Kirkwood's Holiday Walk Gets a Two-Week Encore in the KPAC Lobby

Downtown Kirkwood's Holiday Walk takes up one Saturday on the calendar. This year it falls on November 21, 2026, and the same morning opens the first Kirkwood Festival of Trees. The festival keeps decorated trees and wreaths on display in the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center lobby through December 4. For the first time, the downtown holiday season has a second anchor that stays open after the Holiday Walk is over. Its schedule is tighter than most people will expect, so the dates matter more than they would for an ordinary weekend event.

A one-day walk now opens a two-week run

The Downtown Kirkwood Special Business District is presenting the festival. It says the kickoff is timed "in coordination with the Downtown Kirkwood Holiday Walk." Kirkwood-area businesses, nonprofits, civic organizations and community groups decorate the trees and wreaths. The district says some displays will include gift cards, products, themed decorations and other surprises. Every tree is artificial. The participant rules cap trees at four feet wide and wreaths at three feet wide, so expect a lobby full of trees that fit in a living room.

The idea came from Kirkwood residents. Carrie Paske, executive director of Downtown Kirkwood, explained the origin to the Webster-Kirkwood Times:

"After several Kirkwood residents approached us about creating a new holiday experience, we knew this had the potential to become a cherished tradition that families would look forward to for years to come."

Walking through costs nothing. Explore St. Louis lists the festival as free admission at KPAC, 210 E. Monroe Ave. The money comes from the raffle, and the raffle is what makes December 4 the festival's second big date.

How the raffle decides where each tree ends up

Every display carries a label with the business or organization behind it and the display's name. Raffle tickets are $5 each and sold online. When you buy a ticket, you choose the specific tree or wreath you want to win. Each display has its own drawing, held Friday, December 4, at 2 p.m. Each winner takes their tree home that day, already decorated, for the rest of the holidays.

That timing works out well. A tree won on December 4 still has three weeks of the season left in someone's front room. A family that enters on opening weekend can win its holiday tree without stopping at a lot.

Proceeds go to two Kirkwood organizations, the Kirkwood Arts Foundation and KirkCare. The Webster-Kirkwood Times describes the money as helping provide access to the arts and assistance to local families in need.

The festival also gives out recognition separately from the raffle:

• Judged awards: a judging panel picks Best in Festival, with one tree and one wreath winning, plus Best Name/Theme, Best Cultural Tradition, Best Kirkwood Community Spirit and Most Unique/Creative. The festival page lists a People's Choice award alongside these.
• Community Favorite: after the drawings, the display that drew the most raffle entries is named Community Favorite.

Participants and invited guests see the displays a day early, at a private preview and awards reception on Friday, November 20. By the time the public walks in on Saturday, the judges may already have chosen their favorites.

The viewing hours are the catch

Many people will plan to stop by on a weeknight in late November, but the posted hours mostly rule that out. Here is when the lobby is open between November 21 and December 4, according to the festival page:

That gives the festival two Saturdays, weekday lunch hours, and whatever KPAC has on its stage. For anyone who works daytime hours, the two Saturdays are the main chance.

The performance rule opens a few more windows. The KPAC events calendar lists PINK'D at 7:30 p.m. on November 21 in the Ross Family Theatre. That puts the lobby back open around 6:30 p.m. on kickoff night, after the 4 p.m. daytime close. The calendar also lists a Coffee Concert Series show with Carmen Bonner at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 1, in the Strauss Black Box Theatre. That one falls inside the weekday window anyway, so the trees are a natural stop before or after it.

November 28 has its own overlap. The Downtown Kirkwood calendar lists Small Business Saturday that day, and the festival's second full Saturday of viewing lands on the same date.

November 21 now holds three openings at once

The 21st now carries three separate openings, and each sits at a different downtown address.

1. Santa's arrival at the station. The Holiday Walk is billed as "Kirkwood's Holiday Walk & Santa's Arrival on the Train." It will be the first Holiday Walk since the historic Kirkwood station at 110 W. Argonne Dr. reopened. First Alert 4 reported on September 15, 2026, that the 133-year-old station had officially reopened after a year-long, $4.7 million overhaul, with a restored platform, courtyard and micro-museum. The detailed schedule posted so far is last year's. In 2025, Santa arrived by train at 8:40 a.m. and posed for photos inside the station from 9 a.m. to noon. Mrs. Claus read stories and sang in Ken Connor Park, the Lucille Rapp Dancers performed at Station Plaza, and the tree lighting was held at 5 p.m. at 4 Hands & Peacemaker. The 2026 times have not been posted yet.
2. The Festival of Trees kickoff at KPAC. The lobby opens at 10 a.m. with hot cocoa and coffee. Santa makes a second appearance there from 1 to 2 p.m. Families who miss the morning train can still catch him on Monroe Avenue after lunch.
3. The holiday tree lot at the Summit. The Christmas Tree Lot and Gingerbread Shoppe at the Kirkwood Farmers' Market opens the same day, with hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The Summit describes a 1.5-acre lot selling fresh-cut trees from 2 to 16 feet tall, along with wreaths, garlands and greenery. It also has a heated shop with treats, décor, ornaments, gifts and stocking stuffers. The address is 150 E. Argonne Dr. The Summit says the lot stays open until December 24, closing at 1 p.m. that day. The Downtown Kirkwood market page lists December 23 as the last day.

A raffle ticket and a fresh-cut tree can both be part of the same morning. The festival trees are artificial and four feet wide at most, so a winning raffle tree can go in a second room next to a taller fresh one.

After the raffle, the season moves back outdoors and onto the stage

When the festival ends on December 4, the rest of the downtown holiday calendar takes over, and much of it sits close to the same lobby.

Let It Be Christmas tells a Christmas story through Beatles music. As of this writing, MetroTix lists tickets at $30, $35 and $40 before fees, and those prices can change. The Snowflake Sale has no set hours. Participating businesses run promotions all day.

For skating, the Kirkwood Ice Arena at 111 S. Geyer Road charges $6 for Kirkwood and Glendale residents and $7 for nonresidents, plus $3 for skate rental. The arena has only posted its October public-skating calendar so far. Check back for November and December sessions closer to the holidays.

Before the Festival of Trees, the downtown season ran from a single Saturday morning in November to scattered December dates. Now November 21 through December 4 is a continuous stretch with a lobby to visit and a drawing on its last day. December 4 at 2 p.m. is the date to keep, when the raffle trees go home to their winners.

Holiday events like the Festival of Trees are a good example of why I love working in Kirkwood. If you're thinking about a move in the new year and want to talk through what that could look like, Amy Prusinowski is happy to meet you for coffee on Argonne. Schedule a free consultation, and feel free to bring your raffle ticket.