Which nights in December will the Historic Canton Square be lit, and which nights will it sit dark? For anyone in Glendale Farms, the Square is close enough to visit on a whim, and the 2026 Canton Christmas Festival calendar gives a more specific answer than "all December."
Canton Tourism has posted the 2026 schedule. Opening weekend runs November 27 through 29, and the festival reopens December 4 and runs through December 23, open 5 to 9 p.m. daily. That makes 23 festival nights in two blocks, with four dark nights between them, Monday, November 30 through Thursday, December 3. The festival is closed from Christmas Eve on.
The schedule matters because the festival grows across those 23 nights. Last year's calendar had the same two-block shape, and it shows the extras arriving in stages.
The 2026 calendar, night by night
Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, so the festival opens the next evening. Here is the full stretch, with the weekdays worked out:
- Friday, Nov. 27 to Sunday, Nov. 29: opening weekend, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 30 to Thursday, Dec. 3: closed.
- Friday, Dec. 4 to Wednesday, Dec. 23: open nightly, 5 to 9 p.m., 20 nights in a row.
- Thursday, Dec. 24 onward: closed for the season.
Canton Tourism describes the festival as thousands of lights over the historic Square, with carriage rides, visits with Santa, live entertainment from Disney characters, food trucks and Santa's Cookie Stop. On cost, the tourism office says many areas of the festival are free to enjoy, while select attractions and special experiences may require tickets or entry fees. It also says updated pricing, schedules and ticket information come out ahead of each season. The office posts its season updates on the Canton Tourism Facebook page, and that is where 2026 ticket prices and the attraction-by-attraction schedule will show up.
Last year used the same shape
The 2025 festival followed nearly the same plan. The Madison County Journal reported that last year's opening weekend ran November 28 through 30, the Friday through Sunday after Thanksgiving. Canton News reported that the festival then closed December 1 through December 4 and ran nightly through December 23, 5 to 9 p.m.
So both years open on the Friday after Thanksgiving, go dark early in the week, reopen on a Friday and close on December 23. Since the shape hasn't changed, the way the 2025 program filled in is a good rough guide to how the 2026 nights may feel. The details below are from 2025.
Opening weekend was built around shopping
In 2025, opening weekend doubled as the Merchants' Open House. The Madison County Journal reported shopping hours starting at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and running until the festival closed, with Sunday on regular festival hours. On those two days the Square was open for about eleven hours, compared with the four-hour evening window on every other festival night.
The first week back was mostly weekend extras
The Canton News report from December 1, 2025, laid out the special events after the dark stretch. The Singalong Fest with the Best and Photos with Santa, at 137 West Peace Street, ran December 5 through 7 and then December 12 through 23. Horse-drawn carriage rides around the Historic Square ran Friday and Saturday, December 5 and 6, and then December 12 through 23.
That puts a gap inside the main run too. In 2025, December 8 through 11 had the lights and the ticketed rides, but Santa photos and carriage rides weren't on the schedule. The last twelve nights, December 12 through 23, were the only stretch where Santa, the singalong and the carriages all ran every night.
If 2026 follows the same pattern, the matching window would be the last twelve nights, December 12 through 23. Canton Tourism will confirm those dates when it publishes the season schedule.
What the tickets bought in 2025
Most of the walk-through displays are free to wander, but the rides take tickets. In 2025, Canton News reported individual tickets at $2 each or a sheet of 25 for $25, with ticket sales final and only cash or major credit cards accepted.
| 2025 attraction | Tickets per ride or person | Cost at $2 each | Cost from a 25-ticket sheet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire truck, carousel, Sky Race, antique cars | 2 | $4 | $2 |
| Wagon train | 3 | $6 | $3 |
| Horse-drawn carriage ride | 5 per person | $10 | $5 |
| Christmas Village | 5 per person | $10 | $5 |
The sheet cuts the price in half, but a family uses it up fast. At 2025 prices, a family of four on one carriage ride used 20 of the 25 tickets. Add the Christmas Village for the same four people and that's 40 tickets, more than a full sheet. Two kids on the carousel and the fire truck used 8 tickets.
A household planning to come back on several nights may get more out of one sheet spread over a few short visits than out of one long night. Since sales were final, unused tickets didn't come back as cash.
What was on the Square last year
The 2025 attraction list gives returning visitors a map of the Square. Canton News reported that the festival, also called the "City of Lights," included:
- Rudolph's Playground, fire truck rides and train rides
- An 18-foot walk-through gift box and the three-story Christmas tree
- A 16-foot walk-through snowman, new in 2025, at 184 East Center Street
- A 32-foot caterpillar walk-through and Santa's Cookie Stop
- Mrs. Claus's storytelling house, moved to an upgraded new location in 2025
- The Christmas Interactive Village, with the Reindeer Barn, Frosty's House and Rudolph's House
- Santa's Snow Village
- The old-fashioned carousel, antique cars and the Sky Race
- The Christmas Animation Museum and I Spy, featuring the Elves' Top 10 Favorite Toys
The same report said the 2025 festival included patriotic displays throughout the Square for America 250. Two addresses from that list are worth saving: 184 East Center Street for the snowman and 137 West Peace Street for Santa photos and the singalong. Both are on the Square's main streets and were the two fixed spots in last year's schedule.
December 12 stacked the most onto one night in 2025
The 19th Annual Holiday Sip 'N Cider fell on Friday, December 12, 2025, from 5 to 9 p.m. Participating merchants served warm cider and held competitions. Canton Tourism's 2025 holiday post listed the same date, along with a plein-air painting activity on December 6.
That Friday was also the first night of last year's twelve-night stretch, when the carriages and Santa photos started running every night. Sip 'N Cider, the start of nightly carriage rides and the return of Santa all fell on the same evening. If Sip 'N Cider returns for a 20th year, Canton Tourism will set its 2026 date.
Dinner around a 5-to-9 window
The festival's hours set the dinner plan. The lights come on at 5, the Square closes at 9, and two places on Peace Street have hours that fit around that window.
- Picantes Tacos & Tequila, 182 East Peace Street. Open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It holds a current 2026 permit from the Mississippi State Department of Health. It's the one stop on this list still open after the festival lights go off, with an extra half hour on weeknights and an extra hour on Fridays and Saturdays.
- The Daily Scoop Ice Cream Shop, 109 West Peace Street. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday. That leaves three hours of festival time for ice cream on most nights, but not on the four festival Sundays: November 29, December 6, December 13 and December 20.
- Cooley's Square Nutrition, 118 West Center Street. Listed on a state health permit dated March 31, 2026, at the address Canton Tourism's dining directory lists as Square Nutrition.
The festival's own food trucks and Santa's Cookie Stop cover the hours in between. Canton Tourism also keeps a full dining directory for the rest of town.
Put together, an early evening could start with the lights at 5, ice cream before 8 on any night but Sunday, and tacos on East Peace Street after the Square closes at 9.
The four dark nights
From November 30 through December 3, the festival is closed and the Square goes back to its regular evenings.
For neighbors, those four nights split the season in two. Opening weekend is for shopping and first looks. If last year's schedule repeats, the first full week after December 4 is the lighter stretch, with weekend extras, and the twelve nights from December 12 through 23 are when the full program runs every night.
If the Square's December evenings are part of why you love living near Canton, I'd be glad to talk about what that's worth when you're thinking about your home. Start with Cindy Johnston's free valuation: Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
