On the Colonial Beach town calendar, Christmas happens in the first three weekends of December. The Light up the Beach contest runs December 1 through 18. The last big public event, the Whitestone Christmas house tour, ends Sunday, December 13. By the time Christmas Eve arrives on the following Thursday, the town has judged its lights, held its parade and closed its home tour.
So if you live here and you are planning December the usual way, around school breaks and family arriving for the 25th, you will miss most of what the town puts on. The schedule rewards starting early. Here is how it builds, week by week, from a few loose November dates to a season that's finished before most people have wrapped a gift.
November Is the Runway
Two November dates are already set. The town's 2nd Friday Artwalk runs Friday, November 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. Beach Paws Boutique & Ask Dr. Caryn at 116 Hawthorn St. is one of the participating stops that night, with a pet photo contest. The next morning, Saturday, November 14, the Chamber's 2026–27 Visitor Guide lists Portraits for All, with free portraits by local photographers from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community Center, 717 Marshall Avenue. That's a handy timing for anyone who wants a family photo before holiday cards go out.
The one November date still floating is the Lighted Boat Parade. The same guide lists it on the 29th under November, run by the Colonial Yacht Club, but the listing doesn't print a year. The 2025 parade was held November 29. Boats ran from Monroe Bay to Riverboat and back, and people watched from the beach, from boardwalk benches, from golf carts and from their cars. The Colonial Yacht Club says it holds two boat parades a year, one in June and one in November. Check the parade's own site at cblightedboatparade.com for the 2026 date and start time before you plan a waterfront evening around it.
Whatever date the club picks, the boat parade comes before the town's December season. Everything after it falls into an eighteen-day window.
December 1 Starts Two Clocks at Once
The season opens on Tuesday, December 1, and two events start that day.
Light up the Beach is the town's Christmas Holiday Light Contest. According to the Town of Colonial Beach calendar, homes across town will decorate from December 1 through 18, and residents and visitors can tour the town and vote for their favorite houses. The winner is announced online December 21. The Chamber's Visitor Guide adds two details for anyone who wants to enter. You register online, and judging begins on the 19th. If you're entering, have your lights up and working by the first of the month. A display finished on the 15th gets only a few days of being seen before judging starts.
Hunt for the Golden Shell, Holiday Edition runs December 1 through 10. The guide describes it this way: look around the outdoor areas downtown for golden shells, then trade them at local retailers for artist-made décor. If you joined the summer version in July, you already know how it works. The shells are golden oyster shells with mother-of-pearl inside. During the July 1–10 hunt, trades happened at Beach Paws Boutique on Hawthorn and at Cooper Library and Magnolia Hall, both on Washington Avenue, and the artisan shells carried designs marking Virginia's 250th birthday. The holiday edition's trade spots haven't been posted, so check the town calendar before you head out with a shell in your pocket.
The hunt lasts ten days and the lights contest lasts eighteen. Both run on your own schedule, so a weeknight walk downtown in that first week can cover both.
Saturday the 5th Is the Busiest Day
The first Saturday is the 40th annual Santa's Wonderland and Winter Festival Parade, run by the Colonial Beach Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber's 2026 registration page lays out the timing for Saturday, December 5:
- 11 a.m. to noon: parade lineup in the Colonial Beach High School parking lot, where entries check in and get instructions.
- Noon: the parade starts.
- 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: the Winter Festival at Town Hill, 427 Washington Ave., at the corner of Colonial and Washington Avenues.
Entering the parade is free, and entries can include floats. If your entry includes animals, the Chamber requires a clean-up crew on hand before, during and after the parade. In past years the festival has had vendor tents, hot chocolate, crafts, letters to Santa and photos with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, among decorated trees and lights.
The parade falls on the first Saturday of the window, which matters for planning. On December 5 the shell hunt still has five days left and the lights contest has thirteen. A parade-day afternoon can turn into an evening drive past the decorated houses, and you can cast your votes while it's all still fresh.
The Second Weekend Moves Indoors
After the parade, the season moves from the street into shops and homes.
The 2nd Friday Art Walk & Sip 'N Stroll returns Friday, December 11, at 6 p.m. The Chamber's guide says the Art Walk runs from March through December under the Colonial Beach Artists Guild. That makes the December walk the last one until spring.
The next two days bring A Whitestone Christmas, the Colonial Beach Historical Society & Museum's annual house tour, on Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13. Tickets are $25 per day and went on sale October 15. The tour is named for Elizabeth "Betty" Sweet Whitestone. She was a longtime Historical Society member, a museum docent for more than 20 years and the driving force behind the Christmas Home Tours for 20 years in a row. Ticket sales support the society's work preserving local history. According to the Historical Society & Museum, past tours have started at the Museum at 128 Hawthorne Street.
Because tickets are sold by the day, you'll need to pick Saturday or Sunday ahead of time, or buy both. With family plans filling up the following week, this weekend is the last chance to do the town's events as a group.
After the 18th, the Calendar Goes Quiet
The lights contest ends Friday, December 18. Judging starts Saturday the 19th, and the winner goes online Monday, December 21. After that announcement, the Chamber guide lists nothing else until December 31, and that event is a New Year's Eve celebration for registered guests at the Plaza B&B.
That's the schedule in short. Every town-wide holiday event ends before the winner announcement, and the winner is announced four days before Christmas.
Your regular stops don't close for Christmas week, though. According to the Chamber guide:
- Ledo Pizza and Pasta is open year-round. Its November through March hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday.
- Hall's Market keeps winter hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
- Beach Shop is open daily all year, and Gitie's & Gitie's Auction is open every day, year-round, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- River Edge Inn and Wakefield Motel are open year-round, which helps if your guests arrive after the 18th.
Here is the season on one list:
- November 13: 2nd Friday Artwalk, 6–9 p.m.
- November 14: Portraits for All, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., Community Center
- November 29, year unconfirmed: Lighted Boat Parade, Colonial Yacht Club
- December 1–10: Hunt for the Golden Shell, Holiday Edition
- December 1–18: Light up the Beach
- December 5: Santa's Wonderland Parade at noon, festival 11 a.m.–4 p.m. on Town Hill
- December 11: 2nd Friday Art Walk & Sip 'N Stroll, 6 p.m.
- December 12–13: A Whitestone Christmas house tour, $25 per day
- December 21: Light up the Beach winner announced online
If you're entering your house in Light up the Beach or hosting family for parade day, Catharine Brown is glad to share what she knows about the town in December, from where to watch the parade to which streets are worth a slow drive after dark. Let's Connect.
