Christmas Events in Southern Utah 2026: Quick Answer
The 2026 season starts the week of Thanksgiving. The Jubilee of Trees fills the Dixie Convention Center November 18–21, Tuacahn's Christmas in the Canyon lights up on November 27, and St. George's free Kickoff to Christmas and Washington City's Christmas in Dixie tree lighting are both Monday, November 30. December brings the Dickens Christmas Festival (Dec 2–5), the Utah Tech tree lighting (Dec 2), and Staheli Family Farm's Christmas lights from December 10. Dates below were checked against each organizer's own site on October 12, 2026.
| Dates | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 18–21 | Jubilee of Trees | Dixie Convention Center, St. George | Tickets on sale Nov 1 |
| Nov 20–Dec 22 | Holiday Inn | Tuacahn Hafen Theatre, Ivins | Ticketed |
| Nov 27–Dec 23 (select nights) | Christmas in the Canyon | Tuacahn plaza, Ivins | Train rides $3 |
| Mon, Nov 30 | Kickoff to Christmas | Downtown St. George | Free |
| Mon, Nov 30 | Christmas in Dixie tree lighting | Veterans Park, Washington | Free |
| Wed, Dec 2 | Trailblazer Tree Lighting | Utah Tech campus, St. George | Free |
| Dec 2–5 | Dickens Christmas Festival | Dixie Convention Center, St. George | $10–12; 4 and under free |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Making Spirits Bright with Ann Hampton Callaway | America First Performing Arts Center, St. George | Ticketed |
| Dec 7–9 | Live Nativity at Staheli Family Farm | Washington Fields | Free |
| From Dec 10 | Staheli Family Farm Christmas lights | Washington Fields | Ticketed |
| Mon, Dec 14 | Color Country Choir (Concerts at the Electric) | Electric Theater, St. George | Free |
| Fri, Dec 18 | Southern Utah Heritage Choir: Heaven & Nature Sing | America First Performing Arts Center, St. George | Ticketed |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Run Run Reindeer 5K Fun Run | Ivins City Park | $49 |
Christmas Lights
Staheli Family Farm in the Washington Fields is the region's biggest light show. Its 2026 Christmas season returns December 10, with holiday lights seen from a wagon ride, Santa on the Farm, Cookies with Mrs. Claus, a snow mountain slide, Gingerbread Junction train rides, fresh-cut Christmas trees, a petting zoo and fire pit rentals. The farm's free community Live Nativity runs December 7, 8 and 9, with walk-throughs at 6 and 6:30 p.m., and a paid holiday drone show is planned for December 23. The farm has since posted the Christmas Light Show, with wagon rides and drive-throughs December 10–23 from 6 to 9 p.m. on select nights; Santa on the Farm on December 12 (1 to 3 p.m.) and December 14 (6 to 8 p.m.); and Cookies with Mrs. Claus on December 12 from 10 a.m. to noon. The drone show is at 7 p.m. on December 23. The farm says tickets sell out, so buy ahead on its website. More in our Staheli Family Farms guide.
At Tuacahn in Ivins, Christmas in the Canyon turns the plaza into a walk-through light display from 6 to 9 p.m. (7 to 9 p.m. on November 28), opening Friday, November 27 and running through December 23. It "snows" on the plaza every 15 minutes, Santa visits Monday through Saturday, and train rides are $3 a person, first come, first served. A roughly 20-minute Live Nativity is staged at 7 and 8 p.m., with tickets sold separately through Tuacahn. Tuacahn is dark on November 29–December 2 and December 6, 7, 13 and 20.
In Hurricane, Christmas on The Farm at The Farm, 1162 W 3000 S, runs November 28 through December 31 with lights, Christmas music, barnyard animals, tractor rides and, on some days, visits with Santa. Tickets are booked online by date.
In downtown St. George, the Museum of Art's free Light the Night on Saturday, December 5, 5–8 p.m. has guests make luminaries to light the courtyard and sculpture garden, with hot chocolate, donuts, crafts, live music and the opening of the winter exhibitions.
Many neighborhoods in St. George, Washington and Hurricane put up big residential displays, and an evening drive after dinner is a local tradition.
In St. George, the free Holiday Lights at Red Hills Desert Garden run nightly from November 25 through December 31, with lights on until 10 p.m. The city's North Pole Express at Thunder Junction All Abilities Park runs nine evenings between December 4 and 21, 6 to 8 p.m., with Santa, cookie decorating, cocoa and a train ride for $12 a person. Tickets go on sale November 16 at 10 a.m. and are sold in advance only.
Holiday Kickoffs and Tree Lightings
- Kickoff to Christmas, St. George — Mon Nov 30, 6–8 p.m., free. The City of St. George's evening with Santa photos, local performers and school choirs, hot chocolate and cookies, and late hours with crafts at the St. George Children's Museum. The carousel runs at its usual fee. It has been held around Town Square.
- Christmas in Dixie, Washington City — Mon Nov 30, 6 p.m., free. Washington City lights its tree at Veterans Park on the Monday after Thanksgiving, with free hot chocolate and doughnuts and Santa visits in Heritage Hall.
- Trailblazer Tree Lighting, Utah Tech — Wed Dec 2, 5–7:30 p.m., free. Santa reads a proclamation at 5:55 p.m., and the 40-foot tree in front of the Holland Building is lit at 6 p.m. See the Utah Tech University listing for campus parking.
- Hurricane City Christmas Tree Lighting — Mon Nov 30, 6–8 p.m. At the Community Center and Splash Pad, 63 S 100 W, with donuts and hot cocoa, a live nativity, horse-drawn carriage rides and Santa. Event details.
- Cedar City Downtown Lighting Ceremony — Sat Nov 28. A day of downtown activities with a Christmas market, live performances and carriage rides, ending with the lighting of Main Street at sundown and a visit from Santa. Event details.
Santa Clara, Ivins and Springdale also hold tree lightings and light parades each December; their 2026 dates had not been announced as of mid-October, and we'll add them here as they are.
Holiday Shows and Festivals
The Jubilee of Trees, Intermountain Health Foundation's annual fundraiser for St. George Regional Hospital, fills the Dixie Convention Center with a village of designer-decorated trees from Wednesday, November 18, through Saturday, November 21. The Gala Dinner & Auction is Friday, November 20. Tickets go on sale November 1. The St. George Area Chamber also holds a members' Jubilee of Trees breakfast.
The Dickens Christmas Festival returns to the Dixie Convention Center December 2–5, Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It recreates a Victorian London market with costumed characters, shops and performances. Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for seniors 65 and older and children 5 to 12; children 4 and under are free, and a four-day pass is $20 at the door.
Tuacahn's indoor Hafen Theatre stages Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn from November 20 through December 22, evenings at 7:45 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on select days; Tuacahn rates it for ages 5 and up. Downtown at the Electric Theater, Encore Performing Arts stages A Christmas Carol: A New Musical November 30 through December 18, and the city's free Concerts at the Electric series brings the Color Country Choir on December 14. Holiday concerts include GENTRI at Cedar City's Heritage Center Theater on November 18, Sawyer Brown's Holiday & Hits at SUU's America First Event Center on December 10, SUU's Holiday Concert on December 4 and 5, and A Christmas with Nathan Pacheco in the Dixie High School auditorium on December 16. At Utah Tech's America First Performing Arts Center, Michael McLean's The Forgotten Carols plays December 3 at 4 and 7:30 p.m., the Southwest Symphony's Sounds of the Season is December 11 and 12, and A Kurt Bestor Christmas is December 14. In Cedar City, the Orchestra of Southern Utah performs its 86th annual Handel's Messiah at the Heritage Center Theater on December 13 and 14. Near Zion, the Bumbleberry Theater in Springdale hosts A Joshua Creek Christmas on December 5. For laughs, the Electric Comedy Christmas Special plays the Electric Theater on November 13 (ages 14 and up). For the full lineup of shows, see theater and the arts.
Smaller-town festivals fill the first two December weekends. La Verkin Winterfest runs December 4 and 5 downtown, with a light parade and fireworks on Saturday night. The Hurricane Valley Christmas Tree Festival fills the Hurricane Community Center December 10–12 with decorated trees, a bake sale and vendors, benefiting the Hurricane police department's Shop with a Cop program. In Ivins, the Center for the Arts at Kayenta's First Friday film is DOCUTAH Presents: Better Up There on December 4, and Kayenta's holiday jazz show, Jazzin' Around the Christmas Tree, is December 11. Kayenta also hosts Utah Poet Laureate Lisa Bickmore on December 1 and Cassia Streb and the Sandstone Quartet on December 5. In Cedar City, the SUU Faculty Dance Concert runs December 10–12. For something spookier, Fiesta Fun's Fiesta Fright: Deadly Night reopens its haunted house for one December night on the 12th.
Everything else on the December calendar, including races, college basketball and school winter break dates, is in our things to do in St. George in December 2026 roundup.
Ballet: Westside Studio stages The Nutcracker at the Desert Hills High School Theater in St. George on Dec. 11 and 12, with 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. performances both days.
Holiday Shopping
The free Love Local Holiday Market sets up in the Dixie Convention Center parking lot on Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., with local vendors, food trucks, free bounce houses and pictures with Santa.
Crazy Daisy Productions' free St. George Christmas Show fills Legacy Fair Park in Hurricane on November 13 and 14, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., with 90-plus vendors. For a locally made gift for kids, Cherry Creek Lane in Washington City designs and prints giant coloring sheets, coloring maps and word searches.
The Tuacahn Saturday Market runs every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through December 26, with local makers and food, a good place for handmade gifts before or after a Christmas in the Canyon evening. Downtown St. George's Main Street and Ancestor Square have independent boutiques; our St. George clothing stores guide and shopping guide list them. Red Cliffs Mall is closed on Thanksgiving and opens at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.
Washington City Arts Council's Artisan Holiday Market is at Washington Heritage Hall on November 27 (noon to 5 p.m.) and November 28 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.). The Southern Utah Market Christmas Pop-Up brings 80-plus vendors, live music and Santa to the Grafton Building at Legacy Park in Hurricane on Saturday, December 19, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Live nativities: Tuacahn's Live Nativity runs at 7 p.m. on 20 nights from Nov. 27 to Dec. 23, with live camels, donkeys and sheep. In Springdale, the Light Parade and Sweets Social is Friday, Dec. 11, 7–8:30 p.m. Toquerville lights its Christmas tree at City Hall on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
Where to See Santa
Confirmed Santa visits for 2026 so far: the Love Local Holiday Market at the Dixie Convention Center (Nov 7), the Cedar City Downtown Lighting Ceremony (Nov 28), Christmas on The Farm in Hurricane (select days), the Hurricane tree lighting (Nov 30), Kickoff to Christmas in St. George (Nov 30), Heritage Hall during Washington City's Christmas in Dixie (Nov 30), the Utah Tech tree lighting (Dec 2), Tuacahn's Christmas in the Canyon (Monday through Saturday evenings) and its Breakfast with Santa (Saturdays, Dec. 5, 12 and 19, 9–11 a.m.), Santa on the Farm at Staheli Family Farm (December 12, 1 to 3 p.m., and December 14, 6 to 8 p.m.), Santa after Cookies with Mrs. Claus at Staheli (December 12, noon to 1 p.m.), the North Pole Express at Thunder Junction (nine evenings, December 4–21) and the Southern Utah Market Christmas Pop-Up (December 19). We'll add mall and community visits as they're posted.
Holiday Races
- Hungry Hustle 5K Ugly Sweater Fun Run, Saturday, December 5, 10:30 a.m., Sullivan Virgin River Soccer Park in Washington.
- La Verkin Winterfest 5K and 10K, Saturday, December 5, 9 a.m., Wanlass Park.
- Last One Standing Ultra, starting Friday, December 11, at 3 p.m. in St. George.
- Baker's Dozen Half Marathon, Relay and 5K, Saturday, December 12, in Hurricane.
- Run Run Reindeer 5K, Saturday, December 19, in Ivins.
Christmas in the Parks and the Mountains
December is a quiet, beautiful month at Zion National Park: crowds thin, and the high walls sometimes carry snow. In 2026 the shuttle stops after November 28, so you can drive Zion Canyon Scenic Drive in your own car from November 29 through December 25, and holiday shuttle service runs December 26 through January 2; see our Zion winter shuttle guide. Snow Canyon State Park is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For a white Christmas, Brian Head Resort, about 90 minutes north, is Southern Utah's ski resort; see Brian Head opening day 2026. Typical December weather in St. George is a high near 53°F and a low near 28°F.
New Year's Eve
Washington City's New Year's Eve fireworks go up at 10 p.m. on Thursday, December 31; the city says the Community Center parking lot and the nearby softball complex have the best view. For younger kids, the St. George Children's Museum's Noon Day Balloon Drop counts down to noon instead of midnight. Springdale's New Year's Eve celebration runs 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Canyon Community Center. The museum's banner lists 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at $10, or $5 for members, with details to be confirmed in December.
What to Bring for Cold Light-Show Nights
Most of the season’s best events happen outdoors after dark, when St. George often drops into the low 30s or below: the Staheli wagon rides, Christmas in the Canyon at Tuacahn, and the tree lightings. Two things make a long evening easier, especially with kids.
HotHands Hand Warmers, 20 Pairs
Air-activated warmers that HotHands says give up to 10 hours of heat. Slip a pair into each kid’s pockets or mittens before the wagon ride; the 20-pair pack covers a family for the season.
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Stanley Classic Legendary Bottle, 1.1 Qt
Stanley rates its classic vacuum bottle to keep drinks hot for up to 24 hours, and the lid doubles as a cup. Fill it with hot chocolate before you head out to the lights.
Check it out on AmazonAs an Amazon Associate, St. George Word of Mouth earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through these links doesn’t change your price.
Planning the whole season? Start with our Thanksgiving in St. George guide, then check the holidays page, the winter things-to-do guide and the events calendar.
Holiday events start before Thanksgiving. The Love Local Holiday Market, the Crazy Daisy Christmas Show, the Jubilee of Trees and Straight No Chaser all land in November, and they are listed by date in our November 2026 things-to-do roundup.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Christmas in the Canyon at Tuacahn start in 2026?
Friday, November 27, 2026. It runs 6 to 9 p.m. on select nights through December 23 and is dark November 29 through December 2 and December 6, 7, 13 and 20.
When is the Staheli Family Farm Christmas light show in 2026?
The farm's Christmas Light Show runs December 10 to 23, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. on select nights, with wagon rides and drive-throughs. Its free Live Nativity is December 7, 8 and 9, and the drone show is at 7 p.m. on December 23. Tickets are sold on the farm's website.
When is Kickoff to Christmas in St. George?
Monday, November 30, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. It is free, with Santa photos, choirs, hot chocolate and cookies, and late hours at the St. George Children's Museum.
Where is the Dickens Christmas Festival in 2026?
At the Dixie Convention Center in St. George, December 2 to 5, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Adults are $12; seniors and children 5 to 12 are $10; children 4 and under are free.
When is the Jubilee of Trees in St. George?
November 18 to 21, 2026, at the Dixie Convention Center, with the Gala Dinner & Auction on November 20. Tickets go on sale November 1, and proceeds benefit St. George Regional Hospital.
Sources
- Staheli Family Farm: Christmas
- Tuacahn: Christmas in the Canyon 2026 and Holiday Inn
- City of St. George: Kickoff to Christmas
- Washington City: Christmas in Dixie tree lighting
- Utah Tech University: Trailblazer Tree Lighting
- Dickens Christmas Festival
- Intermountain Health Foundation: Jubilee of Trees
- Zion National Park, Red Cliffs Mall hours, NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals for St. George
Last updated October 12, 2026. We update this guide as organizers announce 2026 dates.
