Last year the Candlelight Walk parade ended in front of The Melting Pot on the west end of Main Street. On Friday, Nov. 27, the parade starts at that end instead. It will line up at Alamo Avenue and Rapp Street and head east to finish at Sycamore Street, next to Bega Park.
The drone show didn't move with it. According to the city's Know Before You Go guide, the drones still fly over The Melting Pot on the west end. Santa's tree lighting and photo tent are now in Bega Park on the east end. For the first time, the night's two big closing moments happen at opposite ends of Main Street within a few minutes of each other. If you've been going for years, your usual spot may now put you at the wrong end for one of them.
What happens at each end of Main Street
Visit Littleton lists three changes for 2026. The parade route is new, the performance stage moves to the east end between Grande Station and Bega Park, and the tree lighting moves to Bega Park. The guide says the festivities run from Bega Park on the east to The Melting Pot on the west.
| West end, near The Melting Pot | East end, near Bega Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Parade | Lines up at Alamo Ave. and Rapp St., starts at 6:30 p.m. | Finishes at Sycamore St. |
| Stage | None | Between Grande Station and Bega Park |
| Finale | Drone show with music, overhead | Santa lights the trees after the parade |
| Santa photos | None | Free, in Santa's tent, 5 to 6 p.m. and 7:15 to 8 p.m. |
| Free cocoa and cider | Bradford Auto Body lot, west of Curtice St. | In the park near Sycamore and Main |
| Getting there | Accessible shuttle drops at Nevada St. and Alamo Ave. | None listed |
Santa's reindeer will be resting at Main and Nevada streets, between the two ends. Photos are welcome, but please turn off your flash. You can buy keepsake LED Candlelight Walk candlesticks at both cocoa stations.
The 15 minutes that decide where you stand
The 2026 schedule:
- 5 p.m. Roaming entertainment starts, and the stage designed by Oak Street Interiors, with support from St. Nick's, begins its performances. Santa photos open in Bega Park.
- 6 p.m. The first round of Santa photos ends.
- 6:30 p.m. The parade leaves Alamo and Rapp and heads east on Main toward Bega Park.
- 7 p.m. The parade ends. The drone show appears over The Melting Pot, and the guide says the drones will close out the festivities around 7:15 p.m.
- 7:15 to 8 p.m. Santa photos resume in Bega Park.
- 8 p.m. The event ends.
Santa and his helpers light the Bega Park trees after the parade. That puts the tree lighting at the east end right around the time the drones are in the air at the west end.
If seeing everything up close matters most, the west end has the edge on the parade. You'll see it first, and you'll be under the drones afterward. The guide notes that the drones "can be seen from afar," so you may be able to catch the show from farther east. Families who want to stay close to the tree lighting and Santa can settle in near the stage between Grande Station and Bega Park. The parade comes to them at the end of its route, and the second round of Santa photos opens right there at 7:15.
The second round of photos also makes the night easier to pace. If the line at 5 p.m. is long, you can watch the parade and the finale first and come back to the tent afterward. The tent stays open until the event ends at 8 p.m.
Why the walk was always about moving down the street
The walk dates back to 1984, according to a City of Littleton StoryMap. It started as a community gathering where people carried candles and flashlights to watch 20,000 lights come on. The new layout brings back some of that original movement along Main Street. You can catch the parade near the west end, then walk east with your candle toward the trees and the second round of Santa photos.
The walk goes on in most weather. The city may cancel it for extreme temperatures or dangerous conditions, and heavy snow, rain or wind could postpone or cancel the drone show. Any changes will be announced over the speaker system and posted on the City of Littleton and Visit Littleton Facebook and Instagram pages. If snow makes Bega Park inaccessible, Santa photos move inside Spellbooks at 2376 Main Street.
Street closures start at noon
Closures begin hours before the music does. The full schedule is on the Parade Route and Street Closures page, and the times that matter most are:
- Noon: Main Street closes between Prince Street and Rio Grande.
- 3 p.m.: All north-south streets from Powers Avenue to Alamo Avenue close, along with the alleys in that area. Officers will be nearby to help with getting in and out.
- 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.: Rapp Street closes from Alamo Avenue to Church Avenue for parade staging, and no vehicles can enter or leave.
- 6 to 7 p.m.: Eastbound Bowles Avenue traffic is diverted north or south at Santa Fe, and Alamo Avenue closes between Santa Fe and Rapp.
- About 11 p.m.: Main Street and the north-south streets reopen.
Because the parade now stages on the west end, the Rapp, Alamo and Bowles closures all land on that side. If you live near Rapp or Alamo, plan for those closures if you're driving that evening. Any vehicle left on a closed street will be towed to the City Center at 2255 W. Berry Ave.
Free parking is available at the Littleton Center, which shares that 2255 W. Berry Ave. address, and at Arapahoe Community College on Church Avenue between Nevada and Sumner streets. An accessible courtesy shuttle runs from ACC's Lot A every 15 minutes from 5 to 8 p.m. It drops off at Nevada Street and Alamo Avenue, close to the parade's starting point.
Coming early for dinner and shopping
Visit Littleton's event overview invites you to "come early for dinner" and make an evening of it. Local vendors will sell cocktails for guests 21 and older, plus grab-and-go small bites, on street corners along Main. Grande Station sits right beside the new stage location, which puts it in the middle of the east-end crowd this year.
This will be the first Candlelight Walk for Leaves on Main, an indoor-plant shop that also carries books and related goods. It opened Sept. 5 at 2699 Main Street, according to the Littleton Independent. Spellbooks, the backup spot for Santa photos, has been running a "Cozy Season" collaboration with iN-TEA through November. The collaboration includes themed drinks, discounts at both stores, poetry nights and local-author events, as the Littleton Independent reported.
Hudson Holidays at Hudson Gardens also opens on Nov. 27 and runs through Jan. 3, 2027. Its 0.65-mile light route is open from 5 to 9 p.m. on most nights, and Dec. 2 is a sensory-friendly night, according to Hudson Gardens. Since it opens the same night as the walk, you can save the gardens for another evening in December.
The street under the parade is up for redesign
This year's walk takes place on a Main Street that is about to be redesigned. The city secured $30 million in financing for Main Street improvements in August. At an Oct. 5 open house at Arapahoe Community College, it showed early design concepts for Project Main Street, the first phase of the broader Project Downtown effort. Whatever design moves forward, the city says the project will repair or replace traffic signals, streetlights, trees, utilities and drainage, and improve accessible infrastructure and safety.
Several features that drew the most votes at the open house fit a night like Nov. 27. Overhead festival and string lights with flexible paved space for gatherings topped the event-flexibility category. Wider, clearer sidewalks with more pedestrian lighting led the pedestrian category, and dedicated patios for restaurants and bars led business activation. One resident at the open house told the Littleton Independent, "Overall, it looks beautiful, but can they do it in the space that they have?" The Candlelight Walk is a good test of that question. It fills Main Street from Bega Park to The Melting Pot.
If you're talking through Littleton plans with family over the holidays, whether that's a move, a sale or just how downtown is changing, I'm happy to share what I'm seeing around Main Street. You can reach me at Laura Ruch when you're ready. Let's Connect.
