Lowell's Parade of Lights Has a New Finish Line: The First Tree Lighting at Nassau Park

"The crowds along the parade route were huge," Lowell Parks Department director Cyndi Hughes told the South Lake County Sun after last December's Parade of Lights. That year the parade had more than 24 entries, the Sea Cadets served as grand marshals, and the Lowell High School choir sang during the tree lighting.

This year, that crowd goes somewhere new. The town's listing for Parade of Lights 2026 says the parade will "start at Chase Bank and end at Nassau Park for our annual tree lighting." The event is set for Saturday, December 5, from 5 to 10 p.m., at West Main Street and North Liberty Street. The Lowell Chamber of Commerce's Winterfest still runs that afternoon along the Commercial Avenue corridor. So for the first time, Lowell's biggest December Saturday has two centers. The afternoon belongs to Commercial Avenue, the evening belongs to the park the town just finished, and the parade is how you get from one to the other.

What moved and what stayed

Last year, the 2025 Winterfest listing put the tree lighting at Legion Park, "immediately following the parade," and sent families to Old Towne Square afterward to visit Santa. The Sun's recap described Old Towne Square decorated with Christmas trees and its gazebo set up as a Santa station.

The parade's starting point keeps the day tied to Commercial Avenue. Chase's Lowell branch is at 651 E. Commercial Ave., just down the street from Olde Towne Square at 510 E. Commercial Ave., on the corner of Commercial and Fremont. The parade starts in the same area where the afternoon happens, and then it carries everyone toward Main and Liberty.

Commercial Avenue still has the afternoon

The Chamber is calling this year's Winterfest "A Gingerbread Christmas in Lowell," running from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Chamber says it is working with local choirs, bands, musical performers and costumed characters to put entertainment "in and around participating businesses." Crafters and vendors will be spread throughout historic downtown Lowell. Businesses and organizations had until November 2 to sign up to host activities, so the list of participating businesses for 2026 comes together in the weeks before the event.

Last year's event gives a sense of how big Winterfest gets. The South Lake County Sun reported that dozens of local businesses held Christmas activities in 2025. Fusion Home Furnishings turned its entire store into a version of Whoville. Food trucks including Hayden's Home Grown, the Blue Collar Bros and Mizfitz Pizza served food around downtown. The Lowell Rotary Club sang carols along the parade route aboard Molly the Trolley, and Halsted House gave horse-drawn wagon rides through town. Those were 2025's participants. This year's lineup comes from the new round of sign-ups.

The trees are the one part of the Commercial Avenue setup that's guaranteed in advance. The Chamber's 11th annual Holiday Magic Christmas Trees project places staked trees at Olde Towne Square, on the corner of Commercial Avenue and Fremont Street, and they must be decorated by December 4, the day before Winterfest. If you want to see the trees without the crowds, go Friday evening.

Nassau Park was built to end a night like this

Moving the tree lighting makes sense once you look at what the park is. The town's 2023 announcement of the project said Nassau Park was part of downtown rejuvenation, with the Freedom Trail linking Freedom Park, Nassau Park and historic downtown. The Times described it as a 7-acre project near downtown, meant to encourage downtown redevelopment. Ending the year's busiest parade there puts that plan into practice on a December night.

Longtime residents knew the site as Liberty Park on Washington Street. In 2025, Liberty Park was the site of the Winterfest candy cane hunt. The South Lake County Sun reported that the park is named for William R. Nassau of Lowell, a friend of Dean and Barbara White and a former CEO of Whiteco International. A $3.5 million grant from the Dean and Barbara White Foundation was presented to the town council in January 2023, and ground was broken on August 4, 2024. The town's calendar listed the grand opening for August 1, 2026.

Parks director Hughes told the Sun the old park was completely excavated and rebuilt. Several of the features she described matter for a cold evening event:

• An outdoor amphitheater with a bandshell stage. Seating is on a lawn hill where people bring blankets, plus a concrete accessible seating area in front of the stage.
• The Gathering Room, a rentable community building that holds up to 115 people. Garage-style doors open onto a patio with picnic tables.
• A new parks department office in the former Miss Pat's Dance Studio, with its own rentable community room.
• A splash pad and an ADA-compliant playground, which are summer features but explain the park's layout.

The same article listed the park's planned events after the opening. The last item was a Christmas celebration after the Parade of Lights on December 5, "with carols sung at the amphitheater." The tree lighting has often come with live singing, like the high school choir last year. This time it takes place at a venue built for performances.

How the Saturday runs

Here are the published times for each part of the day, in order:

1. Friday, December 4: The Chamber's sponsored trees at Olde Towne Square must be decorated by this date.
2. Saturday, 11 a.m.: Winterfest begins across historic downtown, with crafters, vendors and entertainment at participating businesses.
3. 5 p.m.: The Parks Department's Parade of Lights event window opens. The parade starts at Chase Bank on East Commercial Avenue.
4. 7 p.m.: Winterfest's listed hours end.
5. After the parade: The annual tree lighting and carols at Nassau Park, West Main Street and North Liberty Street. The park's event window runs until 10 p.m.

Winterfest and the parade overlap for two hours, from 5 to 7 p.m. That makes the timing easy. Spend the afternoon on Commercial Avenue, find a spot along the parade route as it gets dark, then follow the floats to the park for the lighting. Once the parade crowd leaves for Nassau Park, the evening's activity goes with it.

Parking at a park that has little of it

Hughes told the Sun that parking at Nassau Park is limited. For larger events, the plan is to use the lot at the old middle school, which is within walking distance of the park. Last year's Winterfest listing asked visitors to use the municipal lots after 1 p.m. and noted there would be no parking on Commercial Avenue. If you plan to stay for the lighting this year, park somewhere that's an easy walk from both Commercial Avenue and Main and Liberty, so you don't have to move the car in the middle of the evening. Hughes has pointed residents to the town's website and the park's Facebook page for event times and updates.

Getting into the parade itself

Businesses, groups and families who want to be in the parade can register through the Lowell Parks Department's online portal, which the town links from its Parade of Lights 2026 listing. Last year's parade drew more than 24 entries. This year, the entries finish at a stage and lawn instead of a downtown corner, and the crowd following them will be standing at the bandshell when the tree lights up.

At the end of last year's event, the Chamber said it was already planning the 7th annual Winterfest and Parade of Lights for the first Saturday in December 2026. The date held. This year the evening ends at Nassau Park, at West Main Street and North Liberty Street.

Whether you're watching the Parade of Lights from Commercial Avenue or singing carols on the Nassau Park lawn, our neighbors at Better Homes and Gardens - Connections are proud to celebrate Lowell's December traditions alongside you. Let us guide you home.