On the afternoon of Sunday, December 6, a parade will step off from Hunt Gym at 4:40 p.m. About twenty minutes later, the town tree will light up. Before that, the Concord Museum will have spent two hours hosting authors, illustrators and costumed characters from children's picture books. Across town, the third and last day of the Umbrella Arts Winter Market will be in progress on Stow Street.
Six days later, on Saturday, December 12, private homes will open for the Concord Museum's Holiday House Tour. On the same day, Orchard House begins its Dickensian Christmas weekends. Concord's 2026 holiday calendar fits mostly into those two weekends, December 4 to 6 and December 11 to 13. A few long-running displays fill the weekdays in between. The bigger change this year is that the House Tour now sits on its own weekend instead of sharing one with the tree lighting.
The House Tour moved, and that is what splits the month
The Concord Museum's 14th annual Holiday House Tour was on December 7, 2024. The 15th was on December 6, 2025. Both fell on the first Saturday of December. The 2026 tour is on Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
That one-week shift changes how the whole month is laid out. The tree lighting and the Winter Market now have the first weekend. The House Tour, the museum's evening Fête and the opening of Orchard House's holiday program have the second. Here is the full schedule.
December 4 to 6: the market weekend
Two sales open on Friday morning and run through Sunday, and the weekend ends with the tree lighting.
- Umbrella Arts Winter Market, 40 Stow Street. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and entry is free. Umbrella Arts calls the market a twenty-year Concord tradition. It fills three floors of studios and galleries and includes the studio artists' exhibition "Off the Wall," a Holiday Ceramics Sale, guest artisans' tables and the building's café. Free family art activities run 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
- Friends of the Library Holiday Book Sale, Goodwin Forum at the Main Library. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
- An Afternoon with Authors and Illustrators, Concord Museum. Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m., with authors, illustrators and characters from the books featured in this year's Family Trees exhibit.
- Town Tree Lighting. Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m. The parade leaves Hunt Gym at 4:40 p.m., and the tree is lit at about 5 p.m.
On Sunday the events line up almost back to back. The museum's author event ends at 3 p.m., which is when the Concord Recreation tree lighting program begins. The Winter Market stays open until 5 p.m. Because the book sale doesn't open until 1 p.m. on Sunday, Friday and Saturday give the longest hours for both sales.
December 11 to 13: the house weekend
The second weekend has fewer events, and most of them are about rooms.
The Fête opens it on Friday, December 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. It is a members' event hosted by the museum's Guild of Volunteers, with festive drinks, hors d'oeuvres and an evening view of the Family Trees galleries. The proceeds support educational programs for local children. The museum's event page has tickets going on sale in November.
The Holiday House Tour is on Saturday. The museum describes a self-guided tour of private Concord homes, "ranging from charming historic residences to stunning modern designs," each decorated for the season by local designers, florists and homeowners. The museum also suggests pairing the tour with a walk through Concord Center for shopping and dining. Every ticket supports the museum's education and community outreach programs, which the museum says reach more than 17,000 students a year. Tickets were set to go on sale in early November.
A Dickensian Christmas at Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House starts the same Saturday and runs Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13, then again December 19 and 20. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The program includes Living History portrayals, music, singing, theatricals, tableaux and activities to take home. Tickets are on the Orchard House event page.
The House Tour runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the Saturday program at Orchard House runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., so both cover nearly the same part of December 12. On that one Saturday, private homes styled by local designers and florists open across town while Orchard House stages the Alcotts' Victorian holiday. Orchard House's December 19 and 20 dates make its program the only one on this calendar that continues into a third weekend.
What runs all month
Three displays run under both weekends and stay open on the weekdays between them. They are the parts of the season that don't need a ticket for a specific date.
| Display | Where | Dates | Hours and cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Trees: A Celebration of Children's Literature | Concord Museum | November 21 to January 3 | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., also open Mondays in December; $20 adults, $15 seniors and students, $10 ages 6 to 17, $5 ages 3 to 5, free for ages 2 and under and members |
| Gingerbread House Display | The Colonial Inn | December 1 to 31 | Visitors vote for a favorite |
| Holiday decorations | Orchard House | December 1 to January 10 | Separate from the Dickensian Christmas dates |
Family Trees is in its 31st year. Each story tree is handmade by local volunteers and community organizations, and its decorations bring a picture book to life. The 2026 book list mixes newer titles with familiar ones. It includes A Snow Day for Amos McGee, Thank You, Omu!, Giant Parsnip Soup, Otter Carries On, The Outermost Mouse, Revolutionary Mary and a holiday mystery called Who Donut? The museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It opens on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and adds Mondays throughout December. Advance tickets are encouraged but not required.
The Colonial Inn's gingerbread display has a theme this year that fits the town. The Concord Chamber of Commerce listing gives the 2026 theme as America's 250th anniversary, and visitors vote for their favorite entry throughout December. The Inn is also collecting new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots in its Front Parlor through December 11, the night of the Fête. Its food pantry drive, which takes food, toiletries and hygiene products, runs through January 31, 2027.
How the weekdays between them fill in
With the two weekends split, the long-running displays hold the rest of the month together. Family Trees is open on December weekdays, Mondays included, because the museum adds Monday hours for the month; the exceptions are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Gingerbread voting at the Colonial Inn runs from the first of the month to the last. The Toys for Tots drop-off at the Inn closes at the end of the first full week of events, on the Friday the second weekend begins.
Two dates fall in that stretch:
- Tuesday, December 1: The gingerbread display opens at the Colonial Inn, and the holiday decorations go up at Orchard House.
- Friday, December 11: This is the last day for Toys for Tots donations at the Colonial Inn, and the Fête starts at 6 p.m. at the museum.
After December 13, the season continues. Orchard House runs its Dickensian Christmas again on December 19 and 20. Family Trees stays open through January 3, with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day hours. The Orchard House decorations stay up until January 10.
The House Tour is the event on this calendar most about how a room is put together, from the florist's work on a mantel to the way a modern interior handles winter light differently from a historic one. If walking through those homes on December 12 leaves you thinking about your own rooms in that light, Hilary Bovey is glad to talk through what you saw and how it might translate to a house you know well. Let's Connect.
