Lake Forest's Holiday Season Passes Between Three Places

This year, Lake Forest's holiday season starts at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, November 25, at Elawa Farm. It ends at 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, December 20, in a theater on Illinois Road. Between those two points, three places take turns leading: Elawa Farm opens the season, Market Square takes the Thanksgiving weekend, and Gorton Community Center carries most of December, with Elawa returning on weekends. Read that way, the separate event listings turn into one schedule, and the dates that matter most stand out.

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26. Here is how the handoffs fall.

Wednesday, November 25: Elawa Farm opens the season

The first holiday date on the Lake Forest calendar comes before Thanksgiving dinner. Elawa Farm's 2026 Thanksgiving Market runs Wednesday, November 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. It doubles as pickup for the farm's pre-orders: pasture-raised turkeys, seasonal sides and house-made desserts from the Elawa kitchen. While you're there, you can join a wine tasting with sommelier Tim Clark and browse holidayware and seasonal goods.

The pre-order is the step to plan for now. Elawa takes orders ahead of the market and prices them separately from the market itself. If you want an Elawa turkey on the table, the Thanksgiving Market pre-order page is where that decision gets made, well before the Wednesday pickup.

Friday, November 27: Market Square lights the tree, starting at Gorton

Two days later the season moves downtown. The City's 42nd Annual Tree Lighting Holiday Celebration returns to Market Square on Friday, November 27. The first item on the schedule happens off the square, inside the building that will carry most of December. Lake Forest Parks & Recreation lists the full afternoon like this:

1. 1 p.m. Holiday movie at Gorton Community Center
2. 3 p.m. Kids' activities in Market Square
3. 3:15 to 6 p.m. Visits with Santa
4. 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Lake Forest Civic Orchestra with the Lake Forest High School Festival Brass Ensemble
5. 4:40 p.m. Caroling by the Lake Forest High School Choristers
6. 5 p.m. Lake Forest Dance Academy performs, and the lights go on just after

Rosati's, Left Bank, the LF/LB Rotary Club and Sage Explorers will be on site, and Aire Serv of Lake Forest-Gurnee is pouring hot chocolate and coffee. Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company sponsors the evening.

Look at the timing. The orchestra plays at 3:30 and the lights don't come on until after 5. Santa visits run past the lighting, until 6. That leaves room to treat the afternoon as two visits: one for the music and Santa line while it's still light, and one for the lighting at dusk. The 2026 listing gives no parking or street-closure details, so check with the City closer to the date. The contact on the event page is Aaron Dalzot at 847.810.3930.

Saturday, November 28: the shops take over

The square doesn't go dark after Friday. On Saturday, November 28, the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce runs its Cocoa Crawl. The Chamber's invitation is to "swing into favorite spots for great gifts, cocoa and a Holiday Trolley ride." Once Upon a Bagel Lake Forest is supplying the cocoa and treats.

Friday's crowd comes for the tree, and Saturday's crowd comes for the storefronts around it. The square that hosted the lighting becomes a shopping route the next day. By Sunday, the season is ready to move indoors.

December moves indoors to Illinois Road

From early December, Gorton Community Center at 400 E. Illinois Road carries most of the season. Lake Forest College adds two concerts, and one of them is held in Gorton's theater.

Gorton's Kids Only Holiday Shop runs from 2:30 to 6 p.m. on a Wednesday, which lines up with the end of the school day. Lake Forest College's Band and Orchestra Concert asks community members to register, and the first 50 who do get an invitation to a reception before the concert. If you want that reception, register early.

The Lake Forest Civic Orchestra plays at both ends of the season. It performs in Market Square on November 27 and closes Gorton's calendar with the Holly Jolly Concert on December 20. Raffle entries for that concert are sold alongside tickets at $50.

Elawa's three weekends each have a different character

While Gorton handles the evenings, Elawa Farm comes back for weekends. This year the farm is expanding its Holiday Market to three weekends, each with a different focus. Every weekend runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• December 4 to 6. About 14 local vendors set up in the Hay Barn with holiday décor, jewelry, ceramics, fashion, stationery, sweets and liqueurs. Seasonal greenery fills the Courtyard, Potting Shed and Greenhouse, and the Elawa Farm Market gift collection is in the Wagon Shed alongside pastries, forced bulbs and fresh bread.
• December 11 to 13. No outside vendors. The farm calls it "a quieter, more relaxed shopping experience," with the gift collection, greenery, groceries and Elawa-made pastries.
• December 18 to 20. Greenery, holiday pastries and the gift collection, set up for final gifts before the holidays.

Elawa also lists holiday crafts and other activities for children throughout the season. The page doesn't print a year next to these dates. They do fall on Friday-through-Sunday stretches in December 2026, but confirm on Elawa's site before you plan around them.

The choice is really about which weekend you want: outside makers appear only on the first, while the middle one is built to be quiet and the last is set up for whatever is still on the list.

The weekend of December 4, when the farm and Gorton overlap

Lay the venues on one calendar and the busiest stretch is easy to see. On Friday, December 4, Elawa's vendor weekend opens at 10 a.m., and Lake Forest College's Band and Orchestra Concert fills Gorton at 7 p.m. On Saturday morning, Gorton's Holiday Centerpiece workshop starts at 9 a.m., an hour before Elawa's barn opens for its second day.

Those two Saturday events fit together. A centerpiece class at 9 and a greenery stop at Elawa afterward can make one morning, especially since Elawa sells seasonal greenery in three separate buildings that weekend. Because the centerpiece workshop is ticketed through Gorton at $78.75, it's the one Saturday plan that needs booking ahead.

Nothing else in the season stacks up like this. The weekend of December 11 to 13 is spread out: Gorton's White Christmas screening is on Thursday the 10th, and Elawa's quiet weekend follows. That stretch is the easiest one for hosting guests who are new to town.

December 20, when both venues close the same afternoon

The season ends with Elawa Farm and Gorton working on the same day. Sunday, December 20, is the last day of Elawa's final market weekend, open until 4 p.m. The Holly Jolly Concert begins at Gorton at 4 p.m. and runs until 5:20. The farm closes just as the concert starts, so doing both means visiting the farm earlier in the afternoon for last greenery and pastries, then heading to the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra in the John & Nancy Hughes Theater.

Here's the season by the week, so you can plan your own:

• Week of Nov. 23. Elawa Thanksgiving pickup Wednesday morning. Tree lighting Friday, from 1 p.m. at Gorton through the 5 p.m. lighting. Cocoa Crawl Saturday.
• Week of Nov. 30. Kids Only Holiday Shop and the College choral concert, both Wednesday. Elawa vendor weekend opens Friday. Band and Orchestra Concert Friday night.
• Weekend of Dec. 5. Centerpiece workshop at 9 a.m., then Elawa's greenery.
• Week of Dec. 7. White Christmas Thursday. Elawa's quiet weekend Friday through Sunday.
• Week of Dec. 14. Elawa's final weekend, ending with the Holly Jolly Concert Sunday at 4.

If the centerpiece workshop and Elawa's greenery have you rethinking how your own rooms look when guests come over this season, we'd love to help. Kim & Carleigh bring an interior designer's eye to color, layout and styling for the holidays and beyond. Schedule a design-forward consultation, and let's set the table together.