Downtown Huntsville Lit a Second Christmas Tree This Year. Here's How the Season Lays Out Around Big Spring Park.

Thanksgiving was still weeks away on the evening of November 6 when city leaders stood outside the Von Braun Center with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Families got pictures with the pair along with free hot cocoa and cookies, and a Christmas tree was lit. WAFF reported that it was the first-ever tree lighting at the VBC, held just before the Huntsville Havoc beat the Macon Mayhem 4-2.

The tree stands outside the Propst Arena entrance, which overlooks Big Spring Park. Its location explains this year's downtown holiday season. The park still holds the biggest events. More of the season now happens along the VBC's side of it, though, including a new lighting, a pre-parade party that has moved indoors and the December stage schedule. Meanwhile, the east end of the park is in the middle of a construction project expected to run past New Year's.

Two lightings, three weeks apart, in the same park

Big Spring Park now has two holiday lightings. The VBC lit its tree on Friday, November 6. The event ran from 4 to 6 p.m., and the switch was flipped at 5. Downtown's Rocket City Tree lights on the evening Tinsel Trail opens: Friday, November 27, at 6 p.m.

The two events serve different purposes. The November 6 lighting was a short early-evening event before a hockey game. The November 27 lighting starts a five-week run of decorated trees across the park. At the VBC lighting, Mayor Tommy Battle described it as the first of many:

"Just last night at City Castle, we passed a resolution about Tinsel Trail, which will be coming out across the park. They're getting ready for ice skating. We're getting ready for the Nutcracker, who will be here at the Von Braun Center. So we hope that you have a great holiday season. This is just a kickoff to many, many events for the Christmas season."

The mayor's remarks, as reported by WAFF, name Tinsel Trail, ice skating and the Nutcracker. On the calendar, skating opens first, then Tinsel Trail, then the VBC's December stage schedule.

The rink opens Friday, a week before the trees

The Huntsville Museum of Art's Skating in the Park opens its fifteenth season tomorrow, Friday, November 20. Opening day runs from 4 to 10 p.m., and the rink stays open through January 3, 2027. The museum hosts the rink at 300 Church Street SW. For the first week, the rink is the main holiday draw in the park.

The regular schedule follows the school calendar more closely than most residents might expect:

The school skate rate saves an adult $7 on admission. It only applies for 90 minutes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons while school is in session. Tickets are sold at the entrance. The museum says hours may change around school schedules and posts updates, including weather closures, on its @skatinginthepark social accounts. Concessions are run by IceWorks.

Black Friday is the busiest night of the season

On November 27, the rest of the park fills up. Tinsel Trail puts more than 450 live Christmas trees across Big Spring Park, each decorated by a local business, nonprofit or family. The trees stay up through December 31. Every tree spot for 2026 has been taken. The organizers say they are sold out and will reopen sign-ups on August 1, 2027.

Several events happen at once on opening night:

• 3 to 9 p.m.: the Black Friday Market, with local vendors throughout the park and food trucks
• 6 p.m.: the Rocket City Tree lighting
• 6 to 8 p.m.: photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus
• During the evening: performances by the Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre and other local performers

The market opens three hours before the lighting, so families with young children can shop and eat before dark. By 6 p.m., the park will have the market, the lighting crowd, the Santa line and the skating rink going all at once.

The east end of the park is under a contract that runs into 2027

While the trees are up, part of the park is a construction site. In January, the City of Huntsville awarded Fite Construction Company the contract to turn the former City Hall property at 308 Fountain Circle into an expansion of Big Spring Park East. The low bid was $12,481,000, about $2 million under the approved budget. The contract gives Fite 400 days to finish. The city said construction would begin about two weeks after its January 8 announcement. At that pace, the 400 days run into early 2027, after the skating season ends.

The planned features include:

1. A pavilion with an integrated water feature
2. Public restrooms
3. A rustic-themed playground
4. Accessible walking paths across the site
5. Public art installations created with Arts Huntsville
6. Church Street streetscape and pedestrian improvements
7. Repairs to the canal wall

Bostick Landscape Architects and Nola VanPeursem designed the expansion, with a focus on ADA access and better walking connections between Big Spring Park East and West. When it is finished, the space between the two halves of the park will be easier to walk through. For this season, the project is one more reason to check routes before heading downtown.

Parade night has a new route and an indoor party

The 12th annual Huntsville Christmas Parade starts at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1. Mix 96.9 and the VBC put on the parade, and Food City is the presenting sponsor for a second year. Residents chose this year's theme, "A Rocket City Christmas," in an online People's Choice vote. In the VBC's announcement, the organizers say the route has changed because of "construction projects taking place throughout downtown." They posted the updated route as a map and ask spectators to review it before making parade-night plans. Anyone who has watched from the same curb every year should look at the map before choosing a spot.

The route changes and ongoing downtown construction also moved the VIP Pre-Parade Party indoors to the Propst Arena lobby. Landers McClarty is sponsoring the party again. It includes free food, holiday activities and photos with Santa. That brings Santa back to the same entrance where the VBC lit its tree on November 6.

Getting into the party works differently from a typical holiday event. Manna House is the parade's 2026 nonprofit beneficiary. It provides food, clothing, showers, laundry and mail services to people experiencing homelessness and others in need in Huntsville. Guests who want to attend the party are asked to bring a donation for Manna House to drop-off events at participating Food City stores. The VBC said it would announce dates, store locations and a list of requested items later. The @HSVChristmasParade Facebook page is the organizers' channel for updates.

The city's public parking page lists downtown garage rates. The first 30 minutes are free, then parking costs $0.50 an hour up to a $4 maximum. Event parking is $5.

December, one date at a time

After the parade, the VBC's stage schedule takes over downtown evenings, and the weekend markets move to MidCity and The Orion.

1. Through December 24: the MidCity Christmas Tree Lot at Artemis Pavilion, 800 MidCity Drive, opens Monday, November 23. It runs from noon to 5 p.m., with trees from John and Susan Clift of S&J Produce.
2. Friday, December 4: FPCTA presents "A Christmas Carol" at the VBC Playhouse at 7 p.m.
3. Saturday, December 5: "A Fly Christmas" featuring Adia, its second year, plays VBC Mars Music Hall at 7 p.m.
4. Sunday, December 6: The Orion's Jingle & Mingle holiday market runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It includes a Merrimack Hall student performance, Santa, food trucks and a recycling drop-off.
5. Friday, December 11: Huntsville Ballet's 56th annual "The Nutcracker", performed with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, starts at 7:30 p.m. in the VBC Mark C. Smith Concert Hall. The same evening, Arts Huntsville's Christkindlmarket, presented by Redstone Federal Credit Union, opens at The Orion. It runs Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday the 12th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday the 13th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
6. Through December 31: Tinsel Trail stays lit in Big Spring Park.
7. Through January 3, 2027: Skating in the Park stays open.

December 11 is the busiest night on the list. The Nutcracker, the Christkindlmarket's opening and the rink's 10 p.m. Friday closing all fall on the same evening. That evening the season runs at three venues at once: the VBC, the rink beside Big Spring Park and The Orion.

Donna Burns has spent years producing stories about the places her clients live, and downtown Huntsville in December is one of the best to tell. If you're planning a move downtown or thinking about how your home near Big Spring Park would show during the holidays, Donna Burns can help. Request a Confidential Consultation and we'll talk through it over the season.