On the night of Saturday, Nov. 28, Belgian draft horses will pull a decorated wooden wagon around a lit Lincoln Park while the lobby of the Union Colony Civic Center fills with trees that local businesses and nonprofits decorated. That same day is the first of WinterFest's three Saturdays at Lincoln Park and 9th Street.
Two different organizations put these events on, and each keeps its own calendar. The City of Greeley runs the Festival of Trees inside the Civic Center. The Downtown Greeley development authority runs WinterFest outdoors. Their dates overlap only part of the time, so some Saturdays pack in a lot more than others. Nov. 28 is the day both are in full swing.
Two Calendars, One Downtown
Here is how the 2026 season is split:
| Event | Who runs it | Where | 2026 dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37th Annual Festival of Trees | City of Greeley | Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave. | Nov. 21 to Dec. 5 |
| WinterFest | Downtown Greeley | Lincoln Park and 9th Street | Saturdays, Nov. 28 to Dec. 12 |
| Homesteader's Holiday | City of Greeley | Centennial Village Museum, 1475 A St. | Dec. 12 and 13 |
The Festival of Trees starts a week before WinterFest and ends a week before it. The two share Nov. 28 and Dec. 5. After the Festival closes, WinterFest has one Saturday on its own, and that same weekend the city's living history museum on the west side holds its own holiday event.
The Festival Gets a Week's Head Start
General admission is $5 for adults and $3 for kids 12 and under. Online purchases carry a $0.50 fee. Admission covers the decorated trees in the lobby, letters to Santa, a scavenger hunt among the trees and holiday crafts for kids.
The City lists the Candy Cane Lane designers, and several are familiar downtown names: Kress Cinema & Lounge, Downtown Sound Records & Tapes, the DoubleTree by Hilton Greeley, NOCO Humane, Weld Food Bank, Meals on Wheels of Greeley and Weld County, and the Greeley Morning Garden Club. Trees in the lobby compete for a People's Choice award. Anyone can enter a gingerbread house in the Gingerbread Village, and the public votes on those too.
Opening weekend has the Festival to itself:
- Saturday, Nov. 21: public hours 1 to 6 p.m., with Santa from 1 to 3. That evening, Whiskey Wonderland runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on the Monfort Auditorium stage, a tasting focused on small-batch distillers. General admission is $75 and VIP is $125.
- Sunday, Nov. 22: public hours 1 to 5 p.m., with Santa again from 1 to 3.
The Civic Center's regular schedule fills in around the Festival. Mannheim Steamroller plays Friday, Nov. 20, the night before the Festival opens, and Waitress is on stage Tuesday, Nov. 24.
November 28 Is the Day Both Calendars Share
The Festival reopens on Friday, Nov. 27, from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday is the busiest day of the season. Here is the order it runs in:
- 9 to 11:30 a.m., Whoville Holiday at the Civic Center. It's a morning built around Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Tickets are $20 each, $15 each for groups of four or more, and free for babies under one. Proceeds go to the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra Guild.
- During the day, WinterFest opens on Shop Small Saturday. Downtown Greeley lists a Holiday Open House and the Light Up Lincoln tree lighting as part of the series. The 2026 times haven't been posted. Last year, Visit Greeley's 2025 WinterFest guide put the Holiday Open House at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Light Up Lincoln at 5:30 p.m. in Lincoln Park, with carolers and Santa.
- 5 to 8 p.m., Festival of Trees evening hours. The lobby trees are open to the public.
- 5 to 8 p.m., horse and wagon rides around a lit Lincoln Park. The City calls these its most popular nights. Tickets are $5 and sold only in person at the Civic Center box office at 701 10th Ave.
If last year's timing holds, the tree lighting would land half an hour into the wagon rides and the Festival's evening hours. Check the WinterFest page for the 2026 times before you plan around 5:30.
The Other Wagon Night Falls on a Friday
There are only two wagon-ride nights this year. The second is Friday, Dec. 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. The Festival is open that evening from 4 to 8, and WinterFest isn't scheduled, since it only runs on Saturdays. If you skipped Nov. 28 because of everything else going on, Dec. 4 is your other chance at the lit park from a wagon, and there's no outdoor festival running at the same time.
The night before is the Festival's dress-up event. The Wrapped in Wonder Winter Western Fashion Show runs Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., with winter looks from local designers for women and men, plus hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Tickets are $50, or $35 for kids 12 and under, and the proceeds go to the Philharmonic Guild.
December 5 Closes the Festival
The second shared Saturday is the Festival's last day. Public hours run from 1 to 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra plays Poinsettia Pops on the Monfort Auditorium stage, ringed with poinsettias.
Outside, it's WinterFest's second Saturday. Downtown Greeley lists Holiday Lane displays, carriage rides and live music for the series but hasn't assigned them to specific days. Last year, the second Saturday was Holiday Lane on the 8th and 9th Street plazas from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., with street musicians and a Holiday Gift Market of local artisans. If 2026 follows that pattern, the outdoor walk-around would still be going for half an hour after the orchestra starts at 7.
The Civic Center stays busy the next night too. Moxi Theater's calendar lists "Darci Lynne and Friends: 2026 Christmas Tour" at the Union Colony Civic Center on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m.
After the Festival, the Season Moves Off the Park
Once the trees come down, the remaining holiday events spread out to other spots around town.
On Thursday, Dec. 10, the chocolatier Voulez-Vous holds a holiday chocolate pop-up at WeldWerks Brewing Co., 508 8th Ave., from 5 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12 is WinterFest's last Saturday. In 2025, the final Saturday was Makers' Workshops at the LINC, run by Greeley's Creative District from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. People made holiday cards, ornaments and Yule logs, and there was a North Pole Mailbox for letters to Santa. The North Pole Mailbox is on Downtown Greeley's 2026 list again.
That same Saturday, the City holds Homesteader's Holiday at Centennial Village Museum, 1475 A St., from noon to 6 p.m. It runs again Sunday, Dec. 13, also from noon to 6. This is the season's other shared weekend, just spread across town: a downtown morning at the workshops could be followed by an afternoon at Centennial Village.
Moxi Theater has one more holiday night after that. "Drag Bingo at Moxi Theater: Christmas Edition" is on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m.
Getting Downtown During the Dig
This is the first holiday season of the Downtown Greeley Revitalization Infrastructure Project. The work covers nearly 20 blocks of water lines, sewer, stormwater, roads, sidewalks and streetscapes, and it's happening in phases that started in summer 2026. The City says downtown stays open, pedestrian and traffic access will be maintained, and all scheduled downtown events will go ahead as planned. Detours and parking changes will pop up along the way.
The closure most likely to matter on a holiday Saturday is on 9th Avenue. In a Sept. 16 notice, the City said the block between 11th and 12th streets would close starting as soon as Sept. 21 and stay closed for several months while crews build stormwater structures on site. Before you drive in for a tree lighting or a wagon ride, check the City's live detour and parking map on the Speak Up Greeley project page.
Wagon-ride tickets for Nov. 28 and Dec. 4 are sold only in person at the Civic Center box office. If you're already downtown for the Festival, buy them while you're there.
If family is in town for Thanksgiving weekend, I'm happy to help you plan Nov. 28. The Harvey Home Team loves this part of the year in Northern Colorado, and I'll tell you where I'd park, what I'd see first and which wagon night I'd pick. Call me. Seriously.
