On Saturday, Nov. 21, Fenton lights its tree and the NC Chinese Lantern Festival opens at Koka Booth Amphitheatre. Downtown waits until December. Then all of its traditions fall between Friday, Dec. 4 and Saturday, Dec. 12, the same stretch when the menorah at the Cary Arts Center is lit each evening. If you plan around those two windows, the season gets much easier to manage. It also helps that this is the first December for two restaurants that sit right on the parade route.
Nov. 21 belongs to the edges of town
The two openings share a date but very little else. Fenton's Light the Square runs from 3 to 7 p.m. and includes a Christmas market, a kids' area, outdoor skating, holiday photo spots and a live stage show at 6 p.m. The Makers Market sets up that same day, so the handmade-gift vendors and the tree lighting share an afternoon. Across town at 8003 Regency Parkway, the lantern festival opens for its eleventh season, and the gates stay open well past Fenton's countdown.
| Fenton, Light the Square | Koka Booth, Lantern Festival opening night | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours on Nov. 21 | 3 to 7 p.m. | 6 to 10 p.m., with a 4:30 p.m. Twilight Session |
| Main event | Tree lighting countdown in Fenton Square | 40+ lantern groupings and nightly stage performances |
| Also on site | Christmas market, Makers Market, kids' area, skating | Lantern Street Cafe concessions, plus food trucks on Fridays and Saturdays |
| How long it lasts | One evening | Through Jan. 10, 2027 |
The schedules line up so a household could do both. Fenton's stage show starts at 6 p.m., and the festival's evening sessions start at the same hour. One way to fit both into a single Saturday is to catch the tree lighting first and then arrive at the lanterns later in the evening. The lantern festival runs another seven weeks after that night, though, and its busiest dates don't have to be yours.
The lanterns are a seven-week project, so skip the first weekend if you like
The festival's own numbers show how much work goes into it. More than 50 Chinese artisans and performers arrived in North Carolina in late October. Setup takes 15 days, and 45 tractor-trailers deliver the materials for this year's 40-plus lantern groupings. The new piece is a floating display on Symphony Lake. It is 164 feet long, and a 15-person crew has to install it by crane.
With a run that long, the details that matter most are about which night you pick. The festival page lists them:
- Twilight Session tickets let you in at 4:30 p.m. with smaller crowds, and the festival suggests arriving by 5:30 p.m. Discounts don't apply to these tickets.
- Sunday through Thursday nights carry discounts for military, seniors 55 and older, and college students with valid ID. Those discounts don't apply on Fridays, Saturdays or holidays.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1 is the sensory-friendly night, with reduced attendance, lower-volume music, no strobe or flashing lights, and a designated quiet area.
- Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve run 6 to 9 p.m. with stage performances at 6:30 and 7:30 only and no Twilight Session. The festival is closed Christmas Day.
- Getting in works best with your phone ready. Tickets are mobile only, the venue is cashless, and bags larger than 6 by 8 inches must be clear and no bigger than 12 by 12 by 9 inches.
The Lantern Street Cafe menu has char siu pork rice bowls, miso ramen, Chinese donuts with cinnamon sugar and spiked hot chocolate. That's enough for dinner, so you don't need to eat before you go.
Fenton runs on a weekly rhythm
Light the Square happens once, but Fenton's season repeats every week. Skate the Square opened Nov. 6 and runs through Feb. 7, 2027. Admission is $18 plus tax and fees, and a season pass is $90. At those prices, five visits cost the same as the pass before tax and fees, and every visit after that comes out ahead. A family that makes the rink a weekly habit through January passes that mark early.
The rink's week has a pattern:
- Mondays are Cheapskates nights, with budget tickets that include skate rental.
- Tuesdays are Blades and Badges, with special rates for veterans, military members, first responders, healthcare workers, teachers and social workers.
- Saturdays at 10 a.m. are Little Fentonians, the family skate for the youngest skaters.
DJ nights on the ice fall on Dec. 3, 10 and 17. Sports & Social has turned into the Tinsel Tavern pop-up, open from Nov. 12 through Dec. 27. Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café is at 1 Fenton Main St., Suite 190, and held its grand-opening celebration Oct. 24, so this is its first holiday season next to the ice. Santa mini photo sessions are Nov. 28, and Santa Paws pet photos are Dec. 1 and 8.
Downtown's season fits between Dec. 4 and Dec. 12
Fenton spreads its events across three months. Downtown packs nearly everything into one stretch. The Cary Arts Center menorah is lit each evening from Dec. 4 through Dec. 12, and every major downtown holiday event falls within those dates.
- Friday, Dec. 4. A Peter Rabbit Christmas, a family production staged in Downtown Cary Park, plays from 5 to 6 p.m., and the park calendar lists a second showing at 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5. The free Tree Lighting Celebration fills Downtown Cary Park at 327 S. Academy St. from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. A farmers holiday market runs from 9 a.m. to noon, a holiday vendor market from noon to 8 p.m., and photos with Santa from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The official lighting is at 6 p.m. on Frantz Square Lawn.
- Monday, Dec. 7. The park's Hanukkah Menorah Lighting runs 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Great Lawn Pavilion, with a children's activity, music and a treat.
- Tuesday, Dec. 8. Photos with Santa return to the park, including a sensory-friendly session.
- Saturday, Dec. 12. Santa's Workshop runs in the park from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., the Cary Jaycees' 47th annual Christmas Parade steps off from E. Chatham Street at Ward Street. It heads along E. Chatham to S. Academy and ends at Dry Avenue in front of the Cary Arts Center by 4 p.m.
Fenton's events land inside this window too. Its menorah lighting is Wednesday, Dec. 9, and the Makers Market returns Thursday, Dec. 10. Families who want both tree celebrations on Dec. 5 have another option, since Fenton is showing Elf on its outdoor screen all day while the downtown park counts down to its own lighting.
The parade route has new places to eat
The last time the parade came down E. Chatham Street, the corner of Chatham and Academy was an auto shop. On Aug. 26, Lloyd's Full Service opened there at 107 E. Chatham St., inside a filling station that has anchored the intersection since 1934. Cary Magazine traces the building's history. K.M. Lloyd rebuilt it as an Amoco station in 1951, it later became a Shell station, and it then spent 47 years as Gurkan's Downtown Auto Repair. The restaurant is named for Lloyd. Its Corner Dog is a tribute to the lunch counter at Ashworth Drugs, which once stood across the intersection.
Parade crowds care most about the layout. Cary Magazine reports that Lloyd's seats 75 inside and up to 100 more on a covered patio. Reservations are limited to parties of six or fewer, and walk-ins are welcome, especially at the bar and on the patio. Craig Spitzer, founder and CEO of Durham-based Early Bird Night Owl, the group behind the project, explained that choice to Cary Magazine:
"We want this type of neighborhood place where you can walk down the street and pop in for dinner, rather than having to book a table in advance."
As of early October, The Raleigh Local reported Saturday hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Both the Dec. 5 tree lighting and the Dec. 12 parade fall on Saturdays. The same report said more service times were planned, so check current hours before you go.
A few doors down at 147 E. Chatham St., K38 Baja Grill opened its Cary location Aug. 29 and serves tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas and wraps. The News & Observer listed its hours as 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Both restaurants sit on the stretch of E. Chatham the parade travels between Ward and Academy. Just off Chatham at 200 Parkthrough St. is Juliet Books, an independent bookstore with new and used books for adults and kids, plus coffee and gifts.
On Dec. 12, you can spend most of the day downtown. Santa's Workshop ends at 1:30 p.m., the parade steps off at 2, and the route ends at the Arts Center by 4, a few blocks from a dinner table on Chatham Street. That evening is also the last date on the Cary Arts Center's menorah schedule.
If you're out at the lanterns, the rink or the parade this season and wondering what a home closer to your favorite part of Cary would look like, Dana Cantrell Realty would be glad to talk it over with you, whether that's on Chatham Street or near Fenton. Let's Connect.
