Stand at the corner of Main Street and Crescent Boulevard in December and most of downtown Glen Ellyn's holiday program is within a short walk. Santa's House is at 425 Main St. The tree he lights is at 460 Main St. His mailbox is on the northeast corner of the intersection. Glen Ellyn Candy & Cones at 550 Crescent Blvd. is where the window scavenger hunt ends.
That short walk is the key to the season. The Holiday Walk & Tree Lighting opens it on Friday, November 27. The Village of Glen Ellyn's fall and winter events notice lists a downtown calendar that keeps going every weekend through December 20, keeps the windows up through December 31, then carries into January with a winter shopping passport.
Friday, November 27 is opening night
The Holiday Walk is put on by the Downtown Glen Ellyn Alliance and the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce, with the Village as sponsor, according to the Chamber's holiday page. Patch reported that the evening starts at 5 p.m. on Main Street and includes toy soldiers on stilts. The Alliance's events calendar gives the full schedule:
- 2 to 4 p.m. Musical performances at the Glen Ellyn Public Library, 500 Duane St.
- 6 p.m. Santa lights the tree from a fire truck at 460 Main St.
- 6:15 p.m. Santa photos and hot cocoa at the Glen Ellyn Fire Department, 524 Pennsylvania Ave.
- 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Live nativity at First Presbyterian Church, 550 Main St.
Downtown businesses will run their own holiday activities through the evening, Patch reported. The library afternoon shows up separately on the Village's list as the Holiday Walk at the Library, so families with small children can make the 2 p.m. music and skip the 6 p.m. crowd.
Several things start on November 27 and keep running. The Snow Globe Stroll goes up that day and stays through December 31. Santa's mailbox opens the same day. The Village lists extended holiday hours downtown from November 27 through December 31. So the tree lighting starts the season, and most of what follows happens on weekends.
Saturday is the core of the season
The weekend program begins the next morning. The Village lists Santa visits and strolling carolers on weekends from November 28 through December 20, with Santa at the Santa House, 425 Main St. The house ran last season too. Patch's 2025 event listing had it on weekends at the same address.
On Saturdays, three free programs share the calendar, and Santa and the carolers overlap from noon to 1 p.m.:
| Saturday program | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Santa House photos | 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 425 Main St. |
| Strolling carolers | Noon to 3 p.m. | Through downtown shops, streets and restaurants |
| Free family movies | Saturdays, November and December | Glen Art Theatre |
The Santa House is free, and the Alliance says it's open to everyone, pets included. Visitors can also pick up the Snow Globe Scavenger Hunt map and write a letter to Santa there, which makes it the natural first stop on a Saturday downtown. The carolers keep to the same Saturday schedule from Thanksgiving through Christmas. The Chamber runs a separate free family movie series at the Glen Art Theatre on Saturdays through November and December.
Here is how a Saturday can go. Get the hunt map and a photo at 425 Main before 1 p.m. Hear the carolers on Main and Crescent after noon. Then catch the movie. Santa is also there on Sundays, but the carolers and the movie series are both listed for Saturdays, so Saturday has the most going on.
The scavenger hunt ends at the newest sweet shop downtown
The Snow Globe Stroll turns storefront windows into snow-globe displays. Hidden snow globes are scattered through participating businesses, and the hunt ends at Candy & Cones for a treat. Glen Ellyn Candy & Cones, at 550 Crescent Blvd., is the rebranded Glen Ellyn Sweet Shoppe. It opened downtown in late June 2026, and Patch marked its first month in business in July. This is its first holiday season downtown, and the hunt's finish line is a few steps from the Santa House, the mailbox and the tree.
The address next door, 552 Crescent Blvd., is the planned Glen Ellyn home of Poppie's Pasta, whose Villa Park restaurant makes its pasta in-house daily. With the hunt ending at Candy & Cones, Crescent Boulevard becomes part of the holiday walking route along with Main Street. Our summer look at downtown's new tables followed the same shift as it started.
The Alliance says Light Up Glen Ellyn will keep the streets lit through the New Year, along with extended boutique hours and seasonal menus at downtown restaurants. The Alliance is also putting together a holiday shopping guide built from downtown store owners' own favorite products and gift picks. Its calendar lists the guide as running through December.
The dated events that fill in the calendar
Most of the weekend program repeats each week. A few events happen once, and these are the dates to put on the fridge.
- Thursday, November 12, 5 to 9 p.m. The second of the Alliance's two Ladies Night Out holiday shopping evenings is tonight. It's a ticketed event with participating retailers and dining specials.
- Thursday, November 26. The Park District's Turkey Trot 4-mile run is at Lake Ellyn Park on Thanksgiving, the day before the tree lighting.
- Saturday, December 5. Holiday Illumination Concerts at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, on a Saturday when Santa and the carolers are also downtown.
- Wednesday, December 9. The Ugly Sweater Dine Around brings the season to a weeknight.
- Sunday, December 13. Last day to mail a letter at Santa's mailbox. Letters with a return address get a reply from Santa and a signed photo.
- Sunday, December 20. Last weekend for Santa visits at 425 Main St.
- Thursday, December 31. Last day of the Snow Globe Stroll and extended holiday hours.
- January 1 to 31. The Winter Shopping Passport keeps people shopping downtown after the decorations come down.
The mailbox deadline is the easiest one to miss. December 13 falls in the middle of Santa House weekends, so a family planning its letter around a December 19 or 20 visit would be too late for a reply. Mailing the letter at the corner of Main and Crescent on the same trip as a Santa House stop on an earlier weekend avoids that.
Front yards are part of the season too
The home lights contest returns this year with four categories: Most Festive, Best Use of Lights, Most Creative and The Clark Griswold Award. The Alliance calendar says registration will open soon. The categories are new this year. Patch's 2025 coverage listed Best Overall, Most Traditional and Most Whimsical, plus the Griswold award, which is the only one carried over. Last year entrants got lawn signs and the homes were mapped on the Village website, so the contest became an evening driving route as well as a prize. Entry details for 2026 will be posted at downtownglenellyn.com.
Taken together, the 2026 calendar has a clear rhythm. One Friday night starts it. Eight weekend days of Santa at 425 Main carry it through December 20. Four Saturdays of carolers between Thanksgiving and Christmas, November 28 and December 5, 12 and 19, fill in the middle alongside the Glen Art Theatre movies. Store windows and extended hours run through December 31. For a different season's version of downtown, our September piece on Glen Ellyn's fall cultural calendar covered the weekend when four local institutions lined up their events.
If your holiday plans include getting a house ready to sell after the New Year, or you'd like to know how your street compares as the season winds down, The Schiller Team works across Glen Ellyn and the rest of DuPage County and is happy to talk it through. Get your home market-ready with Elmhurst's local experts and request a free home valuation.