Last December, the Fishers tree lighting came on a Friday night, December 5, and the rest of the city's holiday programming followed straight after. There was wrapping paper on Tuesday, bingo on Thursday, and Cookies with Characters that weekend, as Current in Fishers reported at the time. It all fit inside about ten days.
This year the tree goes up on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. The Jingle Bell Junction week at 10 Municipal Drive still runs December 8 through 13. That leaves eleven days between the two. Fishers District and the Fishers Arts Council have dated events in that stretch, so the season now runs about three weeks across three hosts and four venues. If you plan around one Saturday the way you did last year, you'll miss most of it.
November 27 at the AMP
Night Lights runs 5 to 7 p.m. at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater, 6 Municipal Drive. Santa and Mayor Scott Fadness light the tree from the AMP stage, and the Fishers Parks event page says the lighting starts "promptly at 6:30 p.m." The event is free and needs no registration. GBC Bank presents it.
The city lists live music, fire pits, igloo seating, live ice carving, reindeer, animals from the Fishers AgriPark, food trucks, photo spots, and holiday light displays through downtown. Because it falls on the Friday of a holiday weekend, it's the one event this season where visiting relatives can easily come along. The 6:30 lighting comes at the end of a two-hour window, so arriving at 5 gives you an hour and a half with the reindeer, fire pits, and ice carvers before the crowd turns toward the stage.
The eleven days in between
In 2025, the Fishers Arts Council's Winter Art Markets ran at Peace Water Winery on December 4, 11, and 18, timed to the Fishers District Holiday Open Houses with Santa. Those events sat on the same calendar as the city's week. This year, with the tree lighting moved up, they open the gap instead.
Thursday, December 3. The first of three Winter Art Markets runs 6 to 9 p.m. at Peace Water Winery, 11547 Yard Street, Suite 830. Each market is small on purpose. According to the Fishers Arts Council's call for artists, each night is limited to seven juried artists at tables on the winery's first floor, and everything sold has to be handmade, with no resale items allowed. That makes it a short, focused shopping trip, and the three nights will likely bring different artists.
Sunday, December 6. Merry & Bright at Fishers District takes over The Yard. The district calls it a "newly reimagined holiday celebration." The main space is a heated tent with hot cocoa, classic carols, train rides around The Yard, a life-sized snow globe for photos, crafts, watercolor family portraits, and photos with Santa. A Makers Market hosted by the Fishers Arts Council fills the second level of Sun King.
Pet owners get the first hour. Pet photos with Santa run 11 a.m. to noon only, alongside a Pet Paw Print Ornament Station, and the event opens to everyone at noon. If the dog's Santa photo is on your list, that 11 o'clock hour is your only chance at this event.
So the gap has a rhythm. There's the Friday tree lighting on November 27, a weeknight market on December 3, a Sunday afternoon at The Yard on December 6, and then the city's week starts two days later.
December 8 to 13, night by night
The Jingle Bell Junction week runs every night at 10 Municipal Drive, with a different format each evening.
| Date | Event | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue., Dec. 8 | Santa's Workshop | 4 to 8 p.m. | Free, drop-in |
| Wed., Dec. 9 | DIY Gift Wrap + Cards, with live music | 5 to 9 p.m. | Free, drop-in |
| Thu., Dec. 10 | Reindeer Games: Kids Bingo + Holiday Movie Trivia | 5 to 10 p.m. | Free |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Community Jazz Improv + Jazz Lounge | 6 to 10 p.m. | Free |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Cookies With Characters | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $10 residents, $15 non-residents |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Winter Wonders: Market, Magic + Mixology | 6 to 10 p.m. | Free entry; mixology class $40 residents, $60 non-residents |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Holiday Thrift-A-Thon | Noon to 5 p.m. | Free entry |
Santa's Workshop is run by the Fishers Parks Maker Playground staff. They walk builders of any age through basic woodshop techniques on a project you pick.
Reindeer Games splits the night by age. Kids' bingo runs 5 to 7 p.m., and holiday movie trivia with Hambones Trivia runs in two sessions, 7:30 to 8:30 and 9 to 10. The city says everyone is welcome "until we run out of room." Last year's Reindeer Games paired bingo with karaoke.
The jazz night opens with a community improv session led by Brandon Meeks from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Bring an instrument if you'd like to sit in with the house band, or just listen. After a quick reset, a professional jazz lounge runs 8:30 to 10, and a full bar is open all night.
Cookies With Characters requires registration for every person who comes in, adults included. Children 2 and under are free but still need to be registered. In 2025 it ran on two days, December 13 and 14. This year it runs one morning only, which puts all the demand into a single four-hour window.
Winter Wonders pairs an outdoor market of local vendors with free magic shows in the Jingle Bell Junction tent. Show times are still listed as to be announced. The Mixo Indy cocktail class runs 7 to 8 p.m., is limited to ages 21 and up, and requires registration.
The Holiday Thrift-A-Thon is a new holiday version of a summer event. Fishers Parks says past Thrift-A-Thons were popular during the Fishers Farmers Market season. This one brings vintage finds, handmade gifts, and secondhand clothing from local resellers to the Sunday that ends the week.
Where the calendars overlap
Since three groups now share the season, a few dates double up. These are the ones to plan around.
- Tuesday, December 8. Santa's Workshop opens the city's week the same night Fishers District holds Chanukah at The Yard.
- Thursday, December 10. Reindeer Games runs 5 to 10 p.m. at Jingle Bell Junction, and the second Winter Art Market runs 6 to 9 p.m. at Peace Water Winery. You could do kids' bingo at 5, the art market at 7, and still make the 9 p.m. trivia session.
- Saturday, December 12. This is the busiest day of the season, with Cookies With Characters in the morning and Winter Wonders at night. If you want both, register for both ahead of time, since the cookie event needs registration for everyone and the mixology class has its own sign-up.
- Thursday, December 17. The third Winter Art Market runs four days after Jingle Bell Junction ends, making it the last dated holiday event in this lineup.
Put together, the dates show a different season than last year. In 2025, it ran from the December 5 tree lighting to Cookies with Characters on December 14. In 2026, it runs from November 27 to December 17. The free, no-registration events are spread across most of those three weeks, and the two events that need registration fall on the same Saturday.
Holiday weekends are also when many Fishers homeowners start talking about what next year might bring. If a move, a sale, or a new build is on your list for 2026 or beyond, Heigl Real Estate Group would be glad to have that conversation with you over cocoa or coffee once the tree is lit. Contact Us when you're ready.
