Aurora's holiday season opens on Friday, November 20. From then on, its biggest attractions stop keeping the same hours. Winter Lights is a single evening. ChristkindlMarket Aurora is open four days a week. The Festival of Lights at Phillips Park opens a week later and runs every night. The Paramount Theatre puts its holiday movies on Mondays, one of the nights the market is mostly closed.
A Tuesday in early December gives you one set of choices and a Saturday gives you another, and the calendar below is built that way.
Friday, November 20: Three Openings on One Evening
The season starts on one crowded night downtown. The City of Aurora calls Winter Lights its "official kick-off to the holiday season." The evening runs in this order:
- 6:00 p.m. The event begins and streets start closing along Downer Place, from Water Street to River Street.
- 6:30 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus lead an illuminated parade with reindeer, elves and special guests.
- After the parade Santa, Mrs. Claus and Mayor Laesch lead the countdown to light the city's holiday tree.
- After the tree lighting A drone light show runs along the Fox River, sponsored by the Chicago Premium Outlets. The city says both Downer Place bridges are the best places to watch the tree lighting and the drones.
- After the drones Stolp Avenue between Downer Place and Galena Boulevard fills with food vendors, costumed characters and live music at Millennium Plaza. Santa photos start right after the drone show at the Grand Army of the Republic Military Museum, 23 E. Downer Place.
Parking is free that night in all public downtown lots. The city also says to arrive early.
The same Friday, ChristkindlMarket Aurora opens for its fifth year at RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway. The Chicago market at Daley Plaza and the Wrigleyville market at Gallagher Way open that day too. Friday hours run 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., so the market stays open through the parade and the drone show. At the Paramount, 23 E. Galena Blvd., the Second City Nut-Cracking Holiday Revue starts its run that night and plays through December 23.
That makes November 20 the only night all season when the parade, the market and a holiday stage show overlap downtown. If you want everything in one trip, this is the night.
The Market Keeps a Four-Day Week
After opening night, ChristkindlMarket Aurora runs Thursday through Sunday. This schedule drives more of the season than any other.
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Thursday | 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Friday and Saturday | 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| Sunday | 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Nov. 25 | 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 | 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
| Monday–Wednesday, Dec. 21–23 | 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 | 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
Admission is free. Fridays and Saturdays give you the most evening time, with two more hours after dark than Thursday and three more than Sunday. Before Christmas week, the only weekday outside the Thursday-to-Sunday pattern is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Then the market opens every day from December 21 through its close on Christmas Eve.
Parking at the market has prices, unlike the free downtown lots on Winter Lights night. The market's parking listing on the Paramount site gives these options:
- Aurora Transportation Center main lot, 233 N. Broadway: $10, space limited
- Aurora Transportation Center overflow lot, 130 N. Lincoln Ave.: $3, with a pedestrian tunnel under the tracks to the main lot, which sits across from RiverEdge Park
- City of Aurora River Street lots, Lots W, X and A on the west side of the river: $10, with access to the park over the pedestrian bridge
- Lot Y: listed as free
Both Transportation Center lots take payment at pay stations or through the ParkMobile app, and the listing warns that unpaid cars get ticketed. On a busy Saturday, the $3 overflow lot plus the tunnel walk is the lowest-cost paid option on the list.
Phillips Park Covers the Nights the Market Is Closed
The Aurora Festival of Lights opens Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving this year. It runs every night through Sunday, December 27, from 5 to 9 p.m., at Phillips Park, 1000 Ray Moses Drive. The entrance is on Smith Boulevard at Fifth Avenue.
This is the one major holiday attraction in Aurora that is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It is a mile-long drive-through, so you stay in the car with holiday music on. The displays include jumping reindeer, ice-skating bears, howling wolves, a holiday golfer, Santa's toy factory, fields of giant snowflakes, and new pieces this year. Admission is free, and volunteers collect free-will donations.
The city calls it the largest free outdoor drive-through holiday light display in the region. It is the festival's 20th year, and the city says more than 50,000 vehicles came through last year. All of those cars are spread across 31 nights, all with the same four-hour window. A weeknight visit avoids the Friday and Saturday competition from the market downtown.
The Festival of Lights also runs three days past Christmas, after the market has closed. From December 25 through December 27, Phillips Park is the only outdoor holiday attraction still running, while A Christmas Carol continues indoors at the Paramount.
Monday Is the Paramount's Night
The Paramount's holiday films fill the gap in the market's week. Its classic and holiday screenings fall on Mondays, when RiverEdge is closed for most of the season:
- Citizen Kane, Monday, November 23
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Monday, November 30
- It's a Wonderful Life, Monday, December 7
- The Santa Clause, Monday, December 14
- The Polar Express and Home Alone, Monday, December 21
December 21 is the one Monday when the market is also open, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. That makes it the easiest day all season to pair the market with a downtown movie.
The Paramount's stage shows run across the whole season. A Christmas Carol plays from November 11, 2026 through January 3, 2027. Million Dollar Quartet also runs through January 3, after opening October 7. The Copley Comedy Series featuring Benker & Preston is Saturday, November 7, and Alice in Wonderland is Monday, November 16.
Before the Season Starts: November 6
You can get downtown before the holiday rush. November First Friday runs Friday, November 6, from 5 to 9 p.m. The Aurora Downtown District posts a schedule and map on its event page. The next night, the Benker & Preston comedy show plays at the Paramount. That gives early November a full downtown weekend of its own, two weeks before the parade route closes.
The Season, Night by Night
Here is everything above in one grid. "Market" means ChristkindlMarket Aurora at RiverEdge Park, and "Lights" means the Festival of Lights at Phillips Park.
| Dates | Market | Lights | Also downtown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Not yet open | Not yet open | First Friday, 5–9 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 20 | Opens, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. | Not yet open | Winter Lights from 6 p.m.; Second City revue opens |
| Mon., Nov. 23 | Closed | Not yet open | Citizen Kane at the Paramount |
| Wed., Nov. 25 | Open, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. | Not yet open | A Christmas Carol running |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Open, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. | Not yet open | Thanksgiving |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Open | Opens, 5–9 p.m. | First night both are open |
| Mondays, Nov. 30–Dec. 14 | Closed | Open | Holiday films at the Paramount |
| Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Dec. 1–16 | Closed | Open | Stage shows per Paramount schedule |
| Mon., Dec. 21 | Open, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. | Open | The Polar Express and Home Alone |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Last day, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. | Open | Second City revue ended Dec. 23 |
| Fri.–Sun., Dec. 25–27 | Closed for the season | Open through Dec. 27 | A Christmas Carol runs to Jan. 3 |
What Arrives When the Lights Come Down
Two downtown restaurant projects are set to open next spring. The Daily Herald reported on October 18 that The Mayan building, 77 Stolp Ave., is planned as a restaurant and sports bar opening in April. It would be an upgraded version of Leilani Asian Fusion, with sushi, a game room and a patio. The patio agreement still needed City Council approval when the story ran. At 7 S. Broadway, Vicolo is expected around April 2027, according to a summary of the city's October 20 Committee of the Whole meeting. The restaurant's own site still shows only a coming-soon page.
That puts both openings about four months after the Festival of Lights closes on December 27. Stolp Avenue is where the Winter Lights food vendors set up on November 20, and by spring it is also expected to have a new sit-down restaurant open all year.
If your holiday plans include family flying in for these weeks and asking what it's like to live near downtown Aurora, Alexa Wagner is happy to talk it through over a mug at the market or a call between parade and drone show. Let's Connect.
