A holly jolly trip through Camp Christmas, an immersive holiday art experience in Dallas

For more than four decades, Denver-based artist Lonnie Hanzon has been creating captivating Christmas displays around the country. Over that time, he built quite the collection of holiday decorations from his different designs. It wouldn’t be until 2019, however, when Hanzon’s massive collection would come together into one cohesive experience, Camp Christmas.

Camp Christmas is an immersive artistic world crafted by Hanzon in partnership with Denver Center for the Performing Arts Off-Center. The experience began after Hanzon’s producer, Charlie Miller, suggested they find a way to build something out of his massive holiday collection. As Hanzon recalls, Miller’s team realized the theme of “camp” was the thread that tied the disparate pieces of the collection together. Thus, Camp Christmas was born.

Now in its fifth year, Hanzon and his team have brought the camp to the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Annette Strauss Square through December 29. The camp is 20,000 square feet of holiday cheer, centered around a variety of themed tents full of creative, quirky Christmas installations.

It all begins with a reminder to leave your emotional baggage behind before heading to camp. Hanzon says the holidays can feel like a “cosmic deadline” of sorts considering all the obligations and planning surrounding them. That’s why he designed some helpful reminders to help “re-envision our relationship” with the season. That includes a creative baggage check area at the front and a giant spray bottle of “guilt repellant” inside.

Upon entering the camp, attendees are encouraged to keep an eye out for the 20 Merry Badges, a play on merit badges, scattered throughout the camp as well as the 36 Pun Trees throughout, humorous Christmas trees based on puns that appeal to both adults and children alike. In addition, there are a number of Christmastime toasts spread around the camp, something that will appeal to the adults enjoying a Warm Apple Pie cocktail from the Base Camp Bar or a Fairy Fig Mule from the Fairy Bar.

Hanzon is also a frequent face around the camp as its director. His helpful signs can guide attendees through some of the installations or teach them about the inspirations behind the displays.

As attendees head through camp orientation, they’ll pass by Ornament Grove where they can see a decorative display of more traditional Christmas trees. A stand-up comedian snowman, voiced by Camp Christmas Producer Charlie Miller, delivers a set of silly Christmas jokes while making your way through the area.

In a nearby area, Santa Claus will make visits at select dates. Attendees that purchase a special ticket will have an opportunity to visit Santa’s Glampsite and have their kids tell him their Christmas lists.

Some of the biggest highlights of Camp Christmas come once you head inside one of the camp’s tents. With themes like fancy, beauty and grandma’s cabin, each tent amps up the immersion with a room full of surprises everywhere you look.

Each tent is poised for Instagram-worthy pictures, particularly the over-the-top areas like the pink and ritzy tents. When creating the pink tent, in particular, Hanzon says he wanted to make a space where “pink is not just a color, but a place.” He found inspiration in actress Jayne Mansfield’s “Pink Palace,” specifically her heavily shag-carpeted pink bathroom. The resulting room might as well have been pulled straight out of Barbie’s Dreamhouse, complete with a towering pink Christmas tree and luxurious details in each corner.

Hanzon explains that some of the pieces throughout each tent, like the reindeer pictured below, are actually pieces from the 1980s that he had to repurchase for Camp Christmas. Others, like the art deco mirror seen through the entranceway, were gifted back to Hanzon for the camp.

Beyond the immersive tents, attendees can admire the Dollhouse Village or visit the gift shop, among other attractions around the campgrounds. Considering the number of components that go into creating the camp, Hanzon says it takes 10 semi-trucks to deliver Camp Christmas to a new location and four-to-five days just to unload all of the decorations and pieces each year.

The end result of it all is a unique Christmas attraction that has a little something for everyone in Dallas. AT&T Performing Arts Center says Camp Christmas should take attendees 60-75 minutes to visit, if not longer. For more information about Camp Christmas, including ticket options and packages, visit the performing arts center’s Camp Christmas page here.