Why veterans and their families are celebrating the holiday season with Vet Tix

After the ups and downs of a tumultuous year, the holiday season is a time for coming together and for coming home with family and friends. Sometimes, there’s no better way than seeing a show, play or even a college football game to do just that. Vet Tix, a national non-profit organization whose mission is to distribute free event tickets to veterans, service members and their families, has some exciting offerings and partnerships for this holiday season, no matter where in America they might be. 

Antoinette Scott, a U.S. Navy veteran, secured tickets to the award-winning Broadway hit Million Dollar Quartet Christmas at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Blumenthal Performing Arts. They celebrated the holidays with Christmas music from Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.

“The music was unbelievable,” Scott wrote to Vet Tix. “We had so much fun. It was a good memory we had together. I am a 100% disabled, homebound Navy combat veteran who struggles with a very rare autoimmune disease… so every memory I can make with my daughter means the world to me.”

Laurent, an Air Force veteran from St. Louis, was able to take his family of four to see the Christmas show of Christmas shows: the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

“Trans-Siberian Orchestra has been one of the elusive shows that I have not been able to get to, and you made this happen,” Laurent wrote to Vet Tix. “What a wonderful early gift to be able to take my family and really get into the Christmas Spirit. Words can not express the emotions felt during their show.” 

Vet Tix donors and partners come in a wide range of interests and genres to choose from. Jennifer, an Army veteran in Connecticut was able to take her daughters to see Bellator MMA. Jeffery, an Army veteran in Hawaii, took two of his disable veteran friends to see a tour of “Hamilton” in Honolulu. 

Depending on location, there are tickets to sporting events, concerts, performing arts, educational and family activities, and more. All veterans and service members have to do is sign up by creating an account for free at the Vet Tix site. Once their status is verified, they find an event in their local area and request tickets. The tickets are then delivered for a nominal delivery fee that helps keep the lights on.

To date, Vet Tix has provided more than 14.6 million tickets to events for veterans, service members, and their families. The potential power of a Vet Tix event has led to partnerships with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Armed Services YMCA, Merging Vets and Players (MVP), and more.

As every college football fan knows, the holiday season  is also college bowl game season. For the avid sports fans out there, Vet Tix’s latest partnerships means some veterans, service members,  and their families will get a chance to go to some of college football’s biggest games. 

Vet Tix has secured multi-year partnerships with the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bow, Rose Bowl, and Peach Bowl to get veterans, service members and their families seats and experiences to some of the best games in the country, many of which will host college football playoff games in the years to come. 

Catching “The Nutcracker Suite” or “A Christmas Story” to get in the Christmas spirit has never been more accessible or affordable for veteran and military families. Kicking off the new year by heading to Georgia for the Orange Bowl or Texas for the Cotton Bowl is now just as much a possibility.