December is where the season really turns on in this corner of the country, and I went back through the village calendars, park district pages, chamber sites and venue listings this week to verify the lineup ahead, so you can book the good weekends before they fill. A quick map first: the November post covers the craft-show marathons, Mokena's Parade of Lights, Munster's Light the Night and the full Thanksgiving week, and this post is the December follow-through I promised there, town by town and weekend by weekend. As always, plans can shift and hours can change, so give each host a quick check before you head out.
The first weekend of December, Friday the 4th through Sunday the 6th
Frankfort opens the month with one of the sweetest traditions around: the Lighting of the Green on Thursday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Breidert Green, 432 West Nebraska Street, with choir music, Santa and Mrs. Claus, hot cocoa and cookies, and the countdown that lights the green for the season.
Friday, December 4 stacks two tree lightings. Dyer lights its tree at Town Hall from 6 to 8 p.m., a friendly small-town kickoff on the Indiana side. And Homewood turns the corner of Martin Avenue and Ridge Road into a proper Holiday Lights event from 5 to 9 p.m., with the tree lighting, Santa, an ice sculpture demonstration, a holiday carousel and carolers, after its Christmas Parade rolled through downtown on Thursday, December 3. Homewood's Holiday Market follows on Saturday, December 5 at the H-F Sports Complex, 18211 South Aberdeen Avenue, with local artisans and makers, and the Homewood Chamber adds Breakfast with Santa the same morning.
Saturday, December 5 is the fullest day of the month, so pace yourself. Lemont's Hometown Holiday, its Ice & Lights Fest, runs 2 to 5 p.m. through Historic Downtown Lemont at 225 Canal Street, with the tree lighting, Santa, holiday shopping, hot chocolate and tractor rides, and Lemont High School's athletics holiday craft show fills both Saturday and Sunday. On the Indiana side, Portage pairs its Holiday Lighted Parade and tree lighting on Central Avenue with the Annual Christmas Craft Show at Woodland Park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on both days, complete with carriage rides, live music and food trucks, while Hammond's Holiday Parade takes over downtown on its traditional first Saturday. And Lockport's park district hosts its Jingle Bell Jam from 4:30 to 6 p.m., the family stop that leads into its Festival of Trees week.
Then Sunday, December 6, Tinley Park closes the weekend in lights: the 28th Annual Parade of Lights steps off at 5 p.m. along Oak Park Avenue from 177th to 172nd Street, and the Holiday Miniatures & Train Show runs 1 to 7 p.m. at the Vogt Visual Arts Center, a tiny-world favorite for kids and collectors alike.
The second weekend, December 11 through 13: concerts, workshops and Santa time
Friday, December 11, Tinley Park hosts Jingle Bell Rock from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Tony Bettenhausen Recreation Center, a festive, inclusive evening for the whole family. In Crown Point, Photos with Santa at the Historic Courthouse and Shops keeps running Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays from noon to 4 p.m. through December 22, the easiest Santa stop to pair with a stroll around the square. Saturday, December 12 is the second of St. John's Christmas in the Park event dates at Prairie West Park, with the walk-through open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., free train rides, the Lake Central band and choir, and free hot chocolate, popcorn and hot dogs for visitors. And Sunday, December 13 brings Lockport's Breakfast with Santa and Griffith's Echoes of Christmas performance at Avenue 912, a cozy music afternoon to end the weekend.
The home stretch, December 14 through 20
Schererville's Up Your Alley hosts Perfect Stocking Stuffers, a Christmas paint and sip, on Monday, December 14 at 6 p.m., a fun, low-key way to cross a few handmade gifts off the list. Saturday, December 19 is the final Christmas in the Park date in St. John, and Crown Point sends the season off in style with Wassailing on the Square at 5:30 p.m., the traditional caroling sing-along around the Historic Lake County Courthouse. Orland Park's Winter WondORLAND runs through December 19 as well, so the village's holiday market and light displays have one last weekend before they wrap.
Drive-through lights and displays that run all season
The season-long shows are where a cold night turns wonderful from the warmth of your car. Dyer's Rodda's Winter Wonderland is a giant walk-through display lit nightly from Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve, with Santa and the Grinch on site, and the famous Magical Light Show at 1315 Capri Lane in Dyer opens in late November and runs most nights. In Homer Glen, the long-running synchronized Psychedelic Lights show at 14635 Saddle Brooke Lane glows from dusk until about 10:30 p.m. most evenings with lights timed to 95.3 FM. Valparaiso's Winter Lights Drive-Thru at Sunset Hill Farm County Park runs nightly from November 29 through December 31 with music, and the mile-long WonderLights drive-through at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point keeps its synchronized LEDs glowing through the season. Crown Point's free Tour of Lights trolley rides begin in December from Bulldog Park, with registration opening December 1, so mark it early. Back on the Illinois side, the World of Illumination keeps lighting up Orland Square through January 3, and Hammond's A Christmas Story Comes Home exhibit at the Indiana Welcome Center, 7770 Corinne Drive, runs daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through December 30, with six animatronic Macy's window scenes, Santa and the flagpole photo-op from the movie, and it closes only on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Add Highland's Christmas Lights for a Cure, Santa's Mountain, Munster's Wonderland of Christmas Trees and the colorful neighborhood displays on Griffith's side streets, and you can build a light tour that carries you to New Year's without repeating a street.
Why the season matters when you are looking for home
There is no better time to test a town than when it is dressed up. A village that gathers for a tree lighting on a cold night, a downtown that fills its streets for a holiday parade, a park district that keeps December warm for families: those are the rhythms you are really moving into. If you are weighing a move between Illinois and Northwest Indiana, pick a December weekend, drive both sides of the state line and watch how each town celebrates. Then come compare notes with me. You Can With Joanne!™