Downtown in December OKC 2026: Your Guide to Holiday Nights

Downtown in December began in 2002 with a handful of events. It now covers more than 30 events and attractions that run from November into January. The 2026 season is its 25th anniversary. Most of the 2026 season falls on two back-to-back opening nights in mid-November and three Saturdays, November 28, December 5 and December 12. Each of those Saturdays has four or more events going at once, and the streetcar is free.

Below are the 2026 dates, organized around those nights.

Two nights in a row open the season

The Oklahoma City Tree Lighting Festival is Thursday, November 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Mickey Mantle Plaza outside Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive. This is its 25th year, and admission is free. The tree lights at 6 p.m. Before that, the organizers list live music and dance, an aerial performance, photos with Santa, a letters-to-Santa station, ornament-making, a life-size snow globe, face painting and balloon art. Restaurants will hand out free samples, and Junction Coffee will have items for sale. The tree is the Bricktown Christmas Tree at the canal overlook across from the ballpark, so the Bricktown Canal Lights are right there when it comes on.

For parking, the festival page lists metered street spaces that are free after 6 p.m., paid Bricktown lots, a free lot at 101 SE 2nd St. beside U-Haul, and streetcar park-and-ride. It suggests the Mickey Mantle or Ballpark stops.

The next day, Friday, November 13, two of the season's longest-running attractions open:

• Devon Ice Rink at Myriad Botanical Gardens, starting its 15th season on 5,500 square feet of real ice. It runs through January 31, 2027.
• Red Earth TreeFest at the Red Earth Art Center in the BancFirst Tower lobby, 100 N. Broadway Ave., Suite 110. Admission is free, and it runs through January 1, 2027.

TreeFest's hours are weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. That makes it different from almost everything else on this list, because a Saturday visit won't work. It's a good lunch-hour stop if you work downtown. The trees are made by Tribal Nations and Native organizations, with handmade ornaments and artwork, and signs explain each community represented. The Diné (Navajo) and the OKC Indian Clinic Intertribal Tree are new participants in 2026.

The rink pricing changed a little this year

The rink's daily hours match last season. Monday through Thursday it's open 3 to 9 p.m., Friday 3 to 11 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here are the 2026–27 prices next to the 2025 season:

If your family owns skates, you'll pay $2 more per person this year. Families who rent will pay the same as before. Groups need to reserve ahead, and a penguin skate assistant costs $10 an hour with ID. The season also starts and ends one day earlier than in 2025, which ran November 14 through February 1. Myriad Gardens will post extended holiday hours on its rink page. They hadn't been published as of mid-October.

After opening week, most things run Thursday through Sunday

Once the opening week is over, two of the biggest recurring events settle into the same weekend pattern.

SPARKLE at Scissortail Park is a ticketed walk through holiday lights, displays, small scenes and seasonal setups. It runs in blocks: November 19–22, November 26–29, December 3–6, and then a final stretch from December 10 to January 1. The walk's evening hours on Scissortail Park's event listing are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and proceeds support the Scissortail Park Foundation's year-round programming. 2026 ticket prices haven't been posted yet.

The Midtown Holiday Pop-Up Shops at NW 10th and Hudson are open Friday through Sunday for four weekends: November 27–29, December 4–6, December 11–13 and December 18–20. You'll find rotating local shops, treats, a Christmas tree lot, live music, Santa visits and Curbside Chronicle wrapping paper. The page suggests parking anywhere in Midtown or taking the streetcar to the 10th and Hudson stop. The Midtown Christmas Tree stands at the pop-ups too.

From November 26 on, SPARKLE's walk nights and the pop-up weekends fall on the same dates. Those are the weekends where the three big Saturdays fall.

The three Saturdays where the most events overlap

Here's what the 2026 roster puts on each of the three busiest Saturdays.

Saturday, November 28

1. Small Business Saturday downtown.
2. The first SPARKLE Holiday Market, at The Promenade in Scissortail's Upper Park, with local vendors, seasonal food and drinks, and live entertainment from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
3. Opening weekend for the Midtown pop-ups, plus a SPARKLE walk night.
4. The first of two Oklahoma Opry Christmas Shows.

Saturday, December 5

1. The Saints Santa Run from 9 a.m. to noon at SSM Health St. Anthony, 535 NW 9th St., with a 5K, a one-mile fun run and a costume contest.
2. The first night of Lights On Broadway, Automobile Alley's holiday open house with free seasonal activities and specials from local shops.
3. The second Oklahoma Opry Christmas Show, the second night of OKCPhil's A Very Merry Pops, and the first day of Holiday Happenings at OKCMOA, which runs through December 27.
4. A pop-up weekend and a SPARKLE walk night.

Saturday, December 12

1. The second Lights On Broadway night.
2. The second SPARKLE Holiday Market.
3. Deck the Hall of Fame and Oklahoma Contemporary's holiday events, both listed for December 12.
4. OKC Ballet's The Nutcracker at Civic Center Music Hall. It runs December 11 through 21 and includes a sensory-friendly performance.
5. A pop-up weekend and a SPARKLE walk night.

Automobile Alley's lights are part of the December 5 and 12 open houses. The district wraps more than 600,000 LED lights over its buildings, and the Downtown in December lights page says you can see them from the car or on foot.

The free streetcar ties these nights together

With this many events on one Saturday, the streetcar decides how much you can fit in. Downtown in December's streetcar page says fares are now permanently free, seven days a week. Regular service hours:

• Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to midnight
• Friday, 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday service runs until 2 a.m. That's three hours after the rink closes at 11 p.m. and well after the SPARKLE walk ends at 9:30. You could start at the 10th and Hudson pop-ups in the afternoon, skate at Myriad, and ride through the light districts on the way home without moving the car. The lights page itself suggests riding the streetcar to see lights across downtown. Before planning a holiday-week outing, check the shorter holiday hours. Christmas Eve runs 6 a.m. to midnight, Christmas Day 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., New Year's Eve 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., and New Year's Day 6 a.m. to midnight.

A quieter stretch after December 20

The pop-ups close December 20 and The Nutcracker closes December 21. After that, the calendar opens up. A few things keep going:

• ArtAfloatOKC Caroling Cruises run through December 24.
• Holiday Concerts at St. Paul's Cathedral have a final date on December 20, and the Myriad Gardens Holiday Poinsettia Show runs through December 31.
• NYE Party in the Park is December 31.
• SPARKLE and Red Earth TreeFest both close January 1.
• Devon Ice Rink keeps going until January 31, a full month after nearly everything else has closed.

There are smaller dates earlier in the season too. Merry Midtown's Santa Paws comes to Midtown Mutts Dog Park on November 22, where a professional photographer takes holiday pet portraits for free. The National's Great Christmas Tree Lighting is November 27, and the Metro Library Christmas Tree Lighting is November 30. The full 2026 list is on the Downtown in December events page.

If a December 5 Santa Run morning and a 2 a.m. streetcar ride home sound like your idea of the holidays, it helps to know how your daily routine would connect to downtown. If you've wondered what a home closer to these districts might look like for you, Jennifer Elliston is happy to walk through your options at whatever pace suits you. Let's Connect.