Last December, Norman's holiday night ran in one direction. The parade started at 6 p.m. on Main Street. Santa came at the end of it, and families either followed him down the route or met at James Garner Avenue and Main Street for the tree lighting. Winterfest came after that, with Jones Avenue closed off between Main and Eufaula.
On Saturday, December 5, 2026, the order changes. Winterfest opens in the afternoon at The Depot. The parade still steps off at 6 p.m. on Main Street, and then everyone heads back to Jones Avenue for the City of Norman's tree lighting and a drone show. The night now starts and ends in the same spot, with the parade in the middle. If you've done this evening the same way for years, it's worth rethinking where you park, when you eat, and where you'll be standing when the tree lights up.
The new order, hour by hour
The schedule below comes from the Norman Christmas Holiday Parade Committee's 2026 announcement and the City of Norman's Winterfest page.
- 3:00 p.m. Winterfest opens at The Depot, 200 S Jones Ave. Norman Parks & Recreation hosts it, and the city describes it as a holiday market with local vendors, games, photo opportunities and food trucks. The parade committee's announcement adds pictures with Santa, activities and entertainment along Jones Avenue.
- About 5:30 p.m. Main Street closes to traffic along the parade route.
- 6:00 p.m. Winterfest wraps up and the Norman Christmas Holiday Parade steps off on historic Main Street, running from Pickard Avenue to James Garner Avenue.
- After the parade. The crowd goes back to Jones Avenue for the tree lighting and the drone show.
The parade committee runs the parade. The city runs Winterfest, the tree and the drones. The city's page says the parade is "hosted separately," so you're really looking at two events planned around one shared evening. An event spokesperson quoted in the parade committee's announcement said the goal of moving Winterfest earlier and saving the tree lighting and drone show for last was to give downtown Norman one full afternoon and evening of celebration.
What moved, side by side
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, December 6 | Saturday, December 5 |
| Winterfest timing | After the 6 p.m. parade | 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., before the parade |
| Winterfest location | Jones Avenue, Main to Eufaula | The Depot, 200 S Jones Ave |
| Tree lighting | James Garner Avenue and Main Street, as Santa ended the parade | Jones Avenue, after the parade |
| Drone show | Part of Winterfest | Closes the night, after the tree lighting |
The biggest practical change is the tree lighting. Last year it was at the far end of the parade route, at James Garner and Main, so families who walked the route behind Santa ended up right at it. This year you head the other way, back to Jones Avenue, where the afternoon began.
Last year's street closures are a rough guide to how much of downtown the evening takes up. In 2025, Norman Police closed Main Street between Pickard and James Garner from 5 to about 7 p.m. For Winterfest, Jones Avenue between Main and Eufaula, plus stretches of Comanche and Eufaula streets between Jones and Peters avenues, were closed from 2 to 10 p.m. Those were the 2025 times. For 2026, the parade committee lists Main Street closing at about 5:30 p.m. Last year the city said downtown parking was first-come, first-served and asked drivers to follow posted signs, and it points to its downtown parking guide for the area.
Last year's lineup also shows what kind of event Winterfest has become. The 2025 program included performances by Massay's DanceStar Productions, Sooner Theatre and The Imaginaries, free hot cocoa from Beanstalk Coffee & Sno, bounce houses, mini train rides and a live reindeer. Jeff Moody, a program coordinator with Norman Parks and Recreation, called that year the "2nd ever Winterfest on Main." The 2026 page describes a market with vendors, games, photo opportunities and food trucks, followed by the tree and the drones.
The parade in the middle
This year's theme is "Home Sweet Home Run for the Holidays," and the grand marshals are the University of Oklahoma Baseball Team. The parade committee says the team is "fresh off their national championship victory." Expect baseball in a lot of the floats. The committee is asking entrants to build the theme into their floats along with music, lights and movement, and it will award prizes in several categories.
The route is the same as before, along Main Street from Pickard Avenue to James Garner Avenue. What's different is where people will be coming from. With Winterfest ending at 6 p.m. on Jones Avenue, many spectators will walk over from The Depot instead of arriving from home or a restaurant. Then, once the last float goes by, the crowd turns around and heads back to Jones for the finale.
Local businesses and organizations sponsor the parade. Early 2026 partners include Oklahoma Electric Cooperative as Platinum Sponsor, First United Bank and Vision Bank as Gold Sponsors, and the Norman Board of Realtors and VisitNorman as Silver Sponsors. The City of Norman, Norman Parks & Recreation and the Norman Police Department also support the event.
Getting a float into the 60
If your church, scout troop, business or neighborhood group wants to be in the parade instead of watching it, the deadline matters most. Registration opened November 1. The cutoff is Friday, November 20, 2026, the Friday before Thanksgiving, and the committee says it will make no exceptions. From publication day, that leaves about a week.
Here are the terms from the committee's registration page:
- Entry cap. The parade takes 60 entries at most, and registering by the deadline doesn't guarantee a spot.
- Fees. $50 for businesses and political candidates, and $25 for nonprofits and community organizations. If your entry isn't selected, you get a full refund.
- Completing registration. You pick the right rate, fill out a form describing your entry, and pay at checkout. Registration isn't complete until payment goes through.
- Acceptance. After the deadline, the committee emails entrants to say whether they're in. It can turn down entries that don't meet its guidelines.
- Staging details. Parade placement and staging information goes out by email by December 1.
The timing is tight because of Thanksgiving. Your float idea, the fee and the form all need to be done before the holiday week, and you'll hear about staging only a few days before the parade. If you have questions, the committee lists [email protected] as its contact, and Mark Krittenbrink is the committee chair.
Before 3 p.m.: the Firehouse gift gallery
If you'd like to fill the late morning or early afternoon before Winterfest, the Norman Firehouse Art Center at 444 South Flood Avenue is running its annual Holiday Gift Gallery 2026 from November 10 through December 20, with work by regional artists. Weekend hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., so on December 5 you can shop there before heading to The Depot when the market opens at 3. Weekday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the end of the run.
That makes the full Saturday look like this. Shop the gift gallery at 444 S Flood before 4 p.m. Get to Winterfest on Jones Avenue when it opens at 3, then leave a little before 5:30 so you can find a spot on Main Street before it closes to traffic. Then walk back to Jones Avenue for the tree lighting and the drone show after the last float.
Cross C Realty is based in Purcell, and we work with families across Norman all year. We like knowing how a town's big nights actually run, down to which street closes when and where the crowd goes next. If you're also wondering what's happening with homes or land near downtown Norman this season, Matthew Cunningham at Cross C Realty can send you a free market report.
