceeds of $9,000 donated to the Outer Banks Relief Foundation and $6,000 to the Community Care Clinic of Dare. Be sure to check out MisfitsOBX.com for all the latest details.

The donations help the spirit of Christmas last all year long thanks to everyone who takes the time to put on these special holiday touches and attract visitors from all over.

“It’s sort of a good thing to do around Christmas, just to have a charity event for that,” Stanovsek says. “They’re trying to name it ‘Christmas Island’ down here with everyone coming from Virginia Beach, Washington—it’s just cool to have that, especially in the middle of winter when it’s tough down here.”

The Festive Four also popped up last year, with Black Pelican, Hurricane Mo’s, Shipwrecks Taphouse & Grill, and 1903 Bar and Kitchen showing off with over-the-top decorations plus special events like oyster roasts and brunches with Santa, pet photo days, and even a three-day Ugly Sweater Crawl.

Visitors can purchase special Train Tickets to get stamped at each location, with completed entries entered into a drawing for $500 in gift cards. The Cowell Cancer Center received last year’s donation, while this year’s fundraising efforts will go to Lights of Christmas, which helps the families of first responders in Dare and Currituck.

“The whole idea was to bring these four restaurants together and create something really fun for the community during the Christmas season,” says Beaman Hines, owner of Shipwrecks. “We wanted each restaurant to have its own holiday feel but also give people a reason to visit all four. And the best part was that we could turn it into an opportunity to give back. With the Festive Four Train Tickets, we were able to raise more than $5,500 for the Cowell Cancer Center. It was just a great way to bring people together, support local businesses and do something good for our community at the same time.”

Others get into the action as well, with local transportation outfits like Outer Banks Adventures and the OBX Party Bus helping folks collect all those stamps. Janelle and Morgan Erickson have driven the hard-to-miss purple OBX Party Bus the last three years and now own the company. The bus gets a holiday makeover with red and green lights, garland and decals on the windows, and of course there’s Christmas music blasting and even holiday-themed trivia.

The OBX Party Bus is almost as busy as Santa’s sleigh each December, running both public and private pub crawls to four different stops among the “12 Bars of Christmas.”

Public and private pub crawls to the 12 Bars are available in three routes that allow riders to get stamps at four spots in one night, and Janelle says people reached out as early as January about booking their night. The calendar should be out in October, with the OBX Party Bus Facebook page a great place to visit to learn more.

“I just love the monthlong festive spirit. Everybody is happy and joyful,” she says. “My favorite part of it is when we have a public crawl and we have people who don’t know each other getting on a bus together and they’re all bonding over the festivities of the bars, the season, the music, the specialty cocktails – it just brings people together.”

Steve Hanf is a former professional sportswriter. He’s still waiting to see which local business will pay homage to everyone’s favorite Christmas movie, “Die Hard.” Yippee-ki-yay…