Lake Forest Holiday Events in 2026: How the Weekends Overlap

Lake Forest's 2026 holiday calendar starts earlier than before, and its biggest days fall close together. The City's Winter Market now runs on December 5 and December 12. In 2024 the same market ran on December 14 and 21. Elawa Farm has also expanded its Holiday Market to three weekends, and the first two include those same Saturdays. As a result, two local maker markets now run on December 5, eight days after the tree lighting in Market Square.

The full season runs about four weeks, from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to the Wednesday before Christmas. Here is how it fits together.

The 2026 calendar, in order

The vendor-heavy days come early. The last two weeks belong to Elawa's own market, the Gorton film series and the library's foyer sale.

Thanksgiving week sets the order

The season opens at Elawa Farm on Wednesday, November 25, before the Market Square event. Elawa's Thanksgiving Market is the pickup morning for pre-ordered pasture-raised turkeys, seasonal sides and house-made desserts from the farm's kitchen team. It runs from 9 a.m. to noon and includes a wine tasting with sommelier Tim Clark and a selection of holidayware and seasonal goods. Pickup only works if you've ordered ahead, and orders go through Elawa's Thanksgiving pre-order page. If you're reading this the week it publishes, Thanksgiving is three weeks away.

Two days later, the 42nd Annual Tree Lighting Holiday Celebration returns to Market Square on Friday, November 27. The Lake Forest Parks & Recreation listing gives a full afternoon schedule that starts across town before the square fills up:

1. 1 p.m. A holiday movie at Gorton Community Center. Gorton's film calendar lists it as Home Alone, running 1 to 3 p.m.
2. 3 p.m. Kids' activities begin in Market Square.
3. 3:15 to 6 p.m. Visits with Santa.
4. 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. The Lake Forest Civic Orchestra and the Lake Forest High School Festival Brass Ensemble.
5. 4:40 p.m. Caroling by the Lake Forest High School Choristers.
6. 5 p.m. The Lake Forest Dance Academy performs, and the lights come on just after.

The movie ends at 3 p.m., when the square's activities start. A family can go straight from the screening to the kids' activities, or skip the movie and come for the music and caroling before the lights go on.

Food and drink at the square come from local organizations and businesses. Rosati's, Left Bank, the LF/LB Rotary Club and Sage Explorers will be on site, and Aire Serv of Lake Forest-Gurnee is serving hot chocolate and coffee. Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company sponsors the event. The Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce lists the tree lighting as an annual Friday-after-Thanksgiving tradition. Its spot on the calendar stays the same each year. The markets that follow it are what moved.

December 5 is the crowded Saturday

The City of Lake Forest's Winter Market page sets the 6th Annual Winter Market for Saturday, December 5 and Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Telegraph Road Train Station, 911 Telegraph Road. The page describes it as a chance to support local small businesses and artisans while visiting with friends and neighbors.

The address hasn't changed. Two years ago the City called this event its Holiday Market and held it at the West Train Station, 911 Telegraph Road, on December 14 and December 21, 2024, according to the City's 2024 notice. The 2026 dates are each nine days earlier, so the market now finishes before mid-December instead of running into the last weekend before Christmas.

That earlier timing puts the first Saturday on top of Elawa Farm's outside-vendor weekend. Elawa's Week 1 runs Friday, December 4 through Sunday, December 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farm says about 14 local vendors will be in the Hay Barn, selling handmade holiday décor, jewelry, ceramics, fashion, stationery, sweets and liqueurs. Seasonal greenery fills the Courtyard, Potting Shed and Greenhouse. Courtyard vendors serve food and cocktails, and the Wagon Shed holds the Elawa Farm Market gift collection along with Elawa-made pastries, potted plants, forced bulbs, groceries and fresh bread.

On Saturday, December 5, both maker markets are open during the same hours. The Winter Market closes at 2 p.m. and Elawa stays open until 4 p.m. If you want both on one day, go to Telegraph Road first. If you'd rather not split one Saturday, Elawa's Friday and Sunday hours give you the same Hay Barn lineup on another day.

The second weekend divides the work

The second weekend is where the two calendars fit together most clearly. Elawa's Week 2, December 11 through 13, has no outside vendors. The farm calls it a quieter, more relaxed shopping weekend built around its gift collection, seasonal greenery, groceries, fresh bread and Elawa-made pastries.

The City's second Winter Market lands that same Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Telegraph Road Train Station. So the maker-focused market is at the train station that weekend while Elawa sticks to its own goods.

Here's how the second weekend splits:

• Friday, December 11, through Sunday, December 13, at Elawa: greenery, bread, pastries, groceries and the farm's gift collection, with no Hay Barn vendor lineup.
• Saturday, December 12, at Telegraph Road: the City's Winter Market with local small businesses and artisans, open four hours.
• Thursday, December 10, at Gorton: White Christmas is on the Gorton film calendar the night before Elawa's second weekend opens.

If December 5 was too busy, the second weekend gives you the same two places, with Elawa running without its Hay Barn vendors.

After December 13, the season moves indoors

Once the Winter Market's second Saturday is done, Elawa Farm is the only market left on the calendar. Its Week 3, Friday, December 18 through Sunday, December 20, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with seasonal greenery, fresh bread, groceries, the gift collection, Elawa-made holiday pastries and other seasonal favorites. The farm describes it as the weekend for final gifts and seasonal treats. Elawa also says it will run holiday craft activities and other children's programming throughout the market season.

The rest of the late season happens indoors. Gorton Community Center shows It's a Wonderful Life on Wednesday, December 16, and Elf on Tuesday, December 22. Showtimes and ticket details are on Gorton's film calendar. Counting the Home Alone screening that opens tree-lighting day, Gorton has four holiday films spread from late November to the week of Christmas.

The Lake Forest Library runs the longest event of the season. Its Holiday Book Bazaar is in the library foyer during open hours from Monday, November 30 through Wednesday, December 23, 2026, according to the Lake Forest Library. The bazaar opens the Monday after the tree lighting and closes the day after the Elf screening. You can stop by any day the library is open, with no fixed market hours to plan around.

By the third weekend the calendar has thinned out a lot. On December 5 there are two maker markets in the same morning. On December 18 through 20 there is one farm market, plus a book sale and two more films that week.

Planning around the overlap

Lake Forest now has all of its vendor-market days within eight days of each other, December 5 through December 12. Here's a practical order for the season:

• By mid-November: place an Elawa Thanksgiving order if you want the November 25 pickup.
• Friday, November 27: choose between the 1 p.m. Gorton screening and the 3 p.m. start at Market Square, or do both, since one ends when the other begins.
• Saturday, December 5: Telegraph Road from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then Elawa's Hay Barn until 4 p.m.
• Weekend of December 11 to 13: artisan vendors at Telegraph Road on Saturday and Elawa's own goods all weekend.
• Weekend of December 18 to 20: Elawa's last market weekend, with greenery and pastries for last-minute shopping.
• Through December 23: the library foyer bazaar during open hours.

If you're getting your Lake Forest home ready for holiday guests or a spring listing, Alison Lerner can talk through what's worth doing before the tree lighting and what can wait until January. Ask Ali for your free North Shore home valuation while the season's calendar is still open.