The holiday season is picking up speed, and this week's calendar added a fresh batch of verified plans on both sides of the state line. Last week I walked you through the craft fairs in Orland Park and New Lenox, Mokena's Parade of Lights and the full Thanksgiving lineup. Since then I have been back through the expo center calendars, theatre schedules, village pages and park district sites, and here is what is new, including a few traditions this region is really good at. As always, give each host a quick check before you head out, since dates and hours can shift.
This weekend, November 14 and 15: the season's biggest holiday market yet
Valparaiso stacks two days at the Porter County Expo Center, and this is the one to circle. The 3 Little Birds Holiday Market, also billed as the Valparaiso Holiday Market, runs Friday, November 13 from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 215 East Division Road, with more than 90 local and boutique vendors, live music and food. Admission runs about $5, and kids under 13 get in free, which makes it an easy family stop. The same weekend, the Expo Center also hosts the Festival of Owls on Saturday, and the Crown Point Holiday Gun and Knife Show fills the Lake County Fairgrounds on both Saturday and Sunday, if that is more your speed.
On the Illinois side, the craft-show momentum from last week keeps rolling, with the Presbyterian Church fair in Orland Park and the New Lenox holiday vendor fair both on Saturday morning. A full day of local shopping, a warm lunch and a drive home through the first decorated streets is a pretty fine November Saturday.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, November 20 through 22
Tinley Park lights its holiday tree Friday, November 20 at Harmony Square, and this year the numbers are worth knowing: a 44-foot tree, a holiday sing-along at 5:30 p.m. and the lighting itself through the evening, with the village's Holiday Happenings season underway. The 20th Annual Tinley Park Holiday Market returns December 5 and 6, so that weekend is worth marking too.
In Valparaiso, two evening options join the calendar. Making Spirits Bright, the Christmas fundraiser at Chicago Street Theatre, plays Friday, November 20 and Saturday, November 21 at 7 p.m., a warm night out for the weekend before Thanksgiving. And the Valpo Holidaze Craft and Vendor Show fills all three buildings at the Porter County Expo Center on November 21 and 22 with more than 200 vendor booths, food trucks and Santa, the largest pre-Thanksgiving show in the region.
One more for the calendar: Christkindlmarket Chicago opens Friday, November 20 at Daley Plaza, and for the Southland the closest big Christmas market is Aurora's Christkindlmarkt, which also opens November 20 and runs Thursdays through Sundays. If you have never done a German-style market, the smell of roasting nuts and warm spiced wine is worth the drive.
Thanksgiving week and the Saturday after
The turkey-trot and tree-lighting lineup I verified last week still stands: the Thanksgiving-morning runs in Orland Park, Valparaiso and Crown Point, then Friday night's tank and tree lighting on the Crown Point square, Schererville's tree lighting, St. John's Christmas in the Park opening and Saturday's Winter Market in Crown Point and Winter Fest in Valparaiso.
New this week on the Indiana side: Highland's Santa's March and Tree Lighting steps off Saturday, November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, at Main Square Park. Parade lineup starts at 4 p.m., the march steps off at 4:45 p.m., and the tree lighting and Santa meet-and-greet follow around 5 p.m. It is an early-evening, small-town affair, exactly the kind of thing that makes a town feel like yours.
A look further ahead, with fresh confirmations
Munster's Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair, now in its 39th year, runs Saturday, December 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, December 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Munster High School, 8808 Columbia Avenue. It is a strictly handmade show, so every booth is an artist or crafter, and past years have drawn more than 100 vendors and over 2,000 visitors, with concessions run by the Munster BandBackers. If you like handmade gifts, this is one of the best December Saturdays in the region, and it pairs perfectly with Valparaiso's Holly Days downtown, which runs the same day from 3 to 6 p.m. at Central Park Plaza.
Frankfort's Lighting of the Green returns Thursday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Breidert Green, and this year the village's theme is kindness, generosity and hope, with the countdown lighting the whole downtown green. Then mark December 12 and 13, when Frankfort's holiday village weekend takes over downtown with the friendly successor to its Christkindl Weekend: carriage rides, real reindeer, a trackless train, carolers and Santa roaming for photos, alongside holiday shopping on Kansas and White Streets. The village was still finalizing details for that weekend when I checked, so watch its special-events page as the date nears.
And for a free, family-friendly light tour on the Indiana side, Schererville's Prairie Rose Lights at 5857 Prairie Rose Drive runs Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve, a charity drive-through benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association, glowing nightly from about 5 p.m. It is a lovely, low-key way to close a holiday evening.
A note on the archive
If you are looking for the craft-show times, the parade routes or the full Thanksgiving-week schedule I confirmed last week, they are all still up on the blog in the earlier posts. The calendar keeps its own pace, and I will keep verifying the next wave as dates firm up.
Make the most of the season
Some weekends you want the big production, a 44-foot tree or a market with 200 vendors. Other weekends it is a town parade, a handmade craft show or a lit drive-through on a cold night. Both count, and both are how a place starts to feel like home. If you are thinking about a move, come visit one of these towns when it is dressed up and test the fit. Then let's talk about what you found. You Can With Joanne!™