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Festivals of Trees 2026 and Holiday Home Tours by Date

Written by the USA Fest Bot team with AI help. · Published · Updated

Visitors drop ballots in a voting box under a large Festival of Trees banner trimmed with garland and lights
Guests vote for their favorite tree at a festival of trees, 2024 (not one of the events below). Photo: James Kimber, U.S. Navy, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, cropped.

This guide lists 27 festivals of trees and holiday home tours in 17 states for 2026: 20 festivals of trees grouped by opening date from October 30 to December 5, then 7 home tours and decorated historic houses. Each entry links to its listing and the organizer’s website.

At a festival of trees, businesses, nonprofits and families decorate Christmas trees and wreaths, and most of them raise money for a hospital or a local cause. Many run for a week or more, so the opening date is only the first chance to go. Town tree-lighting ceremonies have their own guide, Christmas Tree Lightings 2026. USA Fest Bot doesn’t sell tickets.

Dates can change, so check the event’s website before you go.

Open early: October 30 – November 15

Fargo opens first. Fraser’s festival lines the FARGODOME with trees decorated by local businesses, groups and families, and Santa arrives by horse-drawn sleigh on November 27. The Gazette’s Festival of Trees in Cedar Rapids auctions dozens of custom-decorated trees and wreaths and adds holiday train rides and hourly performances. In Nashua, nonprofits decorate trees that reflect their missions and set them in Main Street businesses, forming a holiday trail through downtown.

Weekend before Thanksgiving: November 20–22

Gillette’s festival began in 1992, when volunteers decorated 16 trees and wreaths; it now shows more than 60 and has raised more than $4 million for Campbell County. Ann’s Place in Danbury raffles off more than 150 trees and wreaths and draws 4,000 to 5,000 visitors over three days. Minot adds a Holiday Shoppe, a North Pole Play Zone and a live nativity, Greenville spreads nearly 100 themed trees across two downtown hotel lobbies, and Memphis’s Enchanted Forest at the Pink Palace leads from decorated trees into a snowy forest of animated bears, elves and penguins.

Close-up of a decorated Christmas tree with red tinsel, a gold ribbon and a glittering Merry Christmas ornament, with more trees behind it
A decorated tree at a festival of trees, 2024 (not an event in this guide). Photo: James Kimber, U.S. Navy, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, cropped.

Thanksgiving week: November 24–29

This is the busiest stretch. SLI’s Festival of Trees has been a Topeka tradition for nearly five decades, and Saint Alphonsus in Boise, more than four decades old, pairs Santa visits with an interactive LEGO display. Fort Wayne fills the Embassy Theatre and former Indiana Hotel lobbies with lighted trees and Santa Land. In Cody, each donor picks the Big Horn Basin nonprofit their tree, wreath or gift basket will support. The Amana Colonies’ Tannenbaum Forest sets more than 80 live trees around a 17-foot German Christmas pyramid, and McAllen’s Christmas Tree Forest shows trees that community groups, from preschoolers up, trim with handmade ornaments.

Early December: December 2–5

Utah’s Festival of Trees in Sandy has raised money for Primary Children’s Hospital for more than half a century and draws tens of thousands of visitors in a single week, with trees, handcrafted wreaths and gingerbread houses. Helena’s 39th festival runs under a Hollywood Holiday theme, and Billings has walked visitors through decorated trees at MetraPark since 1985, with a Saturday craft and gift show. New Haven’s Trees of Hope, held since 1990, fills the Long Wharf Maritime Center with more than 160 holiday displays.

Holiday home tours and decorated historic houses

Some of the best-dressed trees stand in historic homes. Biltmore’s Candlelight Evenings in Asheville are staged as a return to 1895, the first Christmas at Biltmore House. In Newport, the Preservation Society decorates nearly 30 trees to match the rooms of The Breakers, Marble House and Chateau-sur-Mer, and builds a 15-foot poinsettia tree from 150 plants. Grapevine’s self-guided tour visits historic homes in a town founded in 1844, and Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth trims furnished houses from the late 18th century through the 1950s with greens from its heirloom gardens. Eureka Springs brings its tour back after a one-year pause, Lubbock lights 15 historic ranch buildings, and Essex opens private homes within walking distance of the village.

A white brick sun porch with wicker chairs, a glass table with a red candle and a vintage Santa figure, decorated for Christmas
The Eisenhower home’s porch decorated for Christmas, Eisenhower National Historic Site, Gettysburg, 2015 (not an event in this guide). Photo: National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, cropped.

How a festival of trees works

Most of these events let you take a tree home. At Nashua, Danbury, New Haven and North Conway, you buy raffle tickets and drop them in the box for the tree you want. Others sell trees by auction: Cedar Rapids, Gillette, Cody and Billings hold tree auctions, while Westminster runs a silent auction with virtual bidding and Buy Now options, and Topeka and Helena have silent auctions too.

The money usually stays close to home. Sandy supports Primary Children’s Hospital, Memphis supports Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and Amana’s donations benefit the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Billings funds child abuse prevention in Yellowstone County, New Haven is the largest fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, and Danbury supports families facing cancer. North Conway sends 100% of its proceeds to the Carroll County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, including Meals On Wheels. For more events that raise money, see charity events.

Before you go

Look for special days. Cedar Rapids holds a Sensory Day on Friday, with a gentler layout and softer sights and sounds, plus a Senior Day that morning. North Conway is closed most midweek days but opens Wednesday, December 2, for Locals Night and Wednesday, December 9, for Seniors Day. Gillette’s Senior Day opens with a holiday lunch and live music.

Plan a little ahead. Memphis sells timed visits, and weekend slots go first. Boise takes cards and contactless payments only, with no cash. The Tannenbaum Forest barn in Amana is unheated, so dress warmly. In Newport, Chateau-sur-Mer opens only on Saturdays and Sundays, so go on a weekend to see all three houses. Most homes on the Eureka Springs tour have 4 to 12 steps to climb and are not handicapped accessible.

For more near you, filter Christmas events or this weekend’s events by state or ZIP, or see holiday lights, Thanksgiving events and our Christmas markets guide. Missing a festival? Submit a listing.

Quick answers

What is a festival of trees?

A display of Christmas trees and wreaths decorated by local businesses, groups and families, usually held to raise money for a charity. Many add Santa visits, performances and a raffle or auction for the trees.

When is the festival of trees near me?

In this guide, the first opens October 30 in Fargo, North Dakota, and the busiest stretch is Thanksgiving week, when 8 festivals open. Use the dates above, then check the organizer’s website for hours.

Can I take a tree home?

Often, yes. Many festivals raffle or auction their trees, and the winner takes the tree home when the festival ends.

USA Fest Bot is not affiliated with any event in this guide and does not sell tickets. Found a date that has changed? Send a correction.

Related on usafestbot: Festival of trees · Christmas events · Charity events · Holiday lights