Free Winterfest tickets for service members and veterans go live online at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26, for Military Appreciation Night on Nov. 15. Who qualifies and how to book.

Nauticus will give away 500 free tickets to Winterfest on the Wisconsin for service members, veterans and their families. The tickets are for Military Appreciation Night on Sunday, Nov. 15, the weekend after Veterans Day.

The tickets go live online at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26. They are first come, first served, so they may not last long.

The city announced the giveaway in a release on Oct. 21. Three schools are paying for the tickets: Centura College, Tidewater Tech and the Aviation Institute of Maintenance.

Who qualifies and how to book

The release sets out these terms:

  • Who: active-duty service members, veterans, retired veterans and other military personnel
  • Family: each can bring up to three dependents, so up to four tickets per booking
  • When to book: online from 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26; Nauticus said the tickets will appear on its event calendar once they are live
  • The night: Sunday, Nov. 15, at the time you choose when you book
  • At the door: a valid military ID

Tickets must be reserved online in advance. They cannot be transferred and are good only for Nov. 15 at the time booked. Nauticus said it will cancel any tickets booked beyond the four-ticket limit.

What Winterfest is this year

Winterfest fills the Battleship Wisconsin and the Nauticus campus with holiday lights. The city said the event was featured on ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” and returns this year “completely reimagined with all new lights.”

This year’s theme is “Christmas in Neverland.” The release promises fairies, mermaids, pirates and new light displays.

The guns of a Battleship Wisconsin turret lit in blue, with colored lights on trees and a lit gift box around it at night
Winterfest lights around one of the Battleship Wisconsin's gun turrets at Nauticus. Photo: courtesy of Nauticus, via the City of Norfolk

“Winterfest is all about bringing people together, and we’re especially proud to share that experience with the military families who mean so much to our community,” said Stephen Kirkland, executive director of Nauticus.

Ben Clark is vice president of business and civic impact at the three sponsoring schools. “Sponsoring these tickets is a small way for us to say thank you to the service members and families who give so much for our country,” he said.

Event details are on the Winterfest on the Wisconsin website.

What it means for you

If you serve or served, set a reminder for 10 a.m. Monday. Book as soon as the tickets appear, and book only once: a second booking that takes you past four tickets will be canceled. Bring your military ID on Nov. 15.

For other holiday plans, see our guides to holiday lights and Christmas events and things to do in Norfolk.