Last year, Fishers did almost all of its holiday celebrating in one stretch. The tree lighting on Friday, December 5, 2025, also opened Jingle Bell Junction, so the lights came on and the tent events started the same night. This year those two things are eleven days apart. Night Lights, the City of Fishers tree lighting, is Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving. Jingle Bell Junction's lineup at 10 Municipal Drive starts Tuesday, December 8.
The city's lineup is still there. It now bookends the season. The other big holiday hosts in Fishers, Conner Prairie, the Fishers Arts Council and Fishers District, have events in the gap, and the result is about three weeks of separate occasions where last year had one busy week.
| Event | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| City tree lighting | Fri., Dec. 5 | Fri., Nov. 27 |
| Jingle Bell Junction tent events | Dec. 5 to 14 | Dec. 8 to 13 |
| Santa's Mailbox | Nov. 28 to Dec. 12 | Nov. 25 to Dec. 11 |
| A Merry Prairie Holiday opens | Fri., Nov. 28 | Fri., Nov. 27 |
| Fishers Arts Council Winter Art Markets | Thursdays, Dec. 4, 11, 18 | Thursdays, Dec. 3, 10, 17 |
| Fishers District holiday programming | Weekly Holiday Open House | One day, Sun., Dec. 6 |
Black Friday Is Now the Busiest Night of the Season
With the tree lighting on November 27, the city's kickoff falls on the same night Conner Prairie opens its holiday festival. In 2025, Conner Prairie opened on November 28 and the tree lighting came a week later.
The tree lighting runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater, 6 Municipal Drive. GBC Bank presents it, and it's free with no registration. Fishers Parks lists live music, fire pits, igloo seating, live ice carving, reindeer and Fishers AgriPark animals, food trucks, and holiday light displays through downtown. The tree-lighting ceremony with Santa and Mayor Scott Fadness starts promptly at 6:30 p.m. on the amphitheater stage.
A Merry Prairie Holiday opens that same Friday at Conner Prairie, 13400 Allisonville Road. Festival hours are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and tickets cost $15 for members and $26 for nonmembers. Parking is free. Because the festival runs until 9:30, you can catch the 6:30 lighting downtown and still have most of the evening left for Prairietown.
The rest of the long weekend fills in from there:
- Saturday, November 28: Breakfast with Santa at Conner Prairie, with seatings from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. That night, The 90s R&B Experience with Joe plays Fishers Event Center at 8 p.m.
- Sunday, November 29: The Indy Fuel host the Bloomington Bison at Fishers Event Center at 4 p.m.
Santa's Mailbox opens a few days before all of this. Starting Wednesday, November 25, letters to Santa can go in the mailboxes at City Hall in the Fishers Municipal Center, 1 Municipal Drive, or at The 106 Plaza, 8100 E. 106th Street. Drop-off ends Friday, December 11, one day earlier than last year.
Who Hosts the Eleven Days in Between
Last year, Jingle Bell Junction filled the week after the tree lighting. This year, the days between November 28 and December 7 belong to other organizations.
Conner Prairie covers the weekends. After opening weekend, A Merry Prairie Holiday runs Fridays through Sundays from December 4 through December 20, then Monday through Wednesday, December 21 to 23. It also adds dates after Christmas, Saturday through Monday, December 26 to 28, which weren't on the 2025 schedule. Breakfast with Santa continues on December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20.
The Fishers Arts Council takes Thursdays. The Winter Art Markets return to Peace Water Winery, 11547 Yard Street, Suite 830, on December 3, 10 and 17, from 6 to 9 p.m. Last year's markets closed at 8:30. Each of the three nights has different artists. The December 10 listing says entry is free with no registration and includes a free holiday ornament activity. This year, December 3 is the first holiday market in Fishers. In 2025, the Thursday markets came after the tree lighting had already happened.
Fishers Event Center has the Indy Fuel at home against the Toledo Walleye on Sunday, December 6, at 4 p.m.
December 6 Is Fishers District's Only Holiday Event
The biggest change at The Yard is how many holiday events it holds. In 2025, the Fishers District hosted a weekly Holiday Open House with Santa, carolers and crafts, timed so people could walk over from the Thursday art markets. This year, everything is in one afternoon, which the District calls a "newly reimagined holiday celebration": Merry & Bright at Fishers District on Sunday, December 6.
Here's how the day runs:
- 11 a.m. to noon: Pet photos with Santa, plus a Pet Paw Print Ornament Station. The listing says these pet-only photos happen during this hour only.
- Noon onward: The event opens to everyone inside a heated tent at The Yard, with hot cocoa, holiday caroling, train rides around The Yard, a life-sized snow globe for photos, crafts, watercolor family illustrations, and photos with Santa.
- Upstairs at Sun King: A Makers Market of local vendors on the second level, hosted by the Fishers Arts Council.
On a Sunday you could pair Merry & Bright with the 4 p.m. Fuel game, or with a Conner Prairie evening, since the festival runs Fridays through Sundays that weekend. If you were used to a District open house every week, December 6 is the one date to put on the calendar.
Jingle Bell Junction Shrinks to Six Days
When the city's tent opens on December 8, it runs Tuesday through Sunday. The 2025 version ran from one Friday through the next Sunday. Everything is at Jingle Bell Junction, 10 Municipal Drive, and is free and drop-in unless noted.
- Tuesday, December 8, 4 to 8 p.m.: Santa's Workshop. Fishers Parks' Maker Playground staff walk makers of any age through basic woodshop techniques. It starts an hour earlier than last year's 5 p.m. workshop.
- Wednesday, December 9, 5 to 9 p.m.: DIY Gift Supplies + Karoling Karaoke, where you make custom wrapping paper, gift bags and cards with holiday karaoke going.
- Thursday, December 10, 5 to 10 p.m.: Reindeer Games. Kids' bingo runs 5 to 7 p.m., followed by holiday movie trivia with Hambones Trivia in two sessions, 7:30 to 8:30 and 9 to 10. Entry is first come, first served.
- Friday, December 11, 6 to 10 p.m.: Community Jazz Improv + Jazz Lounge. Brandon Meeks leads a 6 to 8 p.m. improv session where anyone can bring an instrument and play with the house band. At 8:30, the tent turns into a professional jazz lounge until 10, with a full bar open all night.
- Saturday, December 12: Cookies With Characters from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then the Winter Market + Mixology Class from 6 to 10 p.m. Details below.
- Sunday, December 13, noon to 5 p.m.: Holiday Thrift-A-Thon, a holiday version of the secondhand market Fishers Parks has held during the summer Fishers Farmers Market season. Entry is free.
Thursday the 10th is the one night when two holiday events overlap: Reindeer Games in the tent and the second Arts Council market at Peace Water Winery.
Saturday, December 12, Is the Hardest Day to Plan
This Saturday has more holiday events on it than any other date this season. It's also the only Jingle Bell Junction day that needs advance registration.
Cookies With Characters runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and costs $10 per person for residents and $15 for nonresidents. Registration is required for every adult and child, including kids 2 and under, who are free but still need to register. Last year, the event was split over two days with Grinch and Bluey themes. This year, the city lists one session with classic and favorite holiday characters.
That evening, the tent becomes a Winter Market with local vendors and free admission. Mixo Indy teaches holiday cocktail classes from 6 to 7 p.m. and 8 to 9 p.m. Classes cost $40 per person for residents and $60 for nonresidents, and you have to register ahead. Across town, the Indy Fuel play the Bloomington Bison at Fishers Event Center at 7 p.m. Conner Prairie is open that night, and Breakfast with Santa has seatings that morning.
With the cookies, a Breakfast with Santa seating and a mixology class all needing registration or tickets, December 12 is the date to book first.
After that week, the season winds down around the Mudsock basketball game at Fishers Event Center on Friday, December 18, at 6 p.m. Last year it was on December 19.
Where to Eat Between Events
Two places to eat have changed this fall. Flower Child is now open at 9344 Union Place Drive in The Union at Fishers District, with dine-in, curbside pickup and delivery. Current in Fishers reported the opening plans in mid-October. Clutch Kitchen, Kelsey Murphy's restaurant inside Sun King Fishers at 9713 District N Drive, held a re-grand opening after renovations the week of October 14, according to the Fishers Digest. Sun King is also where the Makers Market sets up on the second level during Merry & Bright, so on December 6 you can have lunch and do the market in the same building.
If having friends and family over for the holidays has you thinking about what your Fishers home is worth before next year's season, Rasmussen Team can put together a free home valuation for you, starting with a conversation in your living room.
