Most of Wilmette's 2026 holiday season falls on two weekends: Dec. 4 through 6, then Dec. 10 through 13. Between them, those six days carry most of what the Park District, the Village, the Wilmette History Museum and the Wilmette Public Library have scheduled for December.
Booking runs on an earlier clock. Breakfast with Santa and The Nutcracker both open registration or ticket sales in November. By the time the first wreath goes up on Wilmette Avenue, most of the planning is already behind you.
The First Weekend Belongs to the Whole Village
The first weekend is the only stretch of the season where all four organizations program at once. The Village's Holiday Happenings in Wilmette runs Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 1200 Wilmette Ave., which is Village Hall. The listing calls it "a full day of Holiday fun and activities," and the day-of schedule will be posted there.
Three other events land on that same Saturday:
- 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. Breakfast with Santa holds its first seatings at The Lawn, the restaurant inside Wilmette Golf Club at 3900 Fairway Drive.
- All weekend. The Park District's Family Gingerbread House Workshops run Dec. 5 and 6 at the Community Recreation Center for ages 3 and up. They cost $41 for residents and $52 for nonresidents.
- 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. The Wilmette Public Library holds its Secret Gift Workshop for grades 1 through 8 in the Youth Program Room, with sessions from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and 3 to 4:30 p.m. Kids make cards and gifts to give away.
The weekend opens Friday, Dec. 4. The Wilmette History Museum at 609 Ridge Road hosts One Smart Cookie Storytime from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. It's free, and library staff lead stories, songs and cookie decorating at the museum. That evening, the Park District's Adult Gingerbread Night Out starts at 7 p.m. at the Lakeview Center for ages 21 and up. It costs $55 for residents and $69 for nonresidents.
Sunday, Dec. 6 runs on the same baking theme. Breakfast with Santa has three more seatings, the family gingerbread workshops continue, and the museum hosts Community Show & Tell: Baked Goods Edition from 2 to 3 p.m. It's free for members and $5 for nonmembers.
If Saturday has a gap between a library session and the evening at Village Hall, the village center has a new place to wait it out. Patch reported on Oct. 26 that Sweet Moon Café is open at 1222 Washington Court, next to the car wash and the Metra station. It serves pastries, coffee, breakfast and lunch Wednesday through Monday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., so Saturday is covered. This is the bakery's second location after its first on Chicago's North Side. It took over the storefront that housed Fuel Fusion until September 2025.
Breakfast With Santa Spread From Three Mornings to Five
Breakfast with Santa is the one event that covers both weekends, and its schedule has grown. In 2024, The Record North Shore's holiday roundup listed it at The Lawn Grill on three dates: Dec. 7, 14 and 21. The 2026 listing has five dates, adds Sundays, and offers three seatings each morning:
- Saturday, Dec. 5
- Sunday, Dec. 6
- Saturday, Dec. 12
- Sunday, Dec. 13
- Saturday, Dec. 19
That makes 15 seatings, all at 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m. Four of the five mornings fall on one of the two big weekends, so a family can do breakfast at the golf club and still make Holiday Happenings or a Nutcracker matinee the same day.
Registration also works differently this year. The Park District flags it as "NEW IN 2026": you register through The Lawn Grill, and booking opened Nov. 1. The Lawn hosts the morning in partnership with the Park District. The package includes a visit with Santa, a photo, a family-style breakfast and a goodie bag. Prices are $25 for ages 3 to 11 and $50 for ages 12 and up, and children 2 and under eat free. The 2024 roundup listed separate resident and nonresident rates, so the two years don't line up price for price.
The venue is the same one it has been. Wilmette Golf Club's restaurant page describes The Lawn as a year-round restaurant and bar, open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, from the team behind Left Coast Food + Juice. The clubhouse that hosts the breakfasts is also a regular dinner spot through the winter.
The Second Weekend Moves to the Stage and the Ice
The second cluster comes almost entirely from the Park District, and it moves from Village Hall to the stage and the rink. The Nutcracker runs four days in a row:
| Date | Performances | Also that day |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Dec. 10 | 7 p.m. | Elf Meetup at Santa's Mailbox, 4 to 5 p.m. |
| Friday, Dec. 11 | 7 p.m. | Last day for Santa's Mailbox |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Noon and 3 p.m. | Breakfast with Santa seatings |
| Sunday, Dec. 13 | Noon and 3 p.m. | Breakfast with Santa; Holiday Exhibition at Centennial |
Tickets are $13. Pre-sales opened Nov. 3 and general sales opened Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. You can buy online or at the front desk of the Community Recreation Center.
Sunday, Dec. 13 is the busiest day of the second weekend. Centennial Ice Rinks, 2300 Old Glenview Road, holds its Holiday Exhibition from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., and spectators get in free. The exhibition's two-hour window starts after the noon Nutcracker curtain and before the 3 p.m. one, and the day's breakfast seatings come before both.
What Has to Happen in November
Here is where the November dates stand:
- Breakfast with Santa: booking through The Lawn Grill has been open since Nov. 1.
- The Nutcracker: general ticket sales have been open since Nov. 10.
- Gingerbread workshops and Holiday Cookie Crew: registration for all three opens with the Park District's Late Fall season. Cookie Crew runs Dec. 2 from 4 to 5 p.m. at Mallinckrodt Center, 1041A Ridge Road, for ages 5 and up, and costs $10 to $12.
- Monday, Nov. 23: a no-school-day public skate at Centennial runs noon to 1:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 24: the Park District posts its winter programs for 2027.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: Santa's Mailbox opens at the gazebo in Mallinckrodt Park. Kids can drop off letters for free through Dec. 11.
The mailbox is the one holiday event that runs over a long stretch, but it closes on Dec. 11, the Friday of the Nutcracker weekend. It goes up before the busy weekends start and comes down as they wrap up.
After the 13th, the Calendar Thins Out
Once the Holiday Exhibition and the last Nutcracker matinee finish on Dec. 13, the holiday listings drop off sharply. The last Breakfast with Santa seatings are Saturday, Dec. 19. After that, the rink takes over. Centennial Ice Rinks holds Skate with Santa on Thursday, Dec. 24, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The fee is $5 with a nonperishable food donation for the Wilmette Food Pantry. A New Year's Eve Skate follows on Thursday, Dec. 31, from noon to 1:30 p.m., with fees from $4 to $9.
Regular public skating at Centennial continues through the quiet stretch: Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The posted schedule skips certain holiday dates, so check the Park District's skate page before heading over during the last two weeks of the year. The fall-to-spring public skate season runs through June 5, 2027.
The holiday weekends put a lot of Wilmette's December around Village Hall, Mallinckrodt Park and the Fairway Drive clubhouse. If that has you thinking about how your own place would show this winter, Allie Payne and our team would be glad to talk it through over coffee at Sweet Moon. Request a free home valuation, and we'll give you a clear read on your Wilmette home before the new year.
