When does the holiday season start in Cherry Hills Village? It depends on whose calendar you go by. Denver Botanic Gardens turns on Blossoms of Light at York Street on Nov. 20. Cherry Hills Village lights its outdoor tree at City Hall on Friday, Dec. 18, four weeks later.
In between, Englewood lights its tree, Littleton holds its parade, Hudson Gardens opens its gates, and Cherry Creek's holiday market runs every day. So the Village's own season starts on Quincy Avenue, spends November and early December in the neighboring cities, and finishes back on Quincy Avenue. If you plan it in that order, the dates fit together without much trouble.
It starts on Saturday at 2450 and 2460 East Quincy
The opening weekend is also the busiest single day on the civic campus this fall. On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Cherry Hills Village Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration run a free, anonymous prescription drug take-back from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the police department, 2460 E. Quincy Avenue. As that wraps up, the Cherry Hills Village Art Commission's free Día de los Muertos family afternoon begins next door at City Hall, 2450 East Quincy Avenue, from 2 to 4 p.m. It has live music, children's story time, face painting, tissue-paper flower making, sugar-skull coloring and a food truck.
Those buildings stand side by side, so one trip covers both: drop off the old prescriptions at 1:45, then walk over in time for the music. The eight papier-mâché calaveras of Calaveras en Mi Ciudad stay up through Nov. 2 during regular City Hall hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., if Saturday's crowd isn't your thing.
You'll be back at City Hall soon after. The regular municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 3, is by mail ballot, and the City's October 2026 Village Crier points to a 24-hour drop box in front of City Hall. Ballots must arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day. The same issue gives Halloween advice for anyone driving through the Village that evening: slow down near intersections, driveways and parked cars, and take extra care backing out of your own driveway.
The road north has crews on it, but only until 3 p.m.
After Halloween, the holiday season mostly happens outside the Village, and the main route north has work on it. Xcel Energy's contractor, Hooper, is upgrading overhead power lines on Colorado Boulevard between Quincy Avenue and Mansfield Avenue, plus a stretch of East Mansfield. The work is intermittent and expected to last through January 2027, according to the City's Sept. 30 notice.
The detail that matters for holiday plans is when the crews work. Traffic control is in place as needed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Every light display on this list opens at 4:30 p.m. or later, so an evening drive toward York Street or Cherry Creek won't run into the crews. A weekday lunch or errand run on Colorado Boulevard might. Questions go to Xcel at 303-243-5967.
The regional lights, side by side
Here is what opens before the Village's tree is lit, in date order. Two of the biggest displays haven't posted prices yet.
| Event | Where | Dates | Hours | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Creek Holiday Market | Fillmore Plaza, between 1st and 2nd Avenues | Nov. 19 to Dec. 24 | Mon. to Wed. noon to 7 p.m.; Thu. to Sat. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 27 and Dec. 24 | Free |
| Blossoms of Light | Denver Botanic Gardens, York Street | Nov. 20 to Jan. 10 | 4:30 to 9 p.m.; closed Nov. 26 and Dec. 25 | Prices TBA |
| Trail of Lights | Denver Botanic Gardens, Chatfield Farms | Nov. 21 to Jan. 3 | 5 to 8:30 p.m.; closed Nov. 26, Nov. 30, Dec. 1, Dec. 7, Dec. 8 and Dec. 25 | Prices TBA |
| Hudson Holidays | Hudson Gardens, Littleton | Nov. 27 to Jan. 3 | 5 to 9 p.m.; closes at 7 p.m. Dec. 24 | Dated tickets $20 adult, $18 senior, $15 youth, free ages 0 to 2 |
| Candlelight Walk | Downtown Littleton, 2250 Main St. | Nov. 27 | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.; parade at 6:30, then a drone show | Not listed |
| Holiday Bazaar | Streets of Belleview Station | Nov. 28 | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Not listed |
Hudson Gardens also sells any-day tickets at $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and youth. That's $5 more for an adult, and you can pick your night once the forecast looks good.
Thanksgiving week is the first crowded stretch
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26, and City offices are closed Nov. 26 and 27. Both Botanic Gardens displays are dark on Thanksgiving night. That leaves the Friday after Thanksgiving with the most going on of any night before mid-December. Hudson Holidays opens for the season that evening at 5 p.m., and the Candlelight Walk fills Main Street in Littleton from 5:30, with the parade at 6:30. Both are in Littleton on the same night, so pick one or plan a long evening.
Saturday, Nov. 28, is quieter and closer to home. The Holiday Bazaar runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Streets of Belleview Station.
If you're going to Chatfield Farms, check the closed dates in the table. Trail of Lights is dark the Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving and again on Dec. 7 and 8.
Englewood takes the first two December weekends
Englewood's holiday events sit just west of the Village, and they take up the weekends before Dec. 18. The Englewood Holiday Express runs at Englewood Farm & Train in Belleview Park, 1111 W. Belleview Ave., on Dec. 4 and 5 and again on Dec. 11 and 12, from 3 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person, and children under two get in free.
Saturday, Dec. 5, is Englewood's biggest day. The Holiday Market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. The Holiday Tree Lighting follows at the same address from 3 to 6 p.m., and the tree goes on at 5:15. The Holiday Express is running across town at Belleview Park that same afternoon, so you could do the market in the morning, the tree in the evening and the train in between.
Englewood lights its tree on Dec. 5. The Village lights its own 13 days later.
Dec. 18 brings it back to City Hall
The Village's Winter Celebration is Friday, Dec. 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. at City Hall. The October Village Crier lists hayrides, the outdoor tree lighting, face painting, a visit with Santa, and hot cocoa, warm chili, cider and cookies.
Coming last on the calendar suits it. By Dec. 18, the regional displays have been running for weeks, Englewood's weekends are done, and the Cherry Creek Holiday Market is starting its final week. Its extended 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. hours run Dec. 18 through 23. That means the Village's two hours at City Hall overlap with the busiest stretch on Fillmore Plaza. If you want both, go to Cherry Creek on a weeknight before the 18th and keep that Friday for chili and hayrides at City Hall.
It's the same building that opened the season on Oct. 24, a short walk from where the take-back table stood. If you want everything in one place, here's the Village's own season:
- Oct. 19 to Nov. 2: Calaveras en Mi Ciudad at City Hall, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Oct. 24: Prescription take-back at 2460 E. Quincy, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then Día de los Muertos at City Hall, 2 to 4 p.m.
- Nov. 3: Ballots due in the City Hall drop box by 7 p.m.
- Nov. 26 and 27: City offices closed.
- Dec. 18: Winter Celebration at City Hall, 6 to 8 p.m.
Keep that list on the fridge, and send the Colorado Boulevard crew hours to whoever drives that stretch at midday.
If the Winter Celebration has you thinking about the light over a long December evening, the heavy felt hat on a cold walk home, or a winter workshop with friends, come see the pieces at Studio 24. Niki Collier makes all of it by hand. Visit the studio, shop the limited editions, or book a workshop before your calendar fills up.
