After Starlighting, Downtown Castle Rock Has Something On Nearly Every Night

Of all of downtown Castle Rock's holiday evenings, only one depends on the Saturday the star goes on. The Castle Rock Chamber has scheduled the 2026 Starlighting for Saturday, Nov. 21, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Historic Wilcox Square and Festival Park. The star should light at about 5:30 p.m., and fireworks follow right after.

The next morning, downtown changes from one crowded afternoon into a calendar. From Nov. 22 through Dec. 29, there is a holiday ride on Wilcox and the streets around it on nearly every evening of the week. Two December weekends add more on top of that. Starlighting is the opening night of the season. It is also the busiest and least flexible part of it.

Saturday, Nov. 21, Hour by Hour

The Chamber has posted the outline of the day. The full entertainment schedule, booth map and event map were still marked "coming soon" as of late October. Here is what is set so far:

1. 1:30 p.m. Free shuttles start running from three outlying lots.
2. 2:00 p.m. The festival opens. Strolling carolers, dance groups, a kids zone with a petting zoo and face painting, nonprofit and sponsor booths, food trucks, and four Chamber beverage tents run all afternoon. Biff Gore plays the main stage at 4th and Wilcox.
3. 2:00 to 4:15 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus are in Festival Park.
4. All afternoon The Castle Rock Professional Firefighters host the 90th annual Chili Supper at Castle Rock Fire Station 151, serving beef chili, nachos, hot dogs, drinks and desserts.
5. 5:00 p.m. The ceremony begins on the main stage at 4th and Wilcox.
6. About 5:30 p.m. The star lights, followed by fireworks if the weather allows.
7. 8:00 p.m. The last shuttles run, and the street closures lift.

General admission is free. Chamber events don't take cash, so bring a credit or debit card for the beverage tents and Chamber vendors.

One person in the crowd will flip the switch. The Chamber is auctioning that spot, and online bidding runs through Friday, Nov. 6. That is the day after this post publishes. Bidding starts at $2,000 and goes up in steps of at least $250. The winner flips the switch on the main stage, gets recognized from the stage and gets photos of the moment. The money supports the Chamber's Veterans Alliance and Tours for Teachers programs.

Getting In When Five Streets Close at 6 a.m.

The street closures begin long before the music does. From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 21, these streets are closed:

• Perry Street, from 5th to 2nd
• North Wilcox Street, from 5th to 3rd
• 4th Street, from Jerry to Perry
• 3rd Street, from Wilcox to Perry
• 2nd Street, from Wilcox to Perry

Plan your morning errands around those blocks, too. If a downtown coffee run or pickup is on your Saturday list, the closures will already be in place when you head out.

The Chamber's shuttle plan is the simplest way in. Free rides run 1:30 to 8 p.m. from these spots:

• AdventHealth Castle Rock: the Alexander parking lot at 2350 Meadows Blvd., with drop-off at Fifth and Wilcox
• Douglas County High School: the south building at 2842 Front Street, with drop-off at Fifth and Wilcox
• Douglas County Fairgrounds: Lot 5 at 500 Fairgrounds Drive, with drop-off on the street between South and Phelps streets, by Eternal Rock Lutheran Church and the Folkestad Fazekas buildings

Return shuttles leave from the same spot that dropped you off, and each one loops back only to its own lot. If you park at the Fairgrounds, you'll need to walk back to the South and Phelps stop rather than the Fifth and Wilcox one.

If you'd rather drive downtown, the Chamber points to the Encore garage at Wilcox and Perry and the garage at 3rd and Jerry. It also links to the Town of Castle Rock downtown parking map for the most accurate information.

The 2026 plan matches last year's. The 2025 event map showed the same three shuttle lots, the same hours and the same closed blocks. The date simply moves from Nov. 22 last year to Nov. 21.

The Crew Behind the Chili Also Keeps the Star

The firefighters run more than the chili line. According to 9News, the 40-foot star has 100 bulbs. Castle Rock Hose Co. No. 1 built it, and Castle Rock Fire and Rescue maintains it. CBS Colorado has reported that four firefighters serve as "Keepers of the Star." They look after it all year, replacing wiring and sockets and checking bulbs. The star has also carried messages. CBS Colorado reported orange and blue bulbs during Broncos Super Bowl seasons and a victory "V" during World War II.

The tradition is older than the festival. The star was first lit in 1936, and the Chamber started Starlighting in 1962.

How long the star stays on is what makes Starlighting an opening night. 9News reported that the star stays lit through the National Western Stock Show and goes dark after the show ends in January. No fixed date for 2027 has been published. If the tradition holds, though, the star will hang over downtown for about eight weeks. Starlighting takes up four hours of that.

The Weeks After, Night by Night

Two downtown programs pick up the evening schedule the day after Starlighting, and they split the week between them. The Downtown Castle Rock carriage rides run Nov. 22, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. They operate Wednesday through Friday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m. There are no rides on Nov. 26, Dec. 24, Dec. 25 or Dec. 31. Rides leave from the big tree in Festival Park, and tickets must be bought ahead of time. The free winter trolley covers Mondays and Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Nov. 23 through Dec. 29, while the downtown holiday lights are on.

Put together, the schedule looks like this:

From Monday, Nov. 23, through Tuesday, Dec. 29, a ride runs every night except the holidays the carriage schedule skips. The carriages keep going into the first weekend of January, after the trolley has stopped.

The free Mondays and Tuesdays are the easiest nights to fit in. You don't need to book, the hours are short, and the trolley runs on the two nights the carriages don't. The weekend carriage slots are the ones to reserve early, since they have the shortest hours of the week.

Two December Weekends With Something Extra

The Town of Castle Rock adds events in December, mostly in Festival Park, the same space Starlighting uses.

• Starlight Market, Friday, Dec. 4, 3 to 8 p.m. This free market in Festival Park has more than 40 vendors, holiday food, music and a decorated 40-foot tree.
• Starlight Market, Saturday, Dec. 5, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The same market runs a second day with longer hours.
• Reindeer Games, Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 to 4 p.m. At the Amphitheater at Philip S. Miller Park, the Town lists live reindeer, Santa, crafts, outdoor games and hot chocolate.
• Storytellers and S'mores, Saturday, Dec. 12, 5 to 7 p.m. This free Festival Park evening has holiday stories, s'mores and hot chocolate.

Saturday, Dec. 5, is the fullest day of the season after Starlighting. The reindeer wrap up at Philip S. Miller Park at 4 p.m. The market in Festival Park stays open until 7, and the carriage rides start at 5 from the tree in that same park. Families could spend the whole afternoon and evening on those three without making a second trip downtown.

Where to Eat Between Rides

Downtown has added places to eat since last season, so the hour before a carriage ride can include dinner nearby.

Homegrown Tap & Dough opened at 221 Wilcox St. on Dec. 26, 2025, the day after Christmas, so this is its first full holiday season downtown. Izumi Sushi soft-opened at 115 Third St. on May 11, 2026, DougCoSocial reported. Third Street is one of the streets closed on Starlighting day. If you're planning to eat there on Nov. 21, expect to walk in. On any of the trolley or carriage nights that follow, the street is open as usual.

Champagne Velvet Proper Kitchen & Bar is a good choice for a morning outside the downtown core. It reopened the former I.C. Brewhouse space at 2355 Mercantile St. on May 17, 2026, and has served brunch daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. since Aug. 19, according to DougCoSocial. On Starlighting Saturday, a late brunch there finishes about when the festival opens at 2.

More downtown storefronts are on the way, though neither has announced an opening date. Pilates Addiction plans a reformer studio at 333 Perry St., and Graze Craze is listed as coming soon at 422 Elbert St.

If Starlighting week is when you start thinking about a move within Castle Rock, or into it, Graham Group Real Estate is glad to talk about what the next year could look like, at whatever pace suits you. Start a Conversation whenever you're ready.