Cherry Creek's Holiday Season Starts Twice This Year, Once on Each Side of First Avenue

Cherry Creek has two holiday seasons this year, and First Avenue divides them. South of the avenue, Cherry Creek Shopping Center set its Santa opening for Nov. 7 and lights its tree this Saturday, Nov. 14. North of it, the Cherry Creek North district plugs in more than a million lights on Thursday, Nov. 19. That is five days later and a few hundred feet away.

Each side keeps its own calendar, and the two calendars differ on more than opening day. Mostly they differ on hours, and the biggest gap falls on Thanksgiving. For anyone who lives within walking distance of both, planning the season starts with knowing which side of First Avenue an event is on.

South of First: the mall goes first

The center scheduled the Santa Photo Experience at Cherry Creek Shopping Center to open in the Grand Court on Nov. 7. The booking page lists two options. You can walk up until the center closes, or you can reserve a 15-minute slot, which several families share. The same page also describes Caring Santa, a private sensory-friendly session for children with special needs.

The bigger moment comes this weekend. The center's Annual Tree Lighting Celebration runs Saturday, Nov. 14, from 2 to 8 p.m. Here's how the afternoon is laid out:

• 2 p.m. The Holiday Bazaar opens with shopping, seasonal treats and family activities.
• 5 p.m. Live entertainment and holiday performances start, building to Santa's arrival to light the tree.
• After the lighting, everything moves indoors for cookie decorating, free hot chocolate, more performances and visits with Santa.

The center takes RSVPs through its event page. Families who want a spot before Santa's 5 p.m. arrival can use the three hours at the bazaar to get settled.

North of First: the district opens five days later

Cherry Creek North runs its season under the name A Holiday Less Ordinary. The district describes it as a set of free outdoor events across November and December. It opens on Thursday, Nov. 19, with the Million Light Plug-in and the unveiling of the Giving Machines. After that, more than a million lights cover the district's 16 blocks.

The north side spreads out more than the mall does. The district program sends you along the streets to see storefronts dressed for Windows Less Ordinary, follow a Holiday Cherry Hunt and find Festive Sips at businesses around the district. Most of it happens on the sidewalks. You can do it in one evening or spread it over several walks between now and New Year's.

The anchor is the Cherry Creek Holiday Market, back for its seventh year on Fillmore Plaza. Fillmore Street closes to cars between 1st and 2nd Avenues for the market. Entry is free, and all ages are welcome. It runs Nov. 19 through Dec. 24, with local makers, designers, live music and the lights overhead.

The Giving Machines are back at the market entrance at 2nd Avenue and Fillmore Street. They look like vending machines, but each selection is a charitable gift to an organization, paid by card. They run around the clock from Nov. 19 through Jan. 4, 2027. They stay up eleven days after the market closes, so you can still give in the quiet stretch after Christmas.

Where the two calendars split: Thanksgiving week

The two sides keep their most different schedules the week of Thanksgiving. Here is the stretch from Thanksgiving through Small Business Weekend, using each operator's posted hours.

Thanksgiving is the clearest case. The center lists itself as closed that day. Meanwhile, the market on Fillmore Plaza opens for three hours in the early afternoon. If the house is full of guests and someone needs to get outside before dinner, the only holiday shopping open in the neighborhood that day is on the north side.

Black Friday flips it. The center opens at 8 a.m., three hours before the market. That same Friday, Cherry Creek North starts Small Business Weekend, which runs Nov. 27 through Monday, Nov. 30, throughout the district. Each shop sets its own hours, and the district asks shoppers to check store hours before going. The mall posts one set of hours for the whole building. On the north side, each storefront sets its own schedule.

Where the hotels fit in

Halcyon sits at 245 Columbine Street, on the north side of the line. It's running its own season on a longer timeline than either the mall or the district. Its rooftop pop-up, Alpine Village at Rare Bird, is scheduled from Nov. 6 through March 31, 2027. It's open Monday through Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 3 to 10 p.m., with happy hour every day until 6 p.m. Reservations are available. Its run starts nearly two weeks before the market and lasts more than three months after the market closes. For neighbors, it works as a winter standby more than a holiday stop.

For Thanksgiving, Halcyon is serving a holiday buffet on Nov. 26 with seatings from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m. It costs $150 per adult and $60 per child 12 and under. The meal comes with live music, a toast with bubbles and free valet for one car per table. The second seating starts during the market's noon-to-3 window on Fillmore Plaza. A family that wants the meal out and a walk under the lights can do both that afternoon, a couple of blocks apart.

If family is coming from out of town, Halcyon's Holiday Glow package offers up to 20 percent off room rates and a $100 dining credit on stays of two nights or more. That puts visiting relatives inside the district, a short walk from the market and the lights.

December on both sides

After Thanksgiving, the north side gets one more evening event. Saturday Night Lights is Saturday, Dec. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Civica Plaza, 250 Fillmore St. It's free and open to all ages. Civica Plaza is on the same street as the market, so a Dec. 12 visit can easily cover both.

The market keeps longer hours in its last stretch. From Friday, Dec. 18, through Wednesday, Dec. 23, it's open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, including the Monday through Wednesday that normally close at 7. If your shopping runs late, those six days add evening hours you won't get earlier in the season.

Christmas Eve is the last time the two schedules differ. The shopping center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The market opens from noon to 3 p.m. on Dec. 24, which is also its last day of the season. Anything you still need from a Fillmore Plaza vendor has to happen in that three-hour window.

Already announced for the north side

Two openings already announced for the district will change the walk in the coming months. BusinessDen reported that BoxBox, the bento and salad concept founded by Tim and Laurie Martin, is moving into the former Sweet Izzy space at 3003 E. 3rd Ave. It is planning to open in early 2027. The Denver Post reported that Two Hands plans a second Denver location at 221 N. Milwaukee St. The plans call for a 3,400-square-foot restaurant with a 900-square-foot patio and a coffee window facing the street, with an opening targeted for spring. Founder and CEO Henry Roberts told the Post the Cherry Creek site "checks all the boxes."

Cherry Creek North is where much of the neighborhood's change happens day to day. It is also where most of this season's free, outdoor, walk-up holiday events are. Between Nov. 19 and Jan. 4, the stretch between 1st and 2nd Avenues on Fillmore will hold the market, the Giving Machines and the Dec. 12 evening at Civica Plaza.

If you're planning a move this winter, or a holiday-season showing that makes the most of those Fillmore Plaza evenings, the timing deserves the same care as the rest of the plan. Mckinze Casey knows how a Cherry Creek December affects schedules and traffic, and can help you work out the rest. Request a Private Consultation.