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Best Hallmark Christmas Movies and Shows of 2026
Cozy sweaters, snowy small towns and swoon-worthy second chances: Get a first look at the premieres sure to fill your season with cheer
6-minute read
New cozy romances coming to Hallmark this season include “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story,” “A Danish Christmas,” “‘Tis the Season for Setups” and “Winter Wonderlanes.”
Courtesy Hallmark Media
It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year on the Hallmark channel, where Countdown to Christmas 2026 — kicking off on Oct. 16 — will air a record 34 original holiday movies, with programming every day until the big man himself comes down the chimney.
Fan favorites back this year include a third NFL collaboration (the Chicago Bears), a second heartwarming story set at North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate and a new season of Mistletoe Murders. New for 2026: a collaboration with that other feel-good powerhouse, Disney. In addition to Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True, filmed on location in Orlando, Florida, Hallmark is rolling out a Disney-inspired holiday collection nationwide, including a set of pajamas featured in the movie.
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Ready to ho ho ho with Hallmark? Pull out those fluffy blankets, make yourself a steaming mug of cocoa, get cozy on the couch and mark your calendar with these top 10 new originals. All premiere on the Hallmark channel at 8 p.m. ET (except for Eight Nights for Love, which premieres at 6 p.m. ET) and begin streaming on Hallmark+ the next day.
Oct. 16: ’Tis the Season for Setups
Countdown to Christmas kicks off with a two-for-one holiday romance. Single mom Lexi (Amanda Schull) and her mother, June (Barbara Niven), might have met their matches when they check in to a ski lodge for the holidays. Although June and the lodge owner, Dan, have an immediate spark, Lexi and the owner’s son, Ridge (Victor Webster), decidedly do not. They do, however, agree to join forces to set up their parents, forcing them into festive fun as a foursome with surprising results.
Oct. 17: Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story
For the third season in a row, Hallmark has paired with an NFL team to bring a football-themed love story to life. When reporter Avery (Lyndsy Fonseca) is handed a heartwarming story about a Chicago Bears superfan about to attend her 500th game, there’s one big problem: She knows nothing about football or Chicago. Luckily, the fan’s grandson, Matt (Robert Buckley), is a Chicago firefighter and lifelong Bears fan who agrees to introduce her to Bears Nation and all of their game-day traditions. Cameos include head coach Ben Johnson; quarterback Caleb Williams; tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet; legendary former players Mike Singletary, Charles “Peanut” Tillman and Dan Hampton; Connie Payton (wife of the late Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton) and the team’s beloved mascot, Staley Da Bear.
Oct. 23: Winter Wonderlanes
Audrey (Ashley Newbrough) is a globe-trotting pop-up restaurateur who returns home for Thanksgiving and is devastated to learn that her late grandfather’s beloved bowling alley, Wonderlanes, is being sold. Wanting to have one last festive season, she decides to revive its Winter Wonderlanes youth bowling tournament. To get the word out about the event, she’s forced to turn to her high school boyfriend, Jason (Franco Lo Presti), a local news reporter, and it’s not long before sparks are flying between them again. As the tournament and the sale draw closer, Audrey wonders if she’s really ready to leave Wonderlanes and Jason behind.
Nov. 1: A Danish Christmas
Hallmark has taken us to Europe several times over the past few Christmas seasons, and this year’s destination is Copenhagen. When Marie (Emilie Ullerup) returns to her family’s inn for the holidays, she’s dismayed to learn her mother intends to sell the struggling property. But when she mistakenly believes guest Ryan (Corey Sevier) is a travel writer, she conjures a plan to save it with his help: a Christmas tour the inn hasn’t offered since her father died. The two grow close during the process, but when the real travel writer with the same name arrives, complications ensue.
Nov. 13: My Christmas Cowboy
Hallmark goes west for Christmas this year when Billy (Luke Macfarlane), a well-known celebrity host in Hollywood, regroups after an on-camera gaffe by going home for the holidays to the small Texas town where he grew up. There, he runs into his college audition partner, Meg (Amy Acker), who still holds a grudge about the audition she bombed that led to his big break. When her dad is injured and unable to host the town’s annual Reindeer Roundup, he asks Billy to take his place, forcing Meg to teach him basic riding and roping skills to prepare. As they reconnect, they inspire each other to get outside of their comfort zones and remember why they always made such a good pair.
Nov. 14: The Nights Before Christmas
If you loved Groundhog Day, mark your calendar for a Christmas reimagining of this beloved trope. When Marty (Tyler Hynes) makes a Christmas Eve wish for more time, a little holiday magic makes it come true by waking him each morning to another day of Christmas Eve. Once he embraces his new normal, Marty begins making use of his extra time to play a new instrument, learn a new language and read more books. All of that takes a backseat, however, when he meets Chloe (Laci J. Mailey), a recently jobless journalist having a bad day. When he falls for her, he starts spending each Christmas Eve redo trying to win her over and figure out how they get to Christmas Day together.
Nov. 22: Double Booked for the Holidays
Inspired by a real-life bookshop in Scotland with an Airbnb upstairs that allows visitors to run the store while they stay, this dream-come-true scenario for book lovers whisks viewers off to the fictional Story Shoppe in Wales. Rachael Leigh Cook plays twins Abigail and Charlie, opposites who only agree on one thing: Their first Christmas without their mom is going to be tough. When they get the last-minute chance to spend a week running Story Shoppe, they pack their bags for the holidays. Once there, they find romance isn’t just in books on the shelves. Mistaken identities lead to some merry mix-ups as two men in town — one of whom is a lord — fall for the sisters without realizing they’re twins, all leading to a big reveal at the castle ball.
Nov. 28: Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True
Hallmark chose fan favorite Lacey Chabert for the lead role in its big Disney collaboration. Chabert plays Lindsey, who’s headed to Walt Disney World Resort with her extended family for Christmas. Imagine her surprise when she finds Philip (Travis Van Winkle), a man with whom she had a disastrous first date, in the room right next door. When Lindsey makes a wish in the Cinderella Fountain, she has no idea it just might lead her to romance with the one person she least expects.
Nov. 29: Eight Nights for Love
Hallmark’s annual Hanukkah movie is a fun play on the friends-to-lovers tale. Hannah (Hunter King) is gifted an antique menorah by a mysterious woman named Pearl. The gift has a strange power, though: Each night of Hanukkah, it sends Hannah back to different times in her life. As she revisits encounters with her best friend, Ethan (Dan Jeannotte), Hannah begins to realize how she truly feels about him.
Dec. 5: A Grand Biltmore Christmas
After the huge success of the 2023 Hallmark original movie A Biltmore Christmas, we return to the famed North Carolina estate where the magical hourglass in the library is up to its old tricks. On Christmas Eve in 1895, 13-year-old Elizabeth develops a connection with Michael, a boy who mysteriously vanishes. Twenty years later, Elizabeth (Holland Roden) is back at the Biltmore with a suitor when a stranger asks her to dance. She’s shocked to learn it’s Michael, but the surprises don’t end there. She then finds herself transported to the 21st century to experience Christmas with Michael’s family. When the time comes for her to return, she’ll have a big decision to make.
Dec. 18: Hearts All Aglow
Mari (Mishael Morgan) is a music historian who jumps at the chance to attend the Christmas gala at the local music museum, in hopes she can snag an interview with its founder, Tasha (Holly Robinson Peete), a Grammy award-winning singer and record producer. Julian (B.J. Britt) is attending the gala on a mission of his own: to get back a piece of sheet music signed by Nat King Cole that he regrets donating to the museum in the wake of his mother’s death. Through a series of Christmas contests, the two team up to try to win the grand prize: a tour of the museum that night with Tasha. Will the pair get more than they were searching for in the end?
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