The "Holidays in Uptown" page lists Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29. In 2026, Nov. 29 falls on a Sunday. The same page lists the city tree lighting on Dec. 5, the Christmas parade on Dec. 6, and Snowflake Castle at Everal Barn. Those dates match last year's calendar. The organizers' own 2026 pages say something different.
Their pages show a tighter season than the one most Westerville families remember. The tree lighting and the parade now fall about 16 hours apart, on a Friday night and the Saturday morning after it. Both happen within a few blocks of a City Hall that has finished its first full renovation since 1987. Snowflake Castle has moved up North Cleveland Avenue. If you plan from memory or from the overview page, you'll be a day or a building off on almost every item.
The dates that changed
| Event | Listed on the Holidays in Uptown overview | 2026 date from the organizer |
|---|---|---|
| City Holiday Celebration & Tree Lighting | Dec. 5 | Friday, Dec. 4, 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Westerville Community Christmas Parade | Dec. 6 | Saturday, Dec. 5, 10:30 a.m. |
| Christmas Open House at the Historic Hanby House | Dec. 2, 4, 6 | Dec. 1, 3 and 5 |
| Snowflake Castle | Dec. 1 to 8 at Everal Barn | Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 at the Westerville Community Center |
The 2026 dates come from the City of Westerville's event calendar, Good for Westerville's parade page, the Westerville Parks and Recreation Snowflake Castle page, and Uptown Westerville Inc.'s individual Hanby House listings for Dec. 1, Dec. 3 and Dec. 5. The next three sections walk through the weekend in order.
Friday night is at a finished City Hall
The tree lighting is Friday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the City Hall Courtyard at 21 S. State St. At 6:45 p.m., the Parade of Lights rolls down State Street between Home and Plum streets, with city vehicles and entertainment covered in lights. After the parade, Santa lights the tree at City Hall.
The ceremony was also listed in the City Hall Courtyard in 2024 and 2025. In both of those seasons, the building behind it was under construction. Work started in December 2024, and many city offices moved out. The City Manager's Office, Customer Service, Economic Development and the Council Clerk worked from 310 W. Main St. Finance moved to 64 E. Walnut St., and public meetings moved to Mayor's Court at the Justice Center, 229 Huber Village Blvd.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that the roughly $22 million complex reopened to the public on May 11, 2026, after nearly 17 months of construction. Several offices are now combined in one place. You can handle utilities, buy Parks and Recreation passes and file permits at the same counter. The Westerville News reported that the new resident service area sits in space the Police Department used to occupy. The architect's project description says the redesign connects buildings that used to stand apart, using a bridge connector and new entryways.
The opening came in stages. When the doors opened in May, the Council chambers were still under construction. According to The Westerville News, City Council didn't hold a meeting in the renovated chambers until Tuesday, Oct. 6. That makes Dec. 4 the first holiday celebration with every part of the complex back in use.
For the rest of the evening's schedule, the city points to Westerville.org/TreeLighting. That page's activity list is dated "Friday, Dec. 5" with no year, so check it again closer to the event before you plan around a specific activity.
Saturday morning, the parade is back for a second year
The Westerville Community Christmas Parade steps off Saturday, Dec. 5, at 10:30 a.m. It starts at Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and ends at Walnut Street. Good for Westerville stages it, and groups that want to march or sponsor can apply on the parade page.
It's the parade's second year with Good for Westerville, and it almost didn't continue. In December 2024, the Columbus Dispatch reported that the decades-old parade would not happen that year. The Westerville Lions Club, which had taken it over from Sertoma, had talked with the city about combining it with the tree lighting at City Hall, then chose not to host. The parade returned on Dec. 6, 2025, under Good for Westerville.
That history explains how the weekend took shape. Back in 2024, the city and the Lions Club discussed putting the parade and the tree lighting into one event. Two years later, they're still separate events run by separate organizers, but they now fall about 16 hours apart in the same part of town. A family can watch Santa light the tree Friday night and be back on State Street for the parade Saturday morning.
Saturday morning also brings the third and last day of the free Christmas Open House at the Historic Hanby House, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Westerville Historical Society runs the open house. Its other two dates are an evening on Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 7 to 9 p.m., and a full day on Thursday, Dec. 3, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Saturday hours overlap the parade, so a family can do both on the same trip Uptown.
Snowflake Castle moved up Cleveland Avenue
For years, Snowflake Castle was held at the Everal Barn and Homestead in Heritage Park, 60 N. Cleveland Ave. This year it's at the Westerville Community Center, 350 N. Cleveland Ave., because Everal Barn is closed for renovations through winter 2027. The format hasn't changed. Kids build a wooden toy with the elves in Santa's Workshop, take it home to paint, and have a photo taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa's sleigh and the trains are part of it too.
Ticket details from Westerville Parks and Recreation:
- Dates: Monday, Nov. 30 through Sunday, Dec. 6
- Cost: $15 per child, which covers the toy and the photo with Santa, sold online only
- Ticket windows: resident registration opens at noon Monday, Nov. 2, and open registration at noon Tuesday, Nov. 3
- Weekday sessions: 9 to 11:30 a.m. and 5 to 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday sessions: 9 to 11:30 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.
- Sunday sessions: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m.
- Ages: 10 and under suggested
- Sensory Friendly Snowflake: Sunday, Nov. 29, 1 to 4 p.m., with separate registration
The Saturday afternoon session on Dec. 5 starts at 4 p.m. That makes it a third stop the same day, after the parade and the Hanby House. Snowflake Castle also has a holiday craft area in Multipurpose 5 that doesn't need a ticket. Proceeds from craft sales go to the Westerville Senior Association. Anyone can stop in, including grandparents and neighbors without young kids.
Between events on State Street and College Avenue
With the tree lighting and the parade so close together, many families will spend more of that weekend Uptown, and Uptown has added places to fill it. The city's 2025 year-end recap lists Ampersand Asian Supper Club, a few steps down College Avenue from its sister restaurant, Asterisk Supper Club. The recap also lists Fox in the Snow, whose fifth central Ohio location drew hundreds of people to Uptown early in the morning before it opened in October 2025. Begin Cafe, Marib Coffee and Qargo Coffee opened shops in Westerville that same year. COhatch sits at 240 S. State St.
The Holidays in Uptown overview lists Santa photos at COhatch after the parade, but it puts them under the Dec. 6 date, while this year's parade is on Dec. 5. Before you plan on photos after the parade, check Uptown Westerville Inc.'s events calendar as December gets closer. The national Small Business Saturday falls on Nov. 28 this year, the day after Black Friday, not on the Nov. 29 date the overview still shows.
Greg Giessler and the team at Cam Taylor Realtors follow Westerville's calendar year-round, because how Uptown changes, from the renovated City Hall to the Everal Barn project, matters to the families we work with. If those changes have you wondering how your home fits into the neighborhood's next few years, ask for a free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
