Castle Rock Starlighting 2026: The Schedule

When and where

• Saturday 21 November 2026, 2–6 p.m.
• Historic Wilcox Square in downtown Castle Rock, and Festival Park (300 Second St).
• 5 p.m.: the Starlighting ceremony on the main stage at Fourth and Wilcox streets.
• About 5:30 p.m.: the star on the Rock is lit, followed at once by fireworks, weather permitting.
• Sunset that day is at about 4:40 p.m., so the star goes on after dark.

The afternoon

• 2–4:15 p.m.: Santa Claus is in Festival Park.
• All afternoon: strolling carolers, dance groups and live entertainment around downtown, and a kids zone with a petting zoo, face painting and games.
• The Castle Rock Professional Firefighters hold their 90th annual chili supper at Fire Station 151, with beef chili, nachos, hot dogs, drinks and desserts.
• Food trucks and vendors, hot chocolate, and adult beverages at the Chamber's four beverage tents.
• Nonprofit and sponsor booths along the streets.

Where to stand

The ceremony is at the main stage at Fourth and Wilcox streets, so that is where to be by 5 p.m. The star itself sits on top of the Rock, the butte of The Rock Park. The Chamber says its event map and booth map are coming soon on its Starlighting page.

Paying

The Chamber's Starlighting page says: "Castle Rock Chamber events do not accept cash. Credit and debit cards only." Bring a card.

Parking and the trolley

The Chamber will post its shuttle, parking and street-closure maps on its Starlighting page; it says they are coming soon, so check the page before you set out. For its holiday carriage rides and trolley, the Castle Rock Downtown Alliance lists these places to park downtown:

• the Encore Parking Garage
• the Philip & Jerry Miller Library
• the Douglas County parking garage
• the parking garage at The View at Castle Rock

The free downtown trolley does not run on Starlighting day. Its holiday rides are on Monday and Tuesday evenings, 5:30–7:30 p.m., from 23 November to 29 December.

Before and after

• A week before, on Saturday 14 November, 4–7 p.m., the Outlets at Castle Rock light their tree, with a free concert and a holiday drone show.
• The star stays lit through the Season of the Star, which the Town gives as 21 November 2026 to 23 January 2027. Downtown is hung with holiday lights for the season.
• Horse-drawn carriage rides through the downtown lights start the next day, Sunday 22 November, and run to 3 January, with no rides on 26 November or 24, 25 and 31 December. A ticket is $59 for a carriage of up to 4 people, bought in advance: online sales open on Wednesday 18 November at 12 p.m. on the Downtown Alliance's page.
• In December: the Festival Park Starlight Market on Friday 4 December (3–8 p.m.) and Saturday 5 December (11 a.m.–7 p.m.), Reindeer Games at Philip S. Miller Park on Saturday 5 December (1–4 p.m.), and Storytellers and S'mores in Festival Park on Saturday 12 December (5–7 p.m.).

Eating and shopping downtown

The places below are listed on this site: Festival Park and The Rock Park, and restaurants, cafes and a shop on Wilcox, Perry and Jerry streets downtown. Each place's page gives its hours and where they come from; check Saturday's before you go.