Kirkland's Holiday Season Has Moved Up the Hill From the Lake

From 2022 through 2024, Kirkland's Winterfest tree lighting was held at Marina Park on the first Saturday of December, with the lake right behind the tree. In 2025 the city's bulletin sent people somewhere else. The festivities took over the plaza at Kirkland Urban, the tree lighting moved to Peter Kirk Park, and the whole event happened the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The 2026 schedule shows the new setup is staying. WinterFest 2026 at Kirkland Urban is set for Saturday, November 28. That's Thanksgiving weekend again, and the tree lighting stays at Peter Kirk Park. Kirkland's season has moved both its location and its start date. It now opens a week earlier than it used to, a few blocks up from the waterfront, and the park in the middle holds most of what follows.

Five Winterfests, two main stages

Put the city's own listings side by side and the change is easy to see.

Two details matter for planning this year. First, the date stays on Thanksgiving weekend, so anyone with family in town for the holiday can bring them. Second, the tree lighting is at 6:15 p.m., an hour and fifteen minutes earlier than last year. In 2025 the lighting came half an hour before the plaza closed. This year it falls 45 minutes before the plaza wraps at 7 p.m. That gives you time to walk back up for a last round of cocoa or a balloon animal after the tree goes on.

The 2023 Marina Park listing also included a winter market and merchant decorating and gingerbread contests. The newer plaza lineup is built around entertainment, which shows in the 2026 schedule below.

How November 28 runs, hour by hour

Kirkland Urban describes WinterFest as a free event co-presented with the Kirkland Downtown Association at 425 Urban Plaza. Here's the order of the day.

1. 3 p.m., plaza opens. Photos with Santa in his sleigh, live ice sculpting, and the "magical snowfall" on the promenade begin. Enchanted Farms brings alpacas, Hoopla makes balloon creations, and there are holiday crafts for kids.
2. Through the afternoon. Carolers from Premier Vocal Entertainment, plus line dancing tutorials with the Boot Boogie Babes. Kirkland Urban lists sweet treats and giveaways while supplies last.
3. 6:15 p.m., Peter Kirk Park. The KDA hosts the annual Tree Lighting Celebration "just steps away" from the plaza, as Kirkland Urban's page puts it.
4. 7 p.m., the plaza wraps.

One rule to know if you're bringing kids: Kirkland Urban's event page says minors must be with an adult at all times while on the property.

Peter Kirk Park now hosts most of the season

The tree lighting is the first of several reasons to be at Peter Kirk Park this winter.

On Friday, December 11, the city's Reindeer and Reels runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the park, with crafts, food trucks, a screening of Frozen, and live reindeer. That puts two of the season's biggest free evenings on the same lawn, two weeks apart.

Last winter the park also had a real-ice skating rink. The city's Thanksgiving-week bulletin announced the Winterfest Ice Rink on Lee Johnson Field, open November 26 through January 11, and a January 2026 city notice said the Kirkland Downtown Association presented it. A Macaroni KID Eastside listing for the 2025 season showed one-hour sessions at $20 with skate rental, open until 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

As of this week, the rink hasn't been announced for 2026–27. The KDA winter page lists a Kirkland Ice Rink among its events, but it hasn't posted dates, hours, or ticket prices. If skating is part of your holiday plans, check the KDA page before promising anyone a turn on the ice on Thanksgiving weekend.

Lake Street still gets a share

Downtown along the water still has a part in the season, mostly in smaller, walk-in ways.

From November 19 through December 19, the KDA's Letters to Santa mailboxes will be at two spots: the corner of Kirkland Avenue and Lake Street, and Urban Plaza. One mailbox sits by the lake and one sits uphill. The KDA asks families to include a return address so Santa can write back.

On December 17, from 5 to 8 p.m., the KDA's Sips and Sweaters Wine Walk winds through downtown storefronts. Stops listed so far include Purpose Boutique, Lake Street Diamond, Heyday, Via Lago, Vision Music School, The Remontant, and Moss Bay Hall. The KDA says a route map is coming.

Lake Street also has a new spot for a warm-up between errands. Le Croissant Bar, Monica Kuchman's croissant, coffee, and champagne concept at 116 Lake Street, is in its soft opening. WhatNow Seattle first reported the plan in April.

Marina Park itself has a long project ahead. The city's Marina Park Dock and Shoreline Renovations page puts the project at 95% design and in environmental permit review. Construction is scheduled from July 5, 2027 to spring 2028, covering shoreline erosion repairs, south pier structural and decking work, ADA access, and new special events site furnishings. That means the park that hosted three straight Winterfests will be a work zone for much of the next two years.

Beyond downtown: lights, a stage, and an early Santa

A few traditions sit outside the plaza-and-park loop and add to the calendar.

• Google Lights at Feriton Spur Park, 509 6th Street S. The KDA lists this year's event for December 4, 4 to 6 p.m., with more than 10,000 lights, music, and a petting area set up on the pickleball court. City newsletters show the display going back to at least 2019, and last year's lighting ceremony was December 5, with nightly viewing through January 9. The KDA page doesn't print a year next to the date, so check it again closer to December.
• Kirkland Performance Center. Christmas With The Carpenters plays December 9, and The Nutcracker: Symphony of Lights runs December 17 through 19. Every show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are on the KPC calendar.
• The Village at Totem Lake. The Village lists its Santa's Arrival Party for Saturday, November 21, at 10:30 a.m. on the Village Green near Cinemark, with Santa photos starting at 11 a.m. That's a week before WinterFest, which makes it the north end's first Santa sighting if this year's listing holds.

If you're walking or biking to any of these from the south end, plan around the trail. King County began closing a stretch of the Cross Kirkland Corridor between NE 52nd Street and 108th Avenue NE as early as September 8 to repair a culvert, build a retaining wall, and stabilize a nearby stream. The work is expected to take about three months, and a detour is posted. That puts the expected finish around early December, close to the Google Lights date, but the city's CKC page and King County's project page will have the reopening date.

Your Kirkland holiday calendar so far

Larissa Wilson keeps track of which blocks of downtown Kirkland fill up in which season, from the Kirkland Urban plaza and Peter Kirk Park on Thanksgiving weekend to Marina Park's construction window in 2027 and 2028. If you'd like to talk about what that calendar means for your own plans next year, let's meet over coffee downtown. Schedule a Private Consultation.