After the pandemic canceled it last year,  Lindsey Stirling kicks off her new Christmas tour Friday in Memphis. The Lindsey Stirling Christmas Program, as it’s titled, is a throwback to school holiday pageants of the past.

“We wanted to kind of play the artwork and everything off as if it was like a high-school program,” she tells ABC Audio. “A lot of the little in-between moments of the show are going to play with some high-school type humor. I think the show is going to start with a speech from a ‘principal,’…a lot of the set design is, like, painted props… like, a very elaborate version of high school.”

And while many artists have been doing their tour VIP meet-and-greets virtually, Lindsey’s “Ugly Christmas Sweater Party” will be in person.

“We’re going to get really creative…I think we’re going to be on, like, either side of a Christmas tree, so it doesn’t look like an awkward six-feet-apart photo,” she laughs. “But it’s still fun…[and] it feels good to be able to have those moments with fans that we all missed.”

And, Lindsey notes that, thanks to her Christmas tours and her holiday album Warmer in the Winter, the number of those fans increases during the holidays.

“I feel like Christmas is a season that kind of opens me up every year to a new fan base,” she says. “Then it narrows a little bit through the rest of the year, and then they come back at Christmas…which is really cool.”

But first, Thanksgiving, where Lindsey’s looking forward to her favorite dish.

“The sweet potato casserole!” she laughs. “We skip the marshmallows, but [put]…extra…brown sugar crumblies on top. That’s the key ingredient: the brown sugar crumblies.”

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