"We're trying to really tap into that Christmas magic and that nostalgic feeling of being back at that park," festival co-chair Molly Carter told the Denton Record-Chronicle last year. That was when the Denton Holiday Lighting Festival moved off the courthouse Square and back to Quakertown Park and the Denton Civic Center.
This year is the second festival at the park, and the move has had a side effect. Downtown Denton's holiday season used to center on one Saturday at the courthouse. Now it covers several weekends in two places. The Square's own big holiday day arrives in November, about two weeks before anyone flips a switch at Quakertown Park.
The park is where the festival started
The 2026 Denton Holiday Lighting Festival is Saturday, Dec. 5, at Quakertown Park, 215 E. McKinney St. The Record-Chronicle described the 2025 move as a return to the site of the original festival in 1988. The festival association's own history starts closer to the courthouse. It says the tradition began in 1988 by raising money to light trees on the lawn of the Courthouse-on-the-Square. Both places are part of the event's history, so each version has a fair claim on the word "roots."
Co-chair Marybeth Reinke Doyle described the change to the Record-Chronicle as "a nod to the past, but it's also expanding for the future." The festival typically draws 17,000 to 20,000 people. Space was the clear gain. Last year's layout used the Civic Center for Santa's Village, crafts, vendors and music, and the outdoor grounds held more vendors, a snow tube hill and a trackless train.
What the Square held onto in 2025
The courthouse didn't go dark when the festival left. Record-Chronicle photos from the 2025 festival night show the Courthouse on the Square lit in holiday colors while the crowds gathered at Quakertown Park.
The bigger change was the calendar. Wassail Fest, the Denton Main Street Association event where downtown businesses pour samples of their wassail and visitors vote on favorites, typically ran the same night as the lighting festival. In 2025 it moved to Friday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m., the night before the festival. More than 40 businesses took part, with live music on the Square and free Santa photos at Discover Denton.
That change made the Square a separate stop on the holiday calendar. Before, people visited it during the festival. Last year it had its own Friday night, with its own Santa.
As of this writing, the 2026 Wassail Fest date hasn't been announced. The Main Street Association's Wassail Fest page still lists "Friday, December 5th" next to a roster labeled "2025 Wassail Stops." In 2026, December 5 falls on a Saturday, the same day as the festival, so treat that page as last year's information until it's updated.
The Square's confirmed holiday date is November 21
The first firm date for the Square is in November. The Downtown Denton Foundation lists its Craft Beer Crawl for Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026, starting at 1 p.m. The foundation runs it alongside the Main Street Association's Holiday Open House, when member businesses post offers and specials for the crawl and through the weekend. Proceeds go to the upkeep of the Denton Arts Walk of Fame, and d20 Tavern is this year's featured sponsor.
The foundation hasn't posted a 2026 list of stops yet. Last year's stops show where the crawl usually goes:
- d20 Tavern, 112 W. Oak St., right on the Square, with 20 local craft beers on tap and a library of more than 400 tabletop games
- 3 Wishes Gifts, 108 W. Oak St.
- Denton County Brewing Co., 200 E. McKinney St.
- The Bearded Monk, 122 E. McKinney St.
- Black Fox Brewing Co., 205 N. Cedar St.
- Dusty's Off The Square, 119 S. Elm St.
- Game Changers, 122 W. Mulberry St.
- Toasty Bros., 104 N. Bell Ave.
Two of those addresses, Denton County Brewing Co. and The Bearded Monk, are on East McKinney Street, the same street as Quakertown Park. Last year's crawl reached the festival's block, if not the park itself.
The Main Street Association's Holiday Open House page still shows the 2025 program, and the association hasn't posted 2026 hours. For now, the crawl's Nov. 21 date is the anchor for that weekend.
Five new doors since September
The Square also has some new businesses this season. Community Impact's Oct. 23 roundup of Denton business news lists several openings near the Square and on the corridors leading to it.
Smithers Smokehouse opened Sept. 26 at 300 Hickory St., near the downtown Square. It serves chopped brisket, pulled pork and St. Louis-style ribs by the pound, and its outdoor bar and patio are dog-friendly.
Overworld Collectibles opened Sept. 12 at 527 N. Elm St. It buys, sells and trades video games and cards, and it hosts weekly Super Smash Bros. meetups, with plans for more fighting game and tabletop events. With d20 Tavern's game library a few blocks south, North Elm now has two gaming-focused spots.
Burnout Vintage opened Oct. 20 at 216 W. Mulberry St., Ste. 106. It sells antique and vintage glassware, home decor and kitchen goods, and it plans to move to a larger space in early 2027. That puts this holiday season at the Mulberry address.
Nandi's opened Sept. 17 at 508 S. Elm St., Ste. 105. The menu includes biryani, mandi, tandoor dishes, rumali roti, curries and chaat.
Luxie Living, a home goods shop known for artisan glassware and mahjong tiles, moved into a larger space on the same property off Locust Street in early September.
Two of the five are gift-friendly shops and one is a casual patio restaurant, which suits a November shopping weekend. All of them opened in time for the Holiday Open House and Small Business Saturday stretch, their first holiday season downtown.
How the season fits together
| Date | Where | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Downtown Denton, Craft Beer Crawl from 1 p.m. | Confirmed by Downtown Denton Foundation |
| Nov. 21 weekend | Holiday Open House at Main Street Association member businesses | Linked to the crawl; 2026 hours not yet posted |
| TBA | Wassail Fest on the Square | 2026 date not yet announced; held Fri., Dec. 5 in 2025 |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Quakertown Park, 3 to 9 p.m.; tree lighting at 5:45 p.m. | Confirmed by festival organizers |
The festival's posted schedule for Dec. 5 runs from 3 to 9 p.m. On the Tree Lighting Stage, Lady Cass and The Fellas play first, then Denton ISD Mariachi, then the Denton Community Band, whose set brackets the 5:45 p.m. lighting ceremony. The Festival Ballet of North Texas performs afterward. The homepage also lists photos with Santa, crafts with Mrs. Claus, the snow hill, a trackless train, illuminated tunnels and light displays, the Mistletoe Market and Santa's Village vendor markets, food trucks, and the Holly Jolly Trolley.
The trolley links the park and the Square
The Holly Jolly Trolley is what keeps the park and the Square in one evening. In 2025, the festival worked with the Denton County Transit Authority to run it in a continuous loop, stopping at the Civic Center, the Square, and the North Central Texas College parking garage on Mulberry Street. Organizers suggested riding the A-train or parking at the Downtown Denton Transit Center to ease parking for a crowd that size. According to the Record-Chronicle, a shuttle between the Civic Center area and the Square goes back to the festival's early years, when SPAN/Meals on Wheels of Denton County provided the rides.
The 2026 homepage lists the trolley again but hasn't posted a route or hours. The festival map page says the map will be available later this year, and Discover Denton's event listing still reads "Information Coming Soon!" If the 2026 loop matches 2025's, dinner at Smithers Smokehouse or a stop at Burnout Vintage on Mulberry fits easily on either side of the 5:45 p.m. lighting. The festival site's separate Event Info page still shows Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, so go by the homepage and the schedule page for this year's details.
I keep track of downtown Denton's calendar and new openings as part of following Denton County. If you'd like to talk about how downtown Denton fits into your plans, or just compare notes on your favorite stop on the Square, Julie Gray would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.
