In Excelsior, the Holiday Season Now Peaks the Weekend After Thanksgiving
"Keeping shopping local is super important to help the businesses thrive, to keep the economy alive, to keep the city alive," Excelsior Lions Club president Jimm Flattum told WCCO last year, while roughly 40 vendors lined Water Street for the first Christmas in Excelsior. The same report said the Lions planned to bring the festival back in 2026.
It's back, three weeks from Friday. The second annual Christmas in Excelsior runs Friday and Saturday, Nov. 27 and 28, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's free to attend and set on historic Water Street between Lake Street and Third Street. The event matters for more than its own two days. It changes when downtown Excelsior's holiday season actually happens.
The Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce bills its holiday program, Celebrating the Season, as "Saturdays in December." Its 2026 calendar entry runs from Dec. 5 to Dec. 19. The Chamber's full Celebrating the Season schedule tells a different story, though. Its busiest block sits on the weekend after Thanksgiving, where the Lions' two-day festival, Small Business Saturday, Photos with Santa and the Tree Lighting Ceremony all overlap.
The tree lighting has already settled into that slot. The City of Excelsior's calendar put the 2025 Holiday Tree Lighting on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park. That was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The first Christmas in Excelsior ran Nov. 28–29, the same weekend, according to the Sun Sailor's preview. The 2026 calendar shifts everything one day earlier. Thanksgiving is Nov. 26, so Saturday, Nov. 28 carries the festival's second day, Small Business Saturday and the tree lighting.
That makes Thanksgiving weekend the main event, and the December Saturdays smaller follow-ups. Planning around that order is the difference between a relaxed afternoon on Water Street and circling for parking at 6:15.
Both days of Christmas in Excelsior share the same core program. The posted activity schedule has Santa on site from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Red Stable Reindeer from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Brand Valley Shires carriage rides from noon to 3 p.m. Silent Run Adventures Huskies appear from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Carlson's Lovable Llamas from noon to 4 p.m. Kids get Santa's Workshop indoors and Frosty's Funland outdoors. Adults get hammerschlagen and giant Jenga. Face painting and hair tinsel run until 4 p.m., and a Disney Princess visits from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday has a few things of its own. A fire dancer is scheduled for 5 p.m., and the live music tent closes the day with Mazarine playing Christmas rock from 5 to 6 p.m. Earlier sets include Anna Quady on baritone ukulele at 1 p.m. and Neville White on electric guitar at 2:30 p.m.
What Friday doesn't have is the rest of the Chamber's Saturday program. Small Business Saturday and the tree lighting both land on day two. If you want the reindeer and the market and can skip the lighting, Friday covers it with less competition for the same blocks.
Saturday is the day the two organizations' schedules overlap most. Put together, they look like this:
There's half an hour between the last song on Water Street and the lights at the Veterans Memorial, so the whole day can be one outing. One timing note: the Chamber's separate 2026 calendar entry describes the tree lighting more loosely, as part of the first weekend in December. Check the Chamber's page the week of Thanksgiving before you build your evening around 6:30.
The festival's music and activity page doesn't print a year beside its lineup, so expect some changes to performers or times before the weekend.
The vendor list is labeled for 2026 and leans handmade and small-batch. It includes A Kindness Co., SoFull Chai, Log's Hot Sauce, Designs by Lucy, Rustic Metalz, Simply Soak, Shangri-La Crafts and Gifts, Jewelry by Samy and Julie's Chocolate. The 2026 food truck lineup covers Cane and Cotton, Pronto Pups, Northeast Pretzels, Hopper's Mini Donuts, Papa Drew's, Amazing Momo, D&D Goodies and Mike's Kettle Corn. The festival's own description also points visitors to the restaurants along Water Street, so the trucks are an addition to downtown dining, not a substitute.
The storefronts stay part of the day too. Last year's WCCO segment featured two of them, Fleurish and Ooh La La Boutique. The station reported that Ooh La La has been in business since 1997.
The festival FAQ answers the parking question. The ramp between Second and Third streets and the lot behind the brewery are both free during the event. Street parking around the village is a mix of paid and unpaid. Everything is outdoors, and the FAQ's advice is to dress for the weather.
Once Thanksgiving weekend is over, the Chamber's schedule spreads out, with a few events per date at most:
Two things on the schedule run quietly underneath those dates. From Nov. 28 to Dec. 8, Giving Trees go up on storefronts and sidewalks around downtown for the public to decorate. Through Dec. 8, the Giving Tree Project and MACV Toy Drive accept donations at the Excelsior Fire District, 24100 Smithtown Road, and at Gary's First Class Car Care, 366 Highway 7.
December shopping also comes with a small incentive. The Chamber is running a drawing for eight $25 Community Cash gift cards. To enter, submit a photo of a receipt from a December purchase at a Chamber member business. Thanksgiving weekend draws the crowds, but the December dates are when you can shop Water Street at your own pace and get a chance at gift cards for it.
Christmas in Excelsior is organized by the Excelsior Lions Club, a charitable group that has served the community since 2016. The Lions post the festival's schedule, FAQs and vendor lineup on the Christmas in Excelsior site.
Trenary Realty Group is headquartered here in Excelsior, a few blocks from where the reindeer will be on Nov. 28. If the holidays have you thinking about how your home would show to buyers this winter, or what it might be worth in the new year, ask us for a home valuation. We'll walk through your place with the same eye for detail our design-led listings get.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
For over 35 years, Trenary Realty Group has been leading the industry with a proven track record of consistent results. Whether you're buying, selling, or building, our experienced team is here to guide you through every step of your real estate journey.