From Nov. 19 to Nov. 29, 2026, Parker Arts and the Town of Parker open almost every major downtown holiday event in the same ten days, and on Black Friday they overlap. If you plan for December, you'll miss the start.

In early November, the Parker Arts calendar looks like any other month. John McEuen & The Circle Band play "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 7. Science Night is free from 2 to 5 p.m. on Nov. 8. The Comedy Zone fills the stage on Nov. 14, and the Parker Artists Guild's "The Best of PAG" exhibit runs through Nov. 12. None of it is holiday programming. One week later, almost everything on the calendar is.

Ten Days, In Order

The PACE Center opened in October 2011, fifteen years ago this fall. Parker Arts also stages shows at The Schoolhouse, 19650 E. Mainstreet, and asks patrons to check each show's page for its venue before attending. Here is the order of events, based on the Parker Arts calendar and the Town of Parker's event listings:

1. Nov. 19 to 24: Nutcracker of Parker, presented by Colorado School of Dance, with 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. showtimes. Parker audiences have seen this production since 2003.
2. Wednesday, Nov. 25, 6:30 p.m.: An Evening with Peter Billingsley and A Christmas Story at the PACE Center, a screening of the film followed by a moderated conversation and audience Q&A with the actor who played Ralphie.
3. Friday, Nov. 27, 5 to 7 p.m.: The Town's free Mayor's Holiday Lighting at O'Brien Park.
4. Friday, Nov. 27, 7 p.m.: Phat Cat Swinger: A Not So Silent Night!, 90 minutes of upbeat takes on Christmas classics.
5. Nov. 27 through Dec. 20: Irving Berlin's White Christmas The Musical opens at The Schoolhouse, with 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. showtimes.
6. Nov. 28 and 29: FROST, A Cirque Holiday Extravaganza, combining dance and acrobatics, with times that vary by performance.
7. Nov. 28 and 29: The first weekend of the Town's free Hometown Holiday Experience in Downtown Parker.

Three of those events fall on a single Friday evening.

Black Friday, After 5 P.M.

The Mayor's Holiday Lighting starts at 5 p.m. at O'Brien Park, 10795 Victorian Dr. Everyone gathers around the Town Tree, where the Mayor and the Parker Chorale lead a sing-along to "Silent Night." After that, the Mayor and Town Council count down to the lighting of the Town Tree and the rest of the park. The Town's listing says the park "sparkles in white elegance," and the event is free.

The lighting ends at 7 p.m., the same time Phat Cat Swinger starts. White Christmas opens at The Schoolhouse that day too, with a 7 p.m. showtime on its schedule.

Parking is what links them. Parking is free at both the PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Ave., and The Schoolhouse. The PACE lot sits on the north side of the building, reached from Mainstreet, Pikes Peak Avenue and Pine Drive. The Schoolhouse lot is on its south side off Pikes Peak Avenue, with more spaces in front on Mainstreet. Parker Arts warns that both can fill up during other downtown events, and it publishes a Downtown Parking Map showing other free public parking. A tree lighting that draws a crowd downtown just before curtain time is that kind of event. If you're going to both, park once and walk between them, rather than driving from the park to the theater just as the show is about to start.

The box office opens 90 minutes before ticketed performances. It's also open Monday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., though hours can change around holidays or in bad weather. For a Friday after Thanksgiving, check those hours before you count on picking up tickets in person.

The One Cutoff That Comes Before Thanksgiving

Most of these events just need a ticket purchase. The Billingsley evening has a deadline on top of that.

General tickets for the Nov. 25 screening and conversation are $54. A VIP Pre-Show Meet & Greet costs an extra $100 and includes a photo with Billingsley and an 11-by-17 poster he signs. Parker Arts says VIP packages are limited and that "sales close seven days before the performance." Seven days before Nov. 25 puts the cutoff around Wednesday, Nov. 18. That's the day before the Nutcracker opens, and about a week before most families have finalized their Thanksgiving plans.

The event is listed as all ages. It also falls on the night before Thanksgiving, so if relatives are arriving early that week, it could serve as the first night out of the visit. If a meet-and-greet photo is part of the plan, buy the VIP add-on before the Nutcracker opens.

White Christmas has more room. Tickets are listed at $39 and $34, and the run continues through Dec. 20. If Black Friday is already full, you have more than three weeks of other performances to choose from.

What the Lighting Leads Into

The Black Friday lighting starts the Hometown Holiday Experience, which runs on Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 28 through Dec. 20 in Downtown Parker. This year's décor theme is "Parker Through the Decades," set along a walking route from Mainstreet to Discovery Park, with holiday music, themed decorations and seasonal displays. It's free. On opening weekend, FROST is on the Parker Arts calendar at the same time, so a Saturday visit can include a show and an evening walk downtown.

The following Saturday, Dec. 5, the Downtown Business Alliance holds its Holiday Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the O'Brien Park parking lot. It describes a free public event with more than 100 vendors, food trucks and community activities. In 2025, the Alliance replaced the traditional parade with this market for that year's celebration. The 2026 schedule lists the market, so plan around it.

Dinner Without Moving the Car

The busiest of these nights, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Black Friday, are also when you're most likely to have guests in town and a set curtain time. That makes it worth knowing which places downtown take reservations.

Places that take bookings:

• Black Haus Tavern, 19501 E. Mainstreet #100, open Friday until 9:30 p.m., with table reservations through its Parker booking page.
• West Main Taproom + Grill, 18595 Mainstreet Suite 100, open Friday until 10 p.m., with a linked reservation tool.
• Parker Garage, which describes itself as elevated dining in downtown Parker and takes reservations online.

Places for before or after the show:

• Cencalli Taqueria, 19757 Pikes Peak Ave., on the same street as the PACE Center, open until 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with online ordering.
• Tailgate Tavern & Grill, 19552 Mainstreet, open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it the late option after a 7 p.m. show.
• Venalonzo's Tacos, listed on its own ordering site at 18951 Mainstreet.

Two downtown spots are new since last season. Las Delicias reopened in February as El Delicioso after Juan Andrade, a 30-year employee, took over ownership when the previous owners retired, according to the Parker Chronicle. Marvin's Place Coffee Co., in The Juniper on Mainstreet, had been open only a few months when the Parker Chronicle profiled it in May 2026. It's a good place to warm up on a Hometown Holiday weekend morning before walking toward Discovery Park.

If relatives are staying with you over Thanksgiving and the conversation turns to what your Parker home would be worth this year, Dolby Haas can give you a straight answer before the lighting on Friday night. Get a Free Home Valuation, and enjoy the rest of the season downtown.