Michigan Travel · Traverse City
Traverse City’s Light Up Downtown: tree lighting Nov. 20, Light Parade Nov. 21, Santa’s House and a Find the Grinch hunt
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Downtown Traverse City’s holiday season starts the weekend before Thanksgiving, with a tree lighting Friday, Nov. 20, and a lighted parade Saturday, Nov. 21, according to the Downtown Traverse City Association.
Tree lighting, Nov. 20, 4-6:30 p.m. The downtown tree lighting opens Light Up Downtown weekend.
Light Parade, Nov. 21, 6-8 p.m. Lighted floats and entries roll through downtown Saturday evening.
Cookies & Cocoa Crawl, Nov. 20-21. Participating shops hand out treats over the two days.
Find the Grinch, Nov. 20-29. A downtown scavenger hunt for kids runs through Thanksgiving weekend.
Santa’s House, Nov. 20-Dec. 24. Santa’s House is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas Eve, the association says.
Holiday Hideaway, Nov. 21. The City Opera House lists a Holiday Hideaway the same Saturday as the parade.
More at the Opera House. The Opera House calendar also lists Jitters on Nov. 12, Jacob Ramseyer on Nov. 19-20, and author Daniel Kraus, whose novel “Angel Down” won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, on Nov. 23.
Times and details can change with weather; check downtowntc.com and cityoperahouse.org before heading out.
Sources:
Downtown Traverse City Association, events calendar (tree lighting, Light Parade, Cookies & Cocoa Crawl, Find the Grinch, Santa’s House), https://www.downtowntc.com/events/
City Opera House, event calendar (Holiday Hideaway Nov. 21; Jitters Nov. 12; Jacob Ramseyer Nov. 19–20; Daniel Kraus Nov. 23), https://www.cityoperahouse.org/
Photo: w_lemay, “Front Street, Traverse City, MI - 28221314118.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Front_Street%2C_Traverse_City%2C_MI_-_28221314118.jpg
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