Fort Collins Lights Up Friday, and This Year Oak Street Plaza Brings a Preview of the Gardens

When does the holiday season start in Fort Collins? Officially, it starts tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m., when the City turns on the downtown lights in Old Town Square. This year the switch-on also starts something that used to wait until December. For the first time, The Gardens on Spring Creek is putting a light installation downtown at Oak Street Plaza, made specifically for Downtown and built to point people toward Garden of Lights.

That makes Friday the start of two seasons. The downtown lights run for more than three months, and Garden of Lights runs for about two weeks. Old Town now has a piece of each, on the same night, a short walk from the same stage.

Friday, Hour by Hour

Here's how the evening unfolds, according to the City of Fort Collins announcement:

• 3 p.m. The Northern Colorado Potters' Guild opens its Holiday Pottery Market at Northside Aztlan Community Center, 112 E. Willow St.
• 3 to 3:30 p.m. Streets near Old Town Square close for the event.
• 5:30 p.m. Guerrilla Fanfare Brass Band starts playing on the Old Town Square stage.
• 6:30 p.m. A short ceremony, then the lights come on across downtown.
• 7 p.m. The band wraps up.
• 8 p.m. The pottery market closes for the night.

The ceremony is free. This year's sponsor is Fort Collins Connexion. Executive director Chad Crager told the City that because Connexion is "locally owned by the people we serve," sponsoring "a night that brings neighbors together feels like a natural fit."

Closures and Parking

The City's event page lists closures starting at 3 p.m., and its news release gives 3:30 p.m., so plan for 3. "No Parking" signs go up 24 hours ahead of time. Cars left in signed areas will be towed to Northside Aztlan Community Center, the same building that hosts Friday's pottery market. The release lists four closures:

1. Walnut Street between College Avenue and Mountain Avenue
2. The 200 block of Linden Street, between Walnut and Jefferson
3. Mountain Avenue in both directions between College Avenue and Remington Street
4. Remington Street between Mountain Avenue and Oak Street, with parking garage access kept open

The City lists three garages for the event: the Old Town Garage at 209 E. Mountain Ave., the Civic Center garage at 120 N. Mason St., and Firehouse Alley at 165 Chestnut St. It also suggests taking MAX, carpooling, walking or biking, and says to expect heavy foot and car traffic before and after the ceremony. Remington stays open to the garage, so the Old Town Garage is still reachable after the street closes, as long as you come in from the open end.

What's at Oak Street Plaza

The Oak Street Plaza installation is the only new item in this year's program. The City describes it as "a special light installation created just for Downtown," where people can stop by, take photos and learn about the upcoming Garden of Lights.

This matters because of the calendar. Downtown lights up on Nov. 6. Garden of Lights doesn't open until Dec. 11, five weeks later, according to The Gardens' Fall/Winter 2026 newsletter. In past years those were two separate events in two parts of town. This year the Oak Street display ties them together, with a downtown preview that stays up while The Gardens gets ready for December.

That preview also reaches you before you need to act. The newsletter says Garden of Lights tickets go on sale in early November, which is right now. Entry is timed, with slots from 5 to 8 p.m. and grounds closing at 9, and The Gardens suggests buying early to get the date and time you want. Ticket details are at FortCollins.gov/GardensLights. The Gardens says members get a discount, and $1 SNAP/EBT tickets are available by phone or at The Gardens.

The Market That Opens the Same Night

Downtown isn't the only thing opening Friday. The Northern Colorado Potters' Guild's Holiday Pottery Market runs three days at Northside Aztlan Community Center, which the guild describes as being in Old Town. More than 40 guild potters will sell mugs, plates, bowls, pitchers, vases, sculptures and ornaments.

Hours change each day, so double-check before Sunday:

Entry is free, and the guild says the sale raises money for its nonprofit community of artists. On Friday the market is open on both sides of the 6:30 switch-on, so you can stop by before the band starts or afterward, until 8.

Five Weeks of Small Business Month

Between the lighting ceremony and Garden of Lights, the season is mostly about local shops. The Downtown Development Authority calls November Small Business Month, and its Oct. 22 post counts more than 700 local businesses downtown. Two programs give that stretch some structure.

The first is Old Town Spree, which runs Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. Shopping or dining at one of 48 participating businesses enters you for one of four $100 Downtown Fort Collins gift cards drawn each week, or one of five $250 grand prizes. According to the DDA, no registration or purchase is required to enter. The DDA also sells a Downtown Fort Collins Gift Card that works at more than 180 local businesses.

The second is Thanksgiving weekend. The City's free Holiday Artisan Market brings more than 100 artisans to the Fort Collins Senior Center on Friday, Nov. 27, and Saturday, Nov. 28. That Saturday is also Small Business Saturday downtown, and the DDA suggests shopping during the day and staying after dark, when the lights cover 22 block faces.

The DDA notes that for many downtown businesses, Small Business Saturday and the weeks after it are the strongest sales period of the year. With the lights already up, those weeks fall entirely inside the lit season.

December at The Gardens

Garden of Lights runs Dec. 11 through 23, then Dec. 26 and 27. It's closed Dec. 24 and 25. That works out to 15 nights along a half-mile loop of lit grapevines, glowing flowerbeds and larger-than-life blossoms.

The newsletter lists two returning features that people with young kids will want to know about. The interactive Gumdrop Garden, added last year, "quickly became a visitor favorite," and it's back along with the Ice Forest. The regular holiday lineup includes nightly visits with Santa, live music and food trucks. On select nights you may also see the Ice Queen or the Sugar Plum Furries, the tutu-wearing dog troupe The Gardens calls "Fort Collins' beloved." The event page says Santa visits run through Dec. 23, so families planning around Santa should book one of the first 13 nights.

Here's how the two light displays compare across the season:

The Lights Outlast the Holidays

Garden of Lights ends Dec. 27, and Old Town Spree ends four days later. The downtown trees stay lit every night through Feb. 14, 2027. The program is paid for jointly by the City's Parks and Recreation Department, the Downtown Development Authority and the Downtown General Improvement District. Contract partner SavATree, LLC hangs more than 65,000 lights on more than 334 trees, a job that starts in September and takes about six weeks.

Parks and Recreation Director LeAnn Williams told the City that the moment the lights come on, "you can feel the whole square take a breath and smile." She called the lighting program "a big part of what makes Fort Collins feel like home." Because the display stays up until Valentine's Day, the trees will still be lit for January dinners and the first weekend of February, long after the holiday markets have packed up.

Friday's essentials are street closures starting as early as 3 p.m., a 6:30 p.m. switch-on, a new display at Oak Street Plaza and a pottery market open until 8.

If seeing Old Town lit up has you thinking about how your own corner of Fort Collins fits into the season ahead, Power of 3 Real Estate is happy to talk it through over coffee downtown, no agenda needed. Start Your Home Search whenever you're ready, and we'll see you under the lights.