On the afternoon of Saturday, December 5, Sutton Road in Aspen Park will be full of decorated company trucks, floats, goats, horses and alpacas. The Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce lists all of them as fair game for the 43rd Annual Conifer Christmas Parade. That afternoon is the season's one fixed spot. For the rest of the five weeks, Christmas in Conifer is spread out across the highway.
For 2026, the Chamber runs Christmas in Conifer from November 28 through January 1, 2027. The Chamber calls it "a season-long celebration bringing together local businesses, residents, and visitors along the 285 corridor." It has three decorating contests, two interactive maps, a corridor-wide silent auction and a calendar of events hosted by businesses.
A Season Built Around Storefronts
The Chamber says Christmas in Conifer is "all about supporting small businesses, strengthening community connections, and spreading a little holiday magic." Most of the season happens wherever a business turns on its lights, sets up a tree, or hosts a gathering. The Chamber handles promotion for those events under the Holiday Happenings banner, and the deadline for businesses and organizations to sign up as hosts is November 20.
So a lot of what fills your December calendar isn't run by the Chamber at all. It's a gingerbread contest at a church, an ornament class at a craft studio, or a market on a taproom patio. The Chamber's job is to put them all in one place, on its Holiday Happenings calendar.
Two Maps, Starting November 28
Two programs make the 285 corridor itself the venue. Both start the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Light Up 285. Residents can enter the Home Holiday Decorating Competition, and businesses and organizations can enter the Window Decorating or Building Decorating competitions. Every entry goes on the community's interactive virtual map so people can drive by and vote. Entry is free for businesses. You don't need a Conifer address to enter; the Chamber says "anyone can participate."
Festival of Trees. Businesses and organizations along the corridor decorate a Christmas tree and display it at their own location or at a participating host business. Every tree goes into one community-wide silent auction, and each participating location appears on its own interactive map so people can plan a tree tour.
These are the dates to keep:
- November 23: Registration closes for Light Up 285 entries.
- November 28: Light Up kickoff. Festival of Trees entries must be decorated and on display, and the silent auction opens.
- December 11: The tree auction closes.
- December 12 and 13: Winning bidders pick up their trees.
- December 21: Voting closes on the lights contests.
The auction window matters if you want to win a tree. Bidding opens the same day the lights go on and closes December 11, and winners collect their trees on December 12 and 13, about two weeks before Christmas.
Saturday, December 5, Hour by Hour
December 5 is the only day the whole season gathers in one place, and the Chamber's listings and Peak Cultural Arts Organization's market page fit together into a full day.
- 10 a.m. The Kris Kindle Market opens at Peak Academy of Dance and runs until 8 p.m. Peak Cultural Arts Organization hosts it, admission is free, and parking is at West Jefferson Elementary. PCAO lists stalls from regional artists, woodworkers, jewelers and makers, seasonal food and hot drinks, live music, hands-on craft stations, and photos with Santa.
- 1 p.m. The pre-parade line-up party starts.
- 1:45 p.m. Parade entries leave staging at West Jefferson Middle School.
- 2 p.m. The 43rd Annual Conifer Christmas Parade starts on Sutton Road in Aspen Park, with an end time of 3 p.m. on the Chamber's listing.
- 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Kris Kindle Market stays open for five hours after the parade ends.
This year's parade theme is just "Christmas." The Chamber suggests entrants interpret it however they like, "whether that's Santa's workshop, snowy winter scenes, or holiday music." Its volunteer call lists more than the parade itself: setup and traffic marshalling, plus snowball fights, cookie-eating contests and children's holiday crafts. The Chamber describes the parade as a 43-year tradition. It called the 2023 edition the 40th annual, so the count is consistent.
Anyone thinking about entering a float or a decorated truck has until Friday, November 27, when the Chamber closes parade registration. That's the day before the lights go on, so whoever is decorating will be on two deadlines at once.
Sunday Spreads Back Out
By Sunday, December 6, the season is spread across town again, and three events overlap:
| Event | Time | Where | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Kindle Market, day two | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Peak Academy of Dance | Shorter hours than Saturday |
| Holiday Cottage Market | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Snowpack Taproom & Pizzeria, 27175 Main Street | Booths wrap the building and fill the patios |
| Conifer Christmas with Rex Rideout and Friends | 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Conifer Community Church, 9998 Havekost Road | Donations go to Conifer nonprofits |
Both markets run the same hours, so you can shop one in the morning and the other after lunch. The Snowpack Holiday Cottage Market is outdoors. Snowpack asks vendors to bring 10-by-10 tents with weights on every leg because it "gets breezy." Dress for the patio.
The Rex Rideout show is in its 11th year. The listing describes it as an all-volunteer program of "songs and stories of Christmas past including tales of celebrations around Conifer in the early days," with carols "ranging from the 19th century back to Elizabethan times." Organizers also ask audience members to bring nonperishable food for the Mountain Resource Center.
The Smaller Dates Around the Big Weekend
The rest of the Holiday Happenings calendar is small events at specific addresses, and a few of them have strict caps on how many people can attend.
- Saturday, November 21, 1:30 to 3 p.m. ResqRanch's holiday wreath-crafting fundraiser at Aspen Park Vet Hospital, 25871 Duran Avenue. The listing gives the price as $25.
- Thursday, November 26, 9 to 11 a.m. The 16th Annual EChO Turkey Trot 5K Run & Walk, which is on the Chamber's holiday calendar.
- Wednesday, December 2, 5 to 8 p.m. The 2nd Annual Great Gingerbread Build Off at Conifer Community Church, 9998 Havekost Road.
- Wednesday, December 2, 5:30 p.m. Adults Only Ornament Painting, $20 per painter, limited to 14 people.
- Saturday, December 12, noon to 2:30 p.m. Family Ornament Painting at The Craft Schack, 11873 Springs Road, Unit 110. It's $20 per painter and limited to 14 painters.
December 12 is also the first of the two Festival of Trees pickup days. On that Saturday, families could finish an ornament at The Craft Schack and pick up a tree they won at auction.
The ornament sessions have room for 14 people each, and the Rex Rideout program is on its 11th year. Both sit on the Chamber's calendar the same way the parade does. The Chamber's sponsorship page says "thousands of community members come together each year." Most of the season is still a series of small rooms and storefronts along 285, with one shared afternoon on Sutton Road.
If you're decorating your own house for Light Up 285, or wondering how a holiday listing photo should look against Conifer's December light, I'm happy to compare notes over cocoa at the Kris Kindle Market. Alicia Sexton is always glad to talk about this town, and the parade is one of the best days of the year to do it. Let's Connect.
