Last December, Highlands Ranch's two free holiday events landed on the same weekend. HRCA's Hometown Holiday tree lighting ran at Town Center on Friday, December 5, from 3 to 7 p.m. The Metro District's Holiday Celebration at the Mansion was listed for the next morning, Saturday, December 6. A family could do both in under 24 hours.
In 2026 a full week sits between them. The Mansion goes first on Saturday, December 5. Hometown Holiday follows on Saturday, December 12, and it now runs during the day instead of on a Friday evening. If you plan December around these two dates, you're now planning two separate Saturdays.
Last year's weekend, this year's two Saturdays
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday Celebration at the Mansion | Saturday, Dec. 6, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Hometown Holiday at Town Center | Friday, Dec. 5, 3 to 7 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 12, noon to 5 p.m. |
| Time between the two | Back-to-back days | One week |
| Cost | Free | Free |
The Mansion celebration has kept the same five-hour daytime slot both years. The Town Center event is the one that moved. It went a week later, from a weekday evening to a Saturday afternoon, and it now starts three hours earlier.
Two organizations, two calendars
The two events can drift apart because they belong to different organizations. The Highlands Ranch Metro District hosts the Mansion celebration together with the Mansion itself. The Highlands Ranch Community Association runs Hometown Holiday. HRCA also runs a ticketed series of holiday performances, which the Highlands Ranch Cultural Affairs Association makes possible.
So the Metro District's events page and the HRCA events page each cover part of the season. To see all of December, you need both pages. This year that matters more than usual, because the two big free dates are a week apart instead of one weekend.
December 5 at the Mansion: plan around the shuttle
The Mansion goes first. It's free from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 9950 E. Gateway Drive. On the Metro District calendar, the day includes:
- Horse-drawn hayrides and visits with Santa Claus
- Selections from the Nutcracker by local dancers
- School choir performances and holiday story times
- Face painting and reindeer games on the lawn
- Self-guided tours of the Mansion, with volunteer docents on hand
- Booth vendors, plus food trucks selling food and drinks
Vendor spots are already full, and the Metro District is keeping a waiting list.
Parking is the main thing to plan for. There's no parking at the Mansion except for vehicles with handicapped placards or license plates. The Metro District calendar says shuttles will run from the west student parking lot at Mountain Vista High School starting at 9:30 a.m. That's the same lot and start time as last year. The Mansion's own event post still lists the pickup spot as "to be determined." Check the week of the event before you load the car. Questions go to the Metro District at 303-791-0430.
December 12 at Town Center: a daytime tree lighting
Seven days later, the season moves across town to Highlands Ranch Town Center, 9315 Dorchester St. Hometown Holiday is free and open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. The lighting ceremony is the closing act. HRCA's event page says it "will brighten the night." The afternoon before it includes Santa photos, a holiday gift market, live music, food trucks, holiday games, a cash bar and hot cocoa for kids.
Before you add it to your calendar, check the time. HRCA's add-to-calendar widget shows the event as 1 to 6 p.m., but it's labeled Central time. That's the same noon-to-5 window in Mountain time. If your phone saved it as starting at 1 p.m., fix it.
The rest of the logistics are on HRCA's page:
- IDs are checked at the cash bar.
- Food is sold by food trucks and vendors.
- The whole event is outdoors and will be canceled only in severe weather.
- Free parking is nearby, and Link on Demand transportation is available.
Questions go to Carley Haupt at HRCA, 303-471-8809.
Look around Town Center too. HRCA's 2026 Holiday Banner Decorating Contest, now in its second year, takes entries from October 1 through October 31. The winning banners will hang around Town Center for the holiday season. If you come for the lighting, you'll be standing among this year's winners.
The ticketed shows in between are selling out early
The two free Saturdays are just the anchors. Around them, HRCA has scheduled a run of smaller, ticketed shows from early November to just before Christmas, and two November events are already listed as sold out.
| Date | Event | Venue | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Nov. 9, 6:30 to 8 p.m. | Veterans Concert | Highlands Ranch Mansion | $30, or $33.37 with the Eventbrite fee |
| Mon., Nov. 16, 5:30 to 8 p.m. | Landmark Lecture: "Lost Department Stores of Denver" | Highlands Ranch Mansion | Sold out, waitlist open |
| Fri., Nov. 20 to Sun., Nov. 22 | Nutcracker Highlights, International Youth Ballet | Southridge Rec Center | $15, listed as sold out |
| Wed., Dec. 2, 6:30 to 8 p.m. | Swingin' the Holidays jazz concert | HRCA holiday series | Tickets on Eventbrite |
| Tue., Dec. 15, 6:30 to 8 p.m. | Classical Concert at the Mansion | Highlands Ranch Mansion | Tickets on Eventbrite |
| Mon., Dec. 21 and Tue., Dec. 22, 6:30 to 8 p.m. | Sounds of the Season, The Denver Brass | Southridge Rec Center | On sale since Oct. 26 |
The Nutcracker shows how fast these go. In 2025, HRCA offered three performances of Nutcracker Highlights, on November 21 and 22. This year it added a fourth, running from Friday, November 20, through Sunday, November 22, and kept the price at $15. HRCA's event page already shows the run as sold out, with the shows still about a month away. The show is an hour long, takes place at Southridge Rec Center at 4800 McArthur Ranch Road, and every child goes home with a Nutcracker gift.
HRCA's holiday page links to tickets for all three December shows. On December 2, vocalist Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield, who teaches at the University of Denver, performs Swingin' the Holidays with a trio from the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra. On December 15, members of the Colorado Symphony play holiday music for solo voice and string quartet inside the decorated Mansion. On December 21 and 22, The Denver Brass brings Sounds of the Season to Southridge. Tickets for that one went on sale October 26 at 10 a.m. Given how the Nutcracker went, don't wait on these.
The Veterans Concert at the Mansion on Monday, November 9, comes two days before Veterans Day. It's the first event on this year's holiday-season calendar.
What runs past the second Saturday
Because the town tree now lights on December 12 instead of December 5, more of the free season falls in the back half of the month. HRCA's Holiday House Decorating map goes up on December 3, and submissions stay open through December 21. That window covers both Saturdays. You could find decorated houses on the map the week of the Mansion celebration and then drive by them on the way home from the Town Center lighting.
Here's how December lines up for Highlands Ranch this year:
- Dec. 2: Holiday jazz concert
- Dec. 3: House decorating map posted
- Dec. 5: Holiday Celebration at the Mansion, free, by shuttle
- Dec. 12: Hometown Holiday and tree lighting at Town Center, free, noon to 5 p.m.
- Dec. 15: Classical Concert at the Mansion
- Dec. 21 and 22: Sounds of the Season at Southridge; house decorating submissions close Dec. 21
Last year, everything free fit into one weekend. This year it starts the first Saturday of December and keeps going until three days before Christmas.
If December is also when you're weighing a move within Highlands Ranch, or getting a house ready to list in the new year, Tiffany Alexander and the DeLUX Team are glad to talk it through between the Mansion and the tree lighting. Request a Free Home Consultation, and we'll help you build a plan that works around your family's holiday calendar.
