In Buckeye, almost every part of the city's holiday season starts on the evening of Saturday, November 28. Shop Small Saturday, Cotton Fest, the tree lighting, free Santa photos and the Holiday Light Launch all fall on that one Saturday, at two sites. After that, things spread back out. The lights stay up through January 1, the downtown tree runs its show every half hour and Santa comes back to Sundance Park on two more December evenings.
The launch is the night with the most going on. On most of the other nights, the same lights get much less of a crowd.
Before the 28th, the season starts in the parks
Buckeye's fall Movie in the Parks series rotates through different parts of the city. The schedule puts Hocus Pocus at Tartesso Sports Park, Tartesso Parkway and 303rd Avenue, on Friday, November 6, and The Mario Galaxy Movie at Sundance Park on Saturday, November 7. The last screening is The Grinch at Windrose Park in Teravalis, 30221 Oleander Way, on Saturday, November 14. Every movie starts at 7 p.m. The city asks you to bring lawn chairs and blankets. The Community Services Department will have food trucks, activities and giveaways.
Two other holiday programs begin before Thanksgiving, and you can take part in both from home:
- Hometown Holiday Lights. Homes and businesses that sign up appear on a public map from November 8 to December 19. There are three categories: Jingle Bell Rock for musical displays, Griswold for over-the-top decorating and Deck the Halls for everything else.
- Santa letters. North Pole mailboxes are set up at Coyote Library, 21699 W. Yuma Rd. Suite 116; the Downtown Library, 310 N. 6th St.; Buckeye Valley Museum, 116 E. MC 85; Dr. Saide Rec Center, 1003 E. Eason Ave.; Sundance Rec Center, 21699 W. Yuma Rd.; the Senior Center, 201 E. Centre Ave.; and the Bookmobile. Letters dropped off by December 16 get a reply from Santa if they include the child's first and last name and a return address.
So by Thanksgiving, the movie series has stopped in Tartesso, Sundance and Teravalis, and the light map covers whichever neighborhoods sign up. All of that happens before downtown lights up.
November 28, hour by hour
On the 28th, everything moves downtown and to Sundance Park. The City of Buckeye's holiday activities page and its Holiday Light Launch calendar entry give this schedule:
- During the day, Shop Small Saturday. The Buckeye Mainstreet Coalition hands out "shop small shopping bags" at Benbow Park in downtown Buckeye, first come, first served. Each bag has goodies, coupons and information on downtown shops and restaurants.
- 3 p.m., Cotton Fest opens at 6th St. Plaza and Monroe Avenue. The street fair honors Buckeye's farming history. It has holiday shopping from local artisans, food trucks, inflatables, mariachi, carolers, dance performances, free giveaways and a section on the history of cotton.
- 3 to 5 p.m., car show. The classic car show runs during the first two hours of Cotton Fest.
- 5:30 p.m., Holiday Light Launch. It runs until 8:30 p.m., downtown and at Sundance Park.
- 6 p.m., tree lighting. The city's 33-foot Christmas tree lights up 6th Street Plaza, and free Santa photos start at the plaza and run until 8 p.m.
- 8 p.m., Cotton Fest wraps up. The Light Launch keeps going for another half hour.
At Sundance Park, the city's Candy Land walkthrough borrows places from the board game, including Gumdrop Pass, Peppermint Forest and Snowflake Lake. You walk from station to station, take photos and pose with themed props. Downtown gets thousands of lights and photo booth stand-ins. The Light Launch covers both sites during the same three hours, so most families will have to pick one to start with.
After the launch, the tree runs every half hour until 10
The downtown lights and the Sundance Park displays go on at sunset November 28 and stay up through January 1. That's 35 nights. Only one of them has a car show, food trucks and a crowd waiting for the tree to light.
The other 34 nights look quite different. The 33-foot tree at 6th Street Plaza plays a 15-minute music and light show every half hour from sunset to 10 p.m. If you want photos at the photo booth stand-ins without a line, or you have a toddler who would rather see the tree without a festival around it, a weeknight in early December works well. Downtown also has something sweet nearby. Gelato Tavern, which serves gelato and coffee, is at 343 E. Monroe Ave., Unit 100, within walking distance of the plaza.
The Candy Land walkthrough at Sundance Park, 22865 W. Lower Buckeye Rd., runs on the same schedule. The two Santa nights there are good times to go, because they add something to see without the crowd of launch night.
December's dates come before the lights go dark
The lights stay up into the new year, but the season's programs end earlier. Here is how the December schedule lines up:
| Date | What | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Dec 5 | Santa photos | Sundance Park | 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Glow on Monroe parade and Santa photos | Monroe Ave., 2nd St. to Apache Rd. | Event 6 to 9 p.m., parade at 6:30 p.m. |
| Wed, Dec 16 | Last day to drop off Santa letters for a reply | North Pole mailboxes citywide | During location hours |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Santa photos, and last night of the Hometown Holiday Lights map | Sundance Park; map online | 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
| Fri, Jan 1 | Downtown and Sundance Park lights' final night | Downtown and Sundance Park | Sunset to 10 p.m. shows |
Glow on Monroe is the one December event that brings a crowd back downtown. This free electric light parade fills Monroe Avenue with vintage vehicles, horse groups and industrial vehicles covered in holiday lights. Local school marching bands play along the route, and Santa stays afterward for photos. That makes three December Santa photo nights at two sites, Sundance Park on December 5 and 19 and Monroe Avenue on December 12, on top of the free Santa photos at Cotton Fest on November 28. If one Saturday doesn't work for your family, another one probably will.
The Hometown Holiday Lights map ends December 19, almost two weeks before the downtown lights come down. If you want to drive past the most elaborate home displays in Tartesso, Verrado or Sundance, plan to go before that date.
On the Verrado side, a new place for dinner
This year Buckeye also has a new evening spot beyond the city's holiday sites. The District at Verrado Marketplace, at the northeast corner of I-10 and Verrado Way, opened on Thursday, October 15, as reported by West Valley Post. VerradoWay describes the plan as a half-acre community green with a live-performance stage, a large video screen, a splash pad and outdoor seating areas surrounded by restaurants.
Here is what's around the green, with addresses and hours from each business's own page:
- Handel's Homemade Ice Cream, 1505 N. Verrado Way, Suite 105, is listed as open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
- SALT Tacos y Tequila, 1509 N. Verrado Way, Suite 104, posts hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.
- Shake Shack, 1505 N. Verrado Way, Suite 102, announced hours of 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, as reported by InBuckeye.
Safeway's new store at 1535 N. Verrado Way had a November 6 opening date with 6 a.m. doors, according to VerradoWay. More tenants are expected by the end of 2026, according to the same outlet's September tracker. They include Emersa, a speakeasy with an observatory-inspired design; Harkins Verrado Theatres and BackLot; OHSO Brewery & Distillery; BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse; and Tropical Smoothie Cafe. If you're in Verrado, The District gives you a place close to home for dinner or ice cream. You can stop there on a quieter weeknight and save downtown for the parade on December 12.
City event details can change after they are posted, so check the City of Buckeye event calendar before heading out on any of these nights.
At Inspired Real Estate Life, we follow Buckeye's calendar the same way our neighbors do. That includes the new places opening at Verrado Marketplace and the Saturday nights on Monroe Avenue. If you're planning a move around the holidays, or just want to know how your part of Buckeye is changing, we'd be glad to put together a Personalized Market Plan for you.
