Ridgefield Hometown Celebration 2026: Full Scheduled Full Schedule
Ridgefield's Hometown Celebration takes over downtown on Saturday, December 5. Here is every event, every building, and every time you need, so you can stop squinting at the city's page on your phone in the vendor line.
Every December, Ridgefield does the thing small towns in Hallmark movies pretend to do, except ours is real, it is free, and nobody has to fall in love with a lumberjack to get the tree lit. Hometown Celebration is the December edition of First Saturday, and it is the biggest one of the year: a vendor market down Main Avenue, Santa in the Greely Building, a breakfast with Santa at the RACC, a hayride shuttling people around town, and the tree lighting at Overlook Park to close it out.
It is also a lot. Four main locations, a dozen-plus events, and a couple of things that still say "details to come." So I broke it down by where you'll physically be standing, which is how you'll actually experience it.
The Essentials
Main Avenue and Overlook Park
This is the heart of the day. If you only do one thing, walk Main, shop the market, and loop through the trees.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Main Avenue & Overlook Park
Holiday Food & Gift Vendor Marketplace
Sixty-plus local vendors on S. Main, N. Main, and in the park
Over sixty local vendors spread along both sides of Main Avenue and into Overlook Park. Come early for the good stuff, come hungry for the food, and bring a tote, because you are going to buy something you did not plan on. Vendors can still apply through the city's sign-up portal.
Voting opens 9 a.m. · Overlook Park
Circle of Trees
Sponsored by the Ridgefield Lions Club
Local businesses and organizations each decorate a tree, and the public votes for a favorite. It is a friendly competition the way a neighborhood chili cook-off is friendly. Businesses: the application opens Tuesday, November 3 at 8:30 a.m., and spots go.
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Overlook Park Stage
Main Stage Performances
Sponsored by Columbia Credit Union
Local school bands and choirs, all day. If you have a kid performing, you already know the set time to the minute. If you don't, grab a cocoa and stand there anyway. It's good for the soul.
4:30 p.m. · Overlook Park
Tree Lighting Ceremony
Free hot chocolate and cookies, while supplies last
The main event. Holiday performances, then the big tree in the center of downtown lights up. "While supplies last" is doing real work in that sentence, so get there before 4:30 if cocoa is part of your plan.
The Greely Building
The Greely Building at 304 Pioneer Street has had a year. A pop-up history museum, the Big Art Show, and now the North Pole. This is kid headquarters from 9 to 2.
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Greely Building
Visits with Santa
Sponsored by Ridgefield Mini Storage
Free visits with the big guy. There's no photographer, so bring your phone or camera and take your own shots. The elves are Ridgefield Young Life volunteers, and the set is courtesy of the Ridgefield Art Association, which explains why it looks better than the mall's.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Greely Building
Kids' Holiday Centerpieces
Hosted by the Ridgefield Garden Club
The Garden Club's annual free centerpiece activity. Your kid makes a centerpiece, your table gets a centerpiece, and you get to say "they made it themselves" at dinner.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Greely Building
Winter Crafts, Games & Free Children's Books
Hosted by the Friends of the Ridgefield Community Library
Several crafts, some games, and free kids' books while supplies last. A free book at a holiday event is the best deal downtown all day.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Greely Building
Lantern Craft
Hosted by the Ridgefield Art Association
A lantern-making craft from the RAA. More details are still to come, and I'll update this when they land.
Celebration Station at the RACC
The Ridgefield Administrative and Civic Center turns into a second hub for the morning, with breakfast, a gym full of crafts, and the bazaar.
9 – 11 a.m. · RACC Commons
YMCA Breakfast with Santa
$5 per person, registration required
Breakfast and pictures with Santa, with every dollar going to the YMCA's Afterschool Youth Enrichment Programs. Bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Angel Tree, or grab a tag and shop for a specific kid. Toys donated benefit The Salvation Army. The registration link isn't live yet, and I'll add it here the second it is.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. · RACC Gym
Kids' Crafts & Activity Stations
With the City and local organizations
Free stations that may include carnival games, cookie decorating, face painting, card making, cultural crafts, and coloring pages. Translation: your children will leave sticky and thrilled.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. · RACC Columbia Assembly Room
RAA Chickadee Bazaar
Handcrafted gifts from local artists
The Ridgefield Art Association's annual bazaar. If you want gifts nobody else on the block is giving, this is the room.
More Around Town
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. · Three stops
Holiday Hayride
Waterfront Parking Lot · Overlook Park · Union Ridge Elementary lot
A free hayride looping between stops all day. It's transportation and an activity at once, which is the most efficient thing to happen to parents since the drive-thru.
December 4 & 5 · Union Ridge Bldg. B
Winter Market
Ridgefield Church of the Nazarene
A head start on the weekend: Friday, December 4 from 5 to 8 p.m., and Saturday, December 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the Union Ridge Building B gym and cafeteria. The city also lists a Union Ridge Holiday Bazaar in the same space from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, with details to be announced.
Drop-off 10 – 10:30 a.m. · Ridgefield Community Library
Hometown Gingerbread House Festival
Sponsored by the Ridgefield Community Gleaners Association
Build a gingerbread house, drop it at the library between 10 and 10:30 a.m. on December 5, and let the town admire it for a week. People's Choice favorites get gifts at 10 a.m. on December 12, which is also pickup day. Keep your base to 18 by 18 inches. Questions go to Patricia at [email protected].
All day · Downtown
Downtown Business Decorating Contest
Walk it, then vote
Downtown businesses go all-in on decorations, and you get a vote. The voting link isn't out yet. When it is, it'll be here.
December 5 · View Ridge Middle School
Drive & Drop Food Drive
Coordinated by the Ridgefield Lions Club
This is the one that matters most. The countywide drive collects around 250,000 pounds of food, with 8,000 to 12,000 pounds coming from Ridgefield alone, and it feeds hungry families across Clark County until roughly April. Can't make it Saturday? Donation barrels are at Les Schwab, Riverview Bank, and Rosauers through December 15.
After the Tree Lights Up
7:30 – 9:30 p.m. · Old Liberty Theater
Annual Holiday Acoustic Guitar Summit
Grammy-winning guitarists, $30 admission
Kids in bed, tree lit, and you still have energy? The Old Liberty Theater's annual holiday guitar summit is the grown-up nightcap to the day. Tickets are $30 and this room is not big.
Quick Questions
Is Hometown Celebration free?
Almost all of it. The market, Santa visits, crafts, hayride, and tree lighting are free. The YMCA Breakfast with Santa is $5 per person and the evening Acoustic Guitar Summit at the Old Liberty Theater is $30.
What time is the tree lighting?
4:30 p.m. at Overlook Park, with holiday performances and free hot chocolate and cookies while supplies last.
Where should I park?
Use the hayride. It runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. between the Waterfront Parking Lot, Overlook Park, and the Union Ridge Elementary parking lot, so you can park at either end and ride in.
Do I need to sign up for Santa photos?
Not at the Greely Building. Visits are free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and you take your own pictures. The YMCA Breakfast with Santa at the RACC does require registration.
How does my business get a tree in the Circle of Trees?
The application opens November 3 at 8:30 a.m. on the City's Circle of Trees page. Planning your own Hometown Celebration special? Email the details to [email protected] to get on the City's list, and submit it to us too.
Who do I contact with questions?
Ireland Coleman, the City's Community Events Coordinator, at 360-857-5019.
More from Meanwhile in Ridgefield
- The full Ridgefield events calendar
- Where to eat in Ridgefield between Santa and the tree lighting
- The best coffee in Ridgefield, for the 8:45 a.m. pre-game
- The Greely Building's very busy year: the Big Art Show
- The pop-up history museum that opened with a 1920s dance
- All Meanwhile in Ridgefield guides
- All the latest Ridgefield news
I'll be somewhere between the cocoa line and the Circle of Trees, probably holding a bag I did not need. Come find me. And if your business or group is doing something special for Hometown Celebration, tell us about it and we'll add it here.
