Huntersville's holiday season doesn't happen in one place. It starts at Birkdale Village the Saturday before Thanksgiving. In the first week of December it moves to Veterans Park downtown, and on the third Saturday it goes out to Lake Norman. On New Year's Eve it ends back downtown. Most of these events are spaced out so they don't overlap. The exception is Saturday, Dec. 5, when three events in two towns fall on the same day.
If you know the order, you can go to all of it without spending the season in traffic on Sam Furr Road.
Birkdale starts two weeks before the town does
The first event is The Lighting of Birkdale Village on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026, from 2 to 7 p.m. It's free. Charlotte On The Cheap's listing says the afternoon includes Santa's arrival and parade, a tree lighting, family activities, ice skating and a biergarten. Birkdale's tree goes up 13 days before the town's tree. That gives Huntersville two separate tree lightings two weeks apart, and you don't have to pick one.
The ice rink opens the same day. Birkdale on Ice is scheduled from Nov. 21 through Jan. 10. A 75-minute session costs $18, and a season pass costs $120. Regular hours are:
- Monday through Friday: 3 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Sunday: noon to 7 p.m.
- Thanksgiving and Christmas Day: 4 to 10 p.m.
- Dec. 21 to 24 and Dec. 26 to Jan. 3: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for the school break
In mid-October, Birkdale's rink page listed tickets as "available soon." Season-pass questions go to [email protected]. The pass costs the same as six and two-thirds single sessions. If your household skates on several weekends plus a few days of the break, it pays for itself.
Santa's Cottage at Birkdale Village, between Anthropologie and Lululemon, is open by appointment from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursdays through Sundays, Nov. 22 through Dec. 24, according to Huntersville Today. Santa is at Birkdale for more than four weeks, while the town's Santa's Village runs for only three evenings.
What's different around the Plaza this year
Two businesses near the center of Birkdale have changed since last winter. Foxcroft Food & Wine Bar served its last meals at 16915 Birkdale Commons Pkwy. on Oct. 10. CharlotteFive reported that the restaurant sat "near the main lawn and the Plaza stage." A Birkdale Village spokesperson told the outlet the closing was part of "the company's larger corporate strategy." No replacement had been announced as of mid-October. Foxcroft's other Charlotte locations on Fairview Road, in Dilworth and in Waverly are still open.
Suffolk Punch Brewing at 16912 Birkdale Commons Pkwy. is on its first full holiday season. Cornelius Today reported the taproom opened in mid-December 2025, with only the downstairs open while work continued on the rest of the building. The brewery's Birkdale page now describes a taproom, an open-air rooftop, a chef-driven menu and craft cocktails. Birkdale's directory also lists a full-service coffee bar. Since it serves both coffee and beer, it works for a morning skate or an evening one.
The first weekend of December belongs to the town
Downtown waits until Birkdale's season is well underway, and then holds most of its events on two days. The Town of Huntersville centers them at Veterans Park, 201 Huntersville-Concord Road.
Huntersville has no Christmas parade of its own. Huntersville Today points out that the nearest one is the North Mecklenburg Holiday Parade in Davidson, about six miles north. It takes place the same Saturday as the town's festival. That puts three events on Dec. 5:
| When | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Dec. 4, 6 to 8 p.m. | Town Tree Lighting, tree lit at 6:30 p.m. | Veterans Park |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 8:30 to 10:45 a.m. | Breakfast with Santa | Red Rocks Cafe, Birkdale Village |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 1 p.m. | North Mecklenburg Holiday Parade | Main Street, Davidson |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 3 to 8 p.m. | Holidays in Huntersville | Veterans Park |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Menorah lighting with Chabad of Lake Norman | Birkdale Village |
The Town Tree Lighting is free. The town says it starts the "season of giving," and there will be live entertainment. Holidays in Huntersville is the next afternoon. It's also free and is presented by Novant Health. The festival has free children's rides, artisan ice sculptures, stage performances by local groups, carolers, face painting, balloon twisters and costumed holiday characters. The town's Holidays in Huntersville page has the official details.
The Davidson parade has a smaller footprint this year. According to the Town of Davidson, the 44th annual parade starts at 1 p.m. on a shorter route of a little under a mile because of N.C. Department of Transportation construction on N.C. 115. The town will accept only 50 entries. Santa rides on the last entry, and a tricycle race follows on Main Street in front of the Davidson Town Green. The parade runs rain or shine. A shorter route means less space along the curb. If you want a spot near the front, arrive early.
The times fit together. You can watch the parade in Davidson at 1 p.m. and be back at Veterans Park well before the festival ends at 8 p.m. Huntersville Today suggests that same route. If you also book Breakfast with Santa at Birkdale, you'll have been to all three places by dinner.
On Sunday the events go back to Birkdale. Chabad of Lake Norman presents the free menorah lighting there, with crafts and traditional treats. Charlotte On The Cheap lists it at 6 p.m., and Huntersville Today lists it at 4:30 p.m. in The Grove. Check the start time with Chabad of Lake Norman before you go.
Getting downtown that weekend
The town is closing streets for both days, so plan where to park before you leave home:
- Closed Friday, Dec. 4, 5 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 5, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.: Main Street from Huntersville-Concord Road to Bigham Street, and Maxwell Street from Huntersville-Concord Road to Huntersville ARP Church.
- Public parking: the Town Center parking garage at 105 Gilead Road, Huntersville Elementary at 200 Gilead Road, and the downtown greenway trailhead at 102 Gilead Road.
- Accessible parking: reserved at Town Hall, 14704 N. Old Statesville Road.
The Saturday closure starts at 11 a.m., four hours before the festival opens. If you're coming back from Davidson after the parade, you'll hit the closed streets on the way in. Coming in on Gilead Road gets you to the garage without crossing the blocked part of Main Street.
Mid-December moves to smaller venues, then the lake
After the first weekend, the events get smaller. Santa's Village is inside the American Legion Post 321 building from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 10 to 12. The town says reservations will open closer to the date for families who want to skip the wait, and walk-ups are welcome. Santa's Village runs for three evenings and Birkdale's Santa's Cottage is open four days a week, so families have a lot of options and not much reason to go on the busiest night.
The next big event is on the water. The Lake Norman Lighted Christmas Boat Parade is Saturday, Dec. 19, 2026, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Its route ends at Duke Energy's EnergyExplorium, where Charlotte On The Cheap reports food trucks and Santa are planned. Duke Energy calls this the 8th annual parade and describes the Explorium as a viewing site with Santa, dinner and student performances. Because the parade ends at the Explorium, that's where you'll see the boats arrive.
One holiday venue won't be part of this season. Mecklenburg County says Latta Place is still closed and expects to reopen in 2027, subject to change. There is no holiday program at Latta this year.
The rink and downtown finish the season
The town's last event is A Huntersville New Year's, Thursday, Dec. 31, from 9 p.m. to midnight at Holbrook Park and 760 CraftWorks. That puts the town's first and last events of the season downtown, about a month apart.
Birkdale's rink runs the longest. From Dec. 26 through Jan. 3 it opens at 10 a.m. every day, and it stays open through Jan. 10. That's a week past the last town event and nearly two months after Birkdale's tree lighting.
Then comes cleanup. Live Christmas trees are collected at the curb from Dec. 26 to Jan. 15. The rink closes Jan. 10, so you can still put the tree out after the last skating weekend.
At Aralena Paulette, we keep up with Huntersville's calendar, from Birkdale's opening weekend to the last skate in January. If you're planning a winter move or want to list a home while the town is decorated, Schedule a Consultation and we'll plan around the dates that matter on your street.
