St. John's Holiday Season Runs Through Prairie West Park, One Date at a Time

St. John's Christmas in the Park starts on the night after Thanksgiving and stays up for five weeks. The Town provides the park, the trees and the lights. Sponsors from St. John's businesses, churches, clubs, schools and families provide the decorations. The 2026 edition is the 22nd. Opening night is Friday, November 27, and the tree lighting at Prairie West Park on 93rd Avenue is at 7 p.m. After opening night, the season runs on a schedule of Saturdays.

The Tree Walk Is Decorated by St. John Itself

The Tree Walk is a row of sponsored trees. Under the Town of St. John's 2026 Christmas in the Park notice, any business, organization, club, church, school or family could sponsor a tree for a $110 donation. There are 100 trees in all.

Each tree is about six feet tall and comes with standard white lights already attached. Sponsors handle everything else. The Town's only conditions are that decorations have to hold up outdoors and be environmentally friendly, and it can remove any tree that uses offensive language or takes away from the festivities. Prizes go to the three most creative trees, and each sponsor gets its own post in the Town's Facebook Sponsor Spotlight.

The timing is tight. Sponsor payments were due Monday, November 2, and every tree has to be finished by Thursday, November 26. November 26 is Thanksgiving. That means every sponsored tree is finished on or before the holiday, and the lights come on for the public the next evening.

On opening night, visitors walk past trees decorated by local sponsors, and the Town's prizes for the three most creative give every sponsor a reason to put in the effort.

A Friday and Three Saturdays

The Tree Walk is open every day from November 27 through January 1. The extras, the train rides and Santa visits, happen on four specific dates. The St. John Parks and Recreation listing for the Christmas in the Park Festival of Lights calls the opening the Festival of Lights and gives this schedule:

The schedule shapes how a family can plan. Opening night falls on Thanksgiving weekend. The three December Saturdays come one week apart and end the weekend before Christmas. If you miss Santa on opening night, you have three more chances, and each one gives the trees another week of decorating, wind and weather.

The listing does not say what time the lights turn off each night. For a late-evening walk, it makes sense to check with the Parks Department first.

Gobble and Grub Comes the Saturday Before

The town's holiday food event comes six days before the lights. The Gobble and Grub Festival runs Saturday, November 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the St. John Community Center, 10216 Cline Ave. Entry is free. Small bites from local restaurants and treats from dessert vendors are for sale. The Town describes it as a night off from cooking, and it falls on the last Saturday before Thanksgiving week. The Town has said more details are coming, so watch for a vendor list.

Put Gobble and Grub on November 21 and the park opening on November 27, and St. John's season starts with two community events six days apart. The Town runs both, and local businesses take part in both, as food vendors at one and potential tree sponsors at the other.

The Dates Still Waiting on 2026 Announcements

Several December traditions don't have a posted 2026 date yet. Here are last year's details, so you know what to watch for.

The Christmas parade. In 2025, the Town of St. John Christmas parade stepped off Friday, December 12, at 7 p.m. It ran from Lake Central High School to the Shrine of Christ's Passion, according to the 2025 parade listing. The Town's events page does not list a 2026 parade yet. Last year's route ended on Wicker Avenue at the Shrine, about the same time of year as the second Santa Saturday.

Merry Grinch-Mas Night. In its October 2025 newsletter, the Town promoted a Merry Grinch-Mas Night at Christmas in the Park on Saturday, December 13, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m. That night included the event's first-ever helicopter candy drop. A regional events calendar lists a 2026 Grinch-Mas Night at Prairie West Park for December 5 from 4 to 7 p.m., with the Grinch arriving on a Republic Services truck. That listing doesn't name an organizer, and the Town hasn't posted the event yet. If the December 5 date holds, it would land on the first Santa Saturday.

Letters to Santa Night. In 2025, the St. John Parks Department hosted a Letters to Santa Night on December 4 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. It included letter-writing, a visit from Mrs. Claus and photos with a life-size Elf on the Shelf. Watch the Parks Department's calendar for a 2026 date.

The Shrine of Christ's Passion. The Shrine's events page lists a Christmas Open House Sale for 2026, but no date or hours have been posted. The Gift Shoppe carries Christmas collectibles and nativity sets all year. The Shrine's pathway is open year-round, weather permitting, and is lit for early-evening visits. That makes it an easy second stop after dark.

Put together, the confirmed dates sit at Prairie West Park, and the unconfirmed ones mostly fill the same December Saturdays and the parade Friday. When those announcements come out, they'll most likely land around the four program nights already on the calendar.

A New Warm-Up Stop on Wicker Avenue

This season, St. John has a coffee stop it didn't have last December. Jewel-Osco opened at 9548 Wicker Ave. on September 16, 2026, Northwest Indiana Business Ins reported. The store has a Starbucks, a drive-through pharmacy and grocery pickup. The Times reported that the roughly 70,000-square-foot store also has an in-store cafe with seating, on the former Kmart site, which had been empty since 2012.

For a holiday evening, that gives you a place to grab hot drinks before a Santa Saturday, or to pick up a grocery order of cocoa and cookie supplies on the way home from the park. A few more food and drink spots are still in the planning stage. The Times reported plans for a Dutch Bros drive-through at 11104 W. 96th Place in the Shops 96 development but gave no opening date. In May, WhatNow reported that chef Jay Ruff was planning The Layover, a cocktail and small plates concept, at 10271 Calumet Ave., and hoped to open in the first week of September. Check with either business before planning a holiday stop around it.

The Week the Trees Come Down

The trees stay up through New Year's Day, Friday, January 1, 2027. Sponsors have to remove their decorations by January 6 so Public Works can haul the trees away. The sponsors who finished decorating by Thanksgiving have the first week of January to take everything down. The display closes January 1, and the trees are gone from Prairie West Park after the first Wednesday of the new year.

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