Christmas in Charleston 2026
Parades, lights, markets and decorated house museums, with every 2026 date we could confirm and the ones nobody has announced yet.
Written by Alex H., a Charleston local Updated November 2026
In short: Charleston's Christmas season packs into the first three weekends of December. The city's Holiday Parade is Sunday, December 6, at 3pm, and ends with the tree lighting in Marion Square. The lights to drive out for are the Holiday Festival of Lights on James Island, open every night through December 31, Christmas included. For the decorations up close, book a candlelight tour of the Aiken-Rhett House (December 4–5) or the holiday walking tour that goes inside the Edmondston-Alston House (from $35, 13 reviews). On Christmas Day itself, nearly every attraction is closed.
The biggest tradition is younger than it looks. The Festival of Lights started in 1990, after Hurricane Hugo destroyed most of James Island County Park's trees and the county switched from lighted trees to freestanding displays. It has run every year since. Downtown, the decorating is done house by house: wreaths on the doors and candles in the windows. The Historic Charleston Foundation dresses the Aiken-Rhett House as it would have looked in the 1820s and opens it by candlelight for two nights. The Garden Club of Charleston decorates the Joseph Manigault House for most of December.
Everything here was checked against each organizer's own page on November 7, 2026. Where a 2026 date hasn't been announced, we say so and give last year's.
Christmas 2026 at a glance
- City Holiday Parade
- Sunday, December 6, 2026, 3pm, ending at Marion Square with the tree lighting. The city has not posted the 2026 route or tree-lighting time.
- The big light show
- Holiday Festival of Lights, James Island County Park, Nov 13 to Dec 31, nightly 5:30 to 10pm, $15 to $30 a car online.
- Free lights
- Light the Lake at Colonial Lake, Dec 4; Park Circle in North Charleston, lit Dec 4 through New Year's Day.
- Inside decorated houses
- Aiken-Rhett by candlelight Dec 4–5 ($45); Drayton Hall on five December dates ($35); the Manigault House Dec 5–27.
- Christmas Day
- The Festival of Lights is open. The Aquarium, the Fort Sumter ferry, Patriots Point and the plantations are closed.
- Book first
- Night sessions at the Christkindlmarkt (already sold out), the candlelight house tours, and Christmas-week hotel rooms.
The parades
The city's Holiday Parade steps off at 3pm on Sunday, December 6, 2026. The 2026 route hasn't been posted. In 2025 the parade started on Broad Street at Colonial Lake, turned up Meeting Street, and finished in Marion Square, where the city tree was lit afterward. Police closed the route to through traffic at 2pm and to cross traffic at 2:45, and getting south of Broad was difficult all afternoon. Park north of Calhoun Street or walk in. The parking guide lists the garages.
The Holiday Parade of Boats brings lighted boats down the Cooper River, through the harbor and into the Ashley. The 2026 date hasn't been announced. In 2025 it was Saturday, December 13, from 6pm, and the city named the Battery and Patriots Point as the places to watch. Both are free, and both are cold once the sun goes down, so bring a layer.
Two more nearby: North Charleston's Christmas parade at Park Circle on Saturday, December 5 (3pm), and Mount Pleasant's Christmas Light Parade down Coleman Boulevard on Sunday, December 13, 5:30 to 8pm.
The lights
The Holiday Festival of Lights is the one most visitors mean. It's a three-mile drive past more than 750 displays at James Island County Park, about 10 minutes from downtown, open nightly 5:30 to 10pm from November 13 to December 31. Admission is per car: $15 to $30 online for 2026, depending on how busy the night is, and $10 to $15 more at the gate. Our festival page covers the cheap nights and the entrance GPS won't pick.
The free lights start on Friday, December 4. Light the Lake, the Charleston Parks Conservancy's lighting at Colonial Lake on Broad Street, runs from 5 to 8pm that evening. In North Charleston, the Park Circle tree is lit at 6pm the same night, and the lights stay on until New Year's Day.
The evening carriage rides are the other way to see lights. Once the wreaths and candles go up, the regular evening routes through the historic district double as a decorations tour.
Seeing the decorations
None of these is a festival ticket. The holiday walk and the evening carriage ride stay in the historic district; the bus trip is the only one that goes to the Festival of Lights. Prices and reviews are live from the booking platform.
- Check availability →
Holiday Decor & History Walk with House Visit
★ 4.8 (13 reviews) · 2 hours · from $35
Two hours on foot from the Mills House, with entry to the decorated Edmondston-Alston House on the Battery. Thirteen reviews, so it is a small sample.
- Check availability →
Haunted Carriage Evening Tour
★ 4.6 (481 reviews) · 40 minutes · from $45
Seated, 40 minutes, after dark, when the window candles are lit.
Read our full review - Check availability →
Historical Downtown Tour by Horse-drawn Carriage
★ 4.8 (1,249 reviews) · 1 hour · from $50
The daytime carriage ride, the most-reviewed one in the city, through the same decorated streets.
Read our full review - Check availability →
Holiday Festival of Lights Tour with S'mores Kit
★ 5.0 (3 reviews) · 3.5 hours · from $36
A bus from the Visitor Center to the Festival of Lights with entry included. Non-refundable, and three reviews so far.
Booking through these links supports this guide at no extra cost to you.
Christmas markets
Only one holiday market is on the peninsula: Marion Square, on December weekends. The rest are 15 to 30 minutes out. The CHRISTkindlmarkt is the one people most often get wrong. It isn't in Charleston but in Awendaw, about 20 miles north on Highway 17. You can't park at the venue, so everyone parks at 4461 North Highway 17 and takes a shuttle. Its evening sessions, which are 15 and over, were all sold out by November 7.
| Market (2026) | When | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Holiday Market | Nov 20–22 | North Charleston Coliseum Convention Center | $10 at the door, $8.99 online plus tax; free parking |
| Christmas Made in the South | Dec 4–6 | Exchange Park Fairgrounds, Ladson | $10; 12 and under free; one stamp covers all three days |
| Southern Living Illumination | Sat Dec 5, 10am–3pm | Charleston Visitor Center, 375 Meeting St | $125, 21 and over only |
| CHRISTkindlmarkt | Dec 4–13, Fridays to Sundays | Awendaw, by shuttle from 4461 N. Hwy 17 | Day sessions $24.38; every night session sold out on Nov 7 |
| Marion Square holiday markets | Dec 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19, 9am–3pm | Marion Square, 329 Meeting St | Not listed |
| Mount Pleasant Holiday Market | Sat Dec 12, 11am–4pm | Farmers Market Pavilion, Mount Pleasant | Not listed |
| Holy City Holiday Market | Dec 18–20 | Firefly Distillery, North Charleston | Not listed |
Decorated houses
These are the best December tickets in town, and the evening tours are small. The two Historic Charleston Foundation candlelight tours run four times a night, about 45 minutes each, and are recommended for ages 12 and up. The Nathaniel Russell House tour comes first, on November 20 and 21. The Aiken-Rhett House tour, on December 4 and 5, is styled as an 1820s Christmas and ends with holiday drinks.
| House tour (2026) | When | Price | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel Russell House by candlelight | Nov 20–21, tours 5:30 to 7pm | $45, ages 12 and up | Historic Charleston Foundation, 51 Meeting St |
| Aiken-Rhett House by candlelight | Dec 4–5, tours 5:30 to 7pm | $45, ages 12 and up | Holiday drinks after; not wheelchair or stroller accessible |
| Christmas at Drayton Hall | Dec 4, 5, 11, 12 and 18 | $35 | Curator-led tour on 18th-century Christmas customs; book ahead |
| Joseph Manigault House decorations | Dec 5–27 | Included with house admission | The Garden Club of Charleston's decorations; last tour 4:30 |
| Candlelight Tour of Private Homes | Dec 18–19, 4 to 8:30pm | Tickets by phone, 843-708-2228 | Friday is a driving tour, Saturday a walking one |
Holiday shows
The Charleston Christmas Special, a two-hour holiday show now in its 31st season, plays the Charleston Music Hall on John Street from December 11 to 22. Adult tickets are $46 and children 12 and under $23, plus Ticketmaster fees. On December 16, a child gets in free with an adult ticket.
A Christmas Carol runs at the Dock Street Theatre on Church Street from November 29 to December 20, from Charleston Stage. The December 4 performance is ASL-interpreted. The theater didn't list prices; the box office is 843-577-7183.
The Nutcracker comes twice. South Carolina Ballet dances it at the Music Hall from November 30 to December 2, $40 to $60. Palmetto City Ballet's version is at the Sottile Theatre on George Street, December 18 to 20. One thing to watch when buying: "The Charleston Ballet" is a West Virginia company, and its Nutcracker is in Charleston, WV.
The Charleston Symphony's Holiday Pops is at the Gaillard Center on December 17 to 19.
What's open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Christmas Day is the hardest day of the year to fill in Charleston. Most attractions close, the Fort Sumter ferry doesn't run, and even the City Market takes its one day off. Christmas Eve is a short day at the places that open. These are each venue's posted holiday hours; none had posted a 2026-specific notice by November 7.
| Place | Christmas Eve | Christmas Day |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday Festival of Lights | Open 5:30–10pm | Open 5:30–10pm |
| South Carolina Aquarium | 9am–1pm, last entry noon | Closed |
| Fort Sumter ferry | Liberty Square 11am and 2pm; Patriots Point 12:30 | No tours |
| Patriots Point museum | Closed | Closed |
| Drayton Hall | Closed | Closed |
| Magnolia, Boone Hall, the Old Exchange | Not stated; call | Closed |
| City Market | Open | Closed, its one closed day of the year |
The Fort Sumter ferry also leaves from Patriots Point on Christmas Eve, even though the Patriots Point museum is closed that day. No restaurant had posted a Christmas Day 2026 menu by November 7. Reserve as soon as the menus go up.
Where to stay
The parade, Marion Square's markets, the candlelight tours and the Music Hall are all within a mile of each other on the peninsula, so a downtown room lets you walk to most of the season. Book early December rather than Christmas week. The first three weeks are some of the cheapest hotel weeks of the year, and the week between Christmas and New Year's is one of the most expensive. The where-to-stay guide compares the neighborhoods, and the December guide covers the weather.
Check rates and availability
Live rates for downtown Charleston hotels on Expedia. Prices move a lot by season, so compare your dates before committing.
The first three weeks of December are low season for hotel rates. Christmas week is the exception and fills early.
Affiliate link. If you book through it we earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes what we recommend.
Sources, checked November 7, 2026: City of Charleston police notices for the 2025 parade and 2025 boat parade; Charleston Parks Conservancy; City of North Charleston; Town of Mount Pleasant; Charleston County Parks; CHRISTkindlmarkt; Gilmore Shows; Made in the South Shows; Historic Charleston Foundation; Drayton Hall; Charleston Christmas Special; Charleston Stage; South Carolina Ballet; SC Aquarium; Fort Sumter Tours; Patriots Point; and the Explore Charleston calendar for the parade date, the Marion Square markets, the Manigault House and the private-homes tour.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Charleston Christmas parade in 2026?
The City of Charleston's Holiday Parade is on Sunday, December 6, 2026, starting at 3pm. In 2025 it ran from Broad Street at Colonial Lake up Meeting Street to Marion Square, and the city tree was lit there after it finished. The city closed the route to traffic from 2pm that year, so walk in rather than drive. The 2026 route and tree-lighting time hadn't been posted as of November 7.
Where can you see Christmas lights in Charleston?
The Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park is the big one: a three-mile drive past more than 750 displays, nightly from November 13 through December 31, priced per car. Two free options open on December 4: Light the Lake at Colonial Lake downtown, and the Park Circle lights in North Charleston, which stay up until New Year's Day. Mount Pleasant runs a Christmas light parade down Coleman Boulevard on December 13.
Is there a Christmas market in Charleston?
Several, and most are outside downtown. Marion Square holds holiday markets on December 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19, from 9am to 3pm, and it's the only one on the peninsula. The CHRISTkindlmarkt is in Awendaw, about 20 miles north, by shuttle from a parking lot on Highway 17, and its night sessions sold out by early November. The Charleston Holiday Market is at the North Charleston Coliseum, November 20 to 22.
What is open in Charleston on Christmas Day?
Not much that you'd book. The South Carolina Aquarium, Patriots Point, Drayton Hall, Magnolia, Boone Hall and the Old Exchange are closed, the Fort Sumter ferry doesn't run, and the City Market closes for its one day of the year. The Holiday Festival of Lights is open its usual 5:30 to 10pm. Restaurants hadn't posted Christmas Day 2026 menus by November 7, so reserve as soon as they do.
Can you tour decorated historic houses at Christmas?
Yes. The Historic Charleston Foundation runs candlelight tours of the Aiken-Rhett House on December 4 and 5, at $45 for ages 12 and up. Drayton Hall runs a curator-led Christmas tour on five December dates for $35. The Joseph Manigault House shows the Garden Club of Charleston's decorations from December 5 to 27 at no extra charge over admission. A two-hour holiday walking tour on GetYourGuide includes entry to the decorated Edmondston-Alston House on the Battery.
Is Charleston worth visiting at Christmas?
Yes, if you want a walking trip with short lines. December averages a 62.7°F high, the historic district hangs wreaths and window candles, and the first three weeks are low season for hotel rates. Christmas week is the exception: rooms fill and prices jump. The decorated houses, the parade and most markets fall in the first three weekends of December, so that's when to come.
Plan the rest of December
Mild days, early dark, and the quietest weeks of the year until Christmas week arrives.
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