At 6 p.m. on Friday, December 4, the Pet Night Parade steps off at War Memorial Park as the park's light display opens for the season. About 20 hours later, on Saturday, live jazz will be playing inside the Martinsburg Roundhouse while Christmas on Main fills Queen Street downtown. Three separate organizers run them, and each publishes its own calendar.
All three of those calendars put their big holiday events on the same weekend this year. If you live in Martinsburg, the first weekend of December covers most of the season in one Friday evening and one Saturday. The rest of November and December fills in around it.
Three organizers, three addresses
Martinsburg's holidays don't come from a single office. Three groups each handle one piece, and each uses its own venue.
- Main Street Martinsburg runs the downtown events: the tree lighting, Shop Small Saturday, the Christmas Parade and Christmas on Main. Its events are centered on Queen Street, with listings at 142 N. Queen St. and the Town Square at 202 S. Queen St.
- The Martinsburg Roundhouse at 100 E. Liberty St. runs its own free events, including a fall Night Market series and a December Winter Wonderland.
- Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation puts on Christmas in the Park at War Memorial Park, 500 N. Tennessee Ave.
Since each group schedules on its own, nothing requires their events to line up. In 2026 they line up anyway. Parks & Rec opens its light display on Friday, December 4, and Main Street and the Roundhouse both hold their biggest family events on Saturday, December 5.
Friday night starts at War Memorial Park
Christmas in the Park is a free holiday light display with community-decorated trees. It opens December 4, 2026, and stays up through January 4, 2027, with lights viewable daily.
Opening night runs 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and includes selfies with Santa and free hot chocolate. The Pet Night Parade starts at 6 p.m., and Parks & Rec invites owners to bring their festive furry friends.
Because the lights stay up for a full month, opening night is the one evening with the extra programming. On any other night through early January you'll get the lights and trees without the parade or Santa.
Saturday's overlap window
Saturday, December 5, has the busiest schedule of the season. Here's how the day lays out from the organizers' own listings.
- 11 a.m. Christmas on Main opens downtown. Main Street Martinsburg lists live Christmas music, food trucks, a Christmas market, downtown holiday shopping and dining, kids' activities and Santa Claus.
- 2 p.m. Winter Wonderland at the Martinsburg Roundhouse begins. The Roundhouse describes it as a holiday event for children and families, with live jazz, s'mores and an Elf workshop. Dogs are welcome.
- 5 p.m. Winter Wonderland ends. The Christmas on Main listing has a 2026 Tree Lighting Ceremony from 5 to 6 p.m.
- 6 p.m. Christmas on Main wraps up.
From 2 to 5 p.m., both Saturday events are going at once. Families who want both can spend the morning and lunch on Queen Street, head to the Roundhouse on East Liberty Street for the afternoon, and return downtown for the evening. Christmas on Main runs seven hours, so you have plenty of time for the downtown side either before or after the Roundhouse.
Of the three, the Roundhouse made the biggest change to fit this weekend. Its fall Night Market series met on Monday evenings, with listings on October 12, October 26 and November 9. Those markets ran 5 to 8 p.m., were free and open to the public, and offered live music, food trucks, games, vendors and a dog-friendly atmosphere. Winter Wonderland keeps the free admission and the dogs-welcome policy, but it moves from a weeknight to a Saturday afternoon, the same afternoon Main Street is running Christmas on Main.
How the weeks before build up to it
The first weekend of December is when everything comes together, but Main Street's season starts a week earlier.
Saturday, November 28 has two downtown events. Main Street Martinsburg's Shop Small Saturday is listed for downtown from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. That evening, Main Street's Christmas Tree Lighting listing has an annual event at the Town Square, 202 S. Queen St. Music starts at 5 p.m., the tree is lit at 6 p.m., and the music and street closure continue until 7 p.m. for photos with Santa and the tree. Both the November 28 listing and the Christmas on Main page include a tree lighting, so check Main Street Martinsburg's calendar before you plan your evening around either one.
Tuesday, December 1 is the Martinsburg Christmas Parade, which Main Street bills as "All Aboard." It starts at 6 p.m. at Queen Street and Bulldog Boulevard and heads north on Queen Street to Race Street. Scheduling the parade on a Tuesday keeps it off the busy Saturdays on either side.
There's also a community-run market before Thanksgiving. The Merry & Local Christmas Market is listed for Saturday, November 14, at the Martinsburg Moose Lodge, 201 Woodbury Ave., according to the Times Virginian.
The full season, by date
| Date | Event | Location | Organizer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Nov 14 | Merry & Local Christmas Market | Martinsburg Moose Lodge, 201 Woodbury Ave. | Community vendors |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Shop Small Saturday, 10 a.m.–11 p.m. | Downtown | Main Street Martinsburg |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Christmas Tree Lighting, music 5 p.m., lighting 6 p.m. | Town Square, 202 S. Queen St. | Main Street Martinsburg |
| Tue, Dec 1 | Christmas Parade, 6 p.m. | Queen St., Bulldog Blvd. to Race St. | Main Street Martinsburg |
| Fri, Dec 4 | Christmas in the Park opening night, 5:30–7:30 p.m.; Pet Night Parade 6 p.m. | War Memorial Park, 500 N. Tennessee Ave. | Parks & Rec |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Christmas on Main, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. | Downtown, 142 N. Queen St. | Main Street Martinsburg |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Winter Wonderland, 2–5 p.m. | Martinsburg Roundhouse, 100 E. Liberty St. | The Roundhouse |
| Dec 17–20 | Elf the Musical | Apollo Civic Theatre | Apollo Civic Theatre |
| Tue, Dec 22 | Christian Lopez: Christmas Jam for Charity!, 8 p.m. | Apollo Civic Theatre | Apollo Civic Theatre |
| Dec 4–Jan 4 | Christmas in the Park lights, viewable daily | War Memorial Park | Parks & Rec |
After the big weekend, the season moves indoors
Once the first weekend of December is over, the outdoor events give way to ticketed nights at the Apollo Civic Theatre. Its December calendar has Elf the Musical at 7 p.m. on December 17, 18 and 19, with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, December 20. On Tuesday, December 22, at 8 p.m., the Apollo hosts Christian Lopez: Christmas Jam for Charity!
The Elf theme shows up at more than one venue. The Roundhouse's Winter Wonderland has an Elf workshop on December 5, and the Apollo's musical opens less than two weeks later. If you have kids, you can plan the musical as a follow-up to the Saturday workshop.
Through all of this, the War Memorial Park lights stay on every night, so you can still see them after a weeknight show or on a quiet evening between holiday plans, right up to January 4, 2027.
Two downtown changes worth knowing about this season
A couple of everyday changes from this year will affect holiday errands.
The Martinsburg Farmers Market left the Roundhouse and moved to West King Street near the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library. Its manager told The Journal that the first full season downtown was a success. The market's new home puts it downtown, the same part of town as Main Street's Queen Street events.
Filthy Fizz, the locally owned soda shop, has opened its third location at 728 Foxcroft Ave. As The Journal reported, owners Sandeep Singh and Desirae Elliott-Singh plan to keep both of their Martinsburg shops open. That adds a Foxcroft Avenue stop to the holiday errand list.
If the first weekend of December has you thinking about where your Martinsburg home stands going into 2027, The Legacy Team can put together a data-backed number before the holiday rush. Get a Free Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through it whenever your schedule allows.
