Christmas Lights in Spokane: 2026 Displays, Dates and Cocoa Stops

Top photo: courtesy of Kendall Yards.

Last verified: October 28, 2026. Every date below was checked against the organizer or a current listing, and anything not yet posted for 2026 says so. We recheck through December.

Spokane’s holiday light map changed more in one year than in the ten before it. In 2025 Manito Holiday Lights went dark, Winter Glow Spectacular left Liberty Lake for Kendall Yards, and Northwest Winterfest left the fairgrounds. Liberty Lake answered by building its own light walk. Most of the guides that come up when you search still send you to the old spots.

This is the 2026 version: where the lights actually are, what each one costs, when it runs, and where to get something hot afterward. Dates marked 2026 come straight from the organizer. Where an organizer hasn’t posted yet, we give last year’s schedule and say so, and we’ll update this page as the 2026 dates land.

The short version

• Free neighborhood light walk: Winter Glow Spectacular at Kendall Yards, Nov 21, 2026 to Jan 3, 2027.
• Most new this year: Liberty Lake, with two free light walks running 4 to 10 p.m. nightly, Nov 21 to Jan 3.
• Downtown in one evening: Riverfront Park, the Pavilion light show and Merry and Magical Lane on Post Street.
• Old school: Candy Cane Lane and Christmas Tree Lane on the South Hill, both neighborhood traditions going back to the 1960s.
• Worth the drive: the Coeur d’Alene Resort light cruise, across the state line in Idaho. Book ahead.

Downtown Spokane

Riverfront Park

Riverfront is the center of downtown’s season. The Numerica Tree Lighting Celebration is Saturday, Nov 28, 2026, 4 to 7 p.m., with the countdown at 6 p.m. on the plaza by the Numerica Skate Ribbon. It’s free, with food trucks and live entertainment, so bring your skates.

The Riverfront Trail of Lights ran Nov 29, 2025 to Jan 1, 2026, according to KHQ. It isn’t on the city’s November or December 2026 event calendar yet (it was free the last time we could confirm it), so check with Riverfront before you go.

The Gesa Pavilion runs light shows on weekends year round, on a themed color schedule, and stays lit late on New Year’s Eve. Under it, the Holiday Village returns Thursday, Dec 10 to Sunday, Dec 13, 2026: an artisan market in a heated glass top tent, with hot cocoa, crafts and live performances. Free. It’s open 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Parking: the River Park Square garage is across the street. City meters are free after 7 p.m. and on Sundays.

Merry and Magical Lane

The Downtown Spokane Partnership lights Post Street from Main to First Avenue, plus a lit pedestrian alley, with Candy Cane Lane on Wall Street and Snowflake Lane on Riverside. This year’s kickoff is Saturday, Nov 21, 2026, 1 to 5 p.m. on Festival Street on Post (110 N Post St), with a kids’ holiday carnival, crafts with the elves, the Clauses from 3 to 4, live music and hot cocoa. Snowflake Lane lights up Tuesday, Dec 1 with a 4 p.m. countdown outside Bank of America at 601 W Riverside, with cocoa, cider and cookies. Bring the dog, too: River Park Square’s Paws and Claus pet photos with Santa run Mondays, Nov 23 (4 to 7 p.m.) and Nov 30, Dec 7 and Dec 14 (4 to 8 p.m.). Reservations are recommended. Free horse and carriage rides run Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., Nov 28 to Dec 20, from just west of the Visit Spokane visitor center in Riverfront Park. It’s free and walkable, and it pairs easily with Riverfront.

Christmas Tree Elegance

The Spokane Symphony Associates have filled the Historic Davenport Hotel’s mezzanine and the second floor of River Park Square with themed trees every year since 1983. Viewing is free; raffle tickets for the trees are $1. It always starts the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and runs 13 days, so in 2026 it’s Dec 1 to 13, open at the Davenport 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Cowley Park, Making Spirits Bright

Cowley Park sits beside Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital at 602 S Division. Every year KXLY’s Extreme Team and volunteers string it with lights so kids in the hospital can see them from their windows. Last year was the tenth, revealed Dec 4. It’s small, free and worth five minutes.

Kendall Yards: Winter Glow Spectacular

Liberty Lake: Home for the Holidays

Liberty Lake has already posted its whole 2026 season, and it’s free to attend.

• Winter Wonderland at Orchard Park, 20298 E Indiana Ave: Nov 21 to Jan 3, 4 to 10 p.m. Last year was its first, and the city is adding displays.
• Hearth and Holly, new for 2026, at Pavillion Park, 727 N Molter Rd: Nov 21 to Jan 3, 4 to 10 p.m.
• Light Up Liberty Lake: Saturday, Nov 21, 5 to 7 p.m., lighting an 18 foot tree at Liberty Lake Road and Country Vista Drive. Don’t park in the Trailhead lot.
• Reindeer Rendezvous: Wednesday, Dec 2, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., at City Hall.
• Cocoa and Carriage Rides: Wednesday, Dec 9, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., from the Orchard Park basketball court. Free, but you need a ticket. Residents register starting Nov 2, nonresidents Nov 16, until it fills or registration closes Dec 4.
• Jingle Bell Cruise: Saturday, Dec 12 at 5:30 p.m., a first year lighted vehicle parade from Liberty Creek Elementary to Orchard Park. Watching is free.

Spokane Valley

• Spokane Valley Tree Lighting: Friday, Dec 4, 2026, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at Balfour Park, 105 N Balfour Rd. Free, with Santa, a school choir and band, cocoa and cookies; the program starts at 6, then storytime with Santa in the library. Park at Balfour Park or City Hall across the street.
• Spokane Valley Parade of Lights: Saturday, Dec 12, 2026 at 4:30 p.m., north on Pines from 40th to 32nd Avenue, starting at Horizon Middle School. A Girl Scout started it in 2021 as her Gold Award project. Park at Browns Park; the Chester Elementary lot is restricted from 4 to 5 p.m. It’s the same night as Liberty Lake’s Jingle Bell Cruise, so pick one.

South Hill: two streets with 1960s roots

Candy Cane Lane is S Tekoa Street between 37th and 40th Avenues. The matching candy canes are made from painted stovepipe, a tradition that started in the mid 1960s and was revived by the neighbors in 2011.

Christmas Tree Lane is S Skyview Drive from 37th Avenue to High Drive, where each yard puts up a lit tree, a tradition since 1963.

Both are free. They’re residential streets, so drive slowly, keep your lights low and don’t block driveways.

Smaller towns nearby

• Cheney: Holiday Hoopla is Friday, Dec 4, 2026, 4 to 7 p.m. downtown, with the tree lighting and fireworks. Last year the firefighters’ Candy Cane Ride followed on Dec 13; its 2026 date isn’t posted.
• Deer Park: the Hometown Christmas light parade last ran on a date we could confirm in 2024, Saturday, Dec 14, with the parade at 5 p.m. We couldn’t find 2025, and 2026 isn’t posted.
• Airway Heights WinterFest: a tree lighting, bonfire and fireworks at Sunset Park (8th and Lawson), Friday, Dec 4, 2026, per Airway Heights Parks and Recreation. Last year it started at 6 p.m.; the 2026 time isn’t posted yet.

Worth the drive: Coeur d’Alene (Idaho)

The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s holiday light show is the one people drive over the line for. The resort counts 1.5 million lights. The Journey to the North Pole cruises run Nov 27, 2026 to Jan 3, 2027, with a cheaper Sneak Peek Week Nov 13 to 25, and sailings at 4:30, 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Adults pay $30.50 ($23.50 during Sneak Peek), seniors $29.50 and ages 6 to 12 $15, and kids 5 and under ride free. Reservations are required, and the Nov 27 lighting ceremony cruises are already sold out. Each is about 40 minutes, and at the end Santa reads each child’s name off the Nice List.

What changed, so you don’t drive to a dark park

• Manito Holiday Lights did not run in 2025. Friends of Manito cited the cost, about $50,000, plus volunteer load, wear on the park and traffic. They said they’d revisit for 2026. Nothing is announced. The Gaiser Conservatory’s poinsettias are still there in daylight, free, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., closed Wednesdays.
• Northwest Winterfest is no longer at the Fair and Expo Center. It says a new 2026 location is coming.
• Winter Glow is at Kendall Yards now, not Liberty Lake.
• Center Road Holiday Lights has closed for good.

Where to get something hot afterward

Call ahead in December, because holiday hours change.

• After downtown: Boots Bakery and Lounge, 19 W Main Ave inside Saranac Commons, open until 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Or Jupiter’s Eye Book Cafe, 411 W 1st Ave, open until 8 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
• After Kendall Yards: Lunarium, 1925 N Monroe St, about five minutes north, open until midnight Wednesday to Saturday. It does late night coffee, tea and scratch bakes.
• After the South Hill streets: Legal Addiction, 2652 E 29th Ave.
• More of Spokane’s bakeries: our guide to bakeries in Spokane.

Which cafe does your family go to after the lights? Tell us. Readers have already named over 450 independent Washington businesses they want to see on the EWS Card.

Seeing lights beyond Spokane this season? Our 2026 Washington Holiday Lights Map puts the best displays in every corner of the state on one page, region by region. For the rest of your trip, start with our Spokane guide.

Frequently Asked Questions