At 6 p.m. on Friday, December 4, the lights will come on in Dwyer Park, the small green near Elm and Birch behind the post office. Santa follows the tree, and this year the Winnetka-Northfield-Glencoe Chamber of Commerce says a couple of his reindeer are coming too. Two days later, clusters of red balloons will mark the participating storefronts across Winnetka, Northfield and Glencoe for the 47th Red Invitation.
Between those two moments sits almost all of the village's December. The date comes from a counting rule tied to Thanksgiving. The weekend's shopping route now passes storefronts that didn't exist last December, and one storefront that is gone. At the center of town, the corner of Elm and Lincoln will still be a construction site.
A Date Set by Counting Sundays
The Chamber holds the Red Invitation on the second Sunday after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, so the count lands on Sunday, December 6. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Chamber describes the whole weekend as Red Invitation weekend: the Winnetka and Northfield tree lightings, carolers, children's choirs and Santa all hang on the same calendar.
It started small. According to the Chamber's history of the event, it began in 1976, when a single retailer held a one-day Sunday sale before the holidays and promoted it with a simple red invitation. Neighboring merchants joined, the sale spread through Winnetka's shopping districts, and it took in Northfield in 2011 and Glencoe in 2021. The Chamber describes the event this way:
"a distinctly local alternative to Black Friday and big-box shopping"
Shopping often runs all weekend. Patch's listing for the 2025 Red Invitation counted almost 40 participating retailers and businesses, many of which extended the celebration to Friday and Saturday. Parking is free and stores serve seasonal refreshments.
Friday to Sunday, in Order
With the Sunday fixed, the rest of the weekend falls in around it. Here is how December 4 through 6 lines up this year:
- Friday, December 4, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Holiday Tree Lighting at Dwyer Park has free hot drinks and treats, holiday caroling, the lighting at 6 p.m., and then Santa, elves and reindeer.
- Saturday, December 5, 9 to 11:30 a.m. The Community House Junior Board puts on Winter Wanderland, a walk through holiday-themed scenes that board members design, install and staff themselves. Past scenes have included "Santa on Vacation in the Caribbean" and "Fun with Snoopy and Friends." There are photo ops, a visit with Santa, and hot cocoa served by volunteers. Proceeds go to the Community House.
- Saturday, December 5, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. A Christmas Carol has its first two family theater performances at the Community House.
- Sunday, December 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 47th Red Invitation runs across all three villages.
- Sunday, December 6, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The last two performances of A Christmas Carol.
The Chamber's tree lighting page gives the date as Friday, December 4, 2026, in its headline. Its body text still says "Friday, December 5," a leftover from last year, when the 5th was a Friday. This year December 5 is a Saturday, so plan on Friday the 4th. Tickets for Winter Wanderland were listed as "on sale soon" at last check, so the Community House page is the one to watch in November.
Where the Route Has Changed Since Last December
A Red Invitation weekend is a walk from storefront to storefront, and several of those storefronts changed this year.
Chestnut Street has the biggest change, on two neighboring addresses. In June, Patch reported that The Lake Effect had opened at 547 Chestnut Street, in the original home of Chestnut Street Flowers. It is a curated shop built around everyday life along the North Shore, the next venture for Chestnut Street Flowers founder Allison Cassato, created with creative director Katie Cassato. Next door at 549 Chestnut, the needlepoint shop The Classic Stitch is changing hands after 20 years. The Record North Shore reported that Kathryn Cannon Weir and Mackenzie Reimer, the owners of Third Coast Stitches, planned to reopen it in October as Third Coast At The Classic Stitch. Both shops will have new names this December.
Hubbard Woods picked up one shop this year and lost one. Chicago Food Magazine reported in March that the British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat had opened its fifth Chicago-area boutique in the Hubbard Woods shopping district, at 912 Green Bay Road. The store sells truffles, seasonal collections and gift assortments, and it has a grab-and-go Velvetiser Café. A few doors up at 999 Green Bay Road, Green Bay Cycles closed after February 28 when its owners, Pam and Larry Faulkner, retired, as The Record reported in January.
Several familiar shops are still on the route. The Record's 2025 hometown gift guide included these Winnetka stops last December:
- The Book Stall, 811 Elm Street, for its holiday book selection
- Maze Home, 735 Elm Street, for customizable drinkware and glassware
- Hewn Bread, 894 Green Bay Road in Hubbard Woods, for its branded shirts, hats and water bottles
The Corner That Stays Fenced One More Season
The biggest piece of downtown Winnetka still isn't part of the route. One Winnetka, on the southeast corner of Elm Street and Lincoln Avenue, was scheduled for completion in December 2026, with its first-floor tenants opening in early 2027, according to The Record's February report. That timeline makes this year's Red Invitation weekend the last expected one before those storefronts open.
The commercial space is fully leased. The Record reported the tenants as a restaurant from Ballyhoo Hospitality, Fare, Solidcore, Winnetka Aesthetic Studio, Duet Preservation Audiology and Charles Schwab. The Ballyhoo restaurant was first announced as Arkadia. By June it was getting a new name, and the development now lists it as Café Kosta. The Village approved seasonal outdoor dining for the restaurant: 17 tables and 74 seats at the Elm and Lincoln corner, as The Record covered in June.
So for one more December, the busiest weekend of the downtown shopping year happens around that corner. The next Red Invitation is the first expected to include it.
Before and After, Mostly on Ice
The same Thanksgiving calendar sets the dates on either side of the weekend, and most of them are at Winnetka Ice Arena, 490 Hibbard Road. The Winnetka Park District's skating schedule needs no registration, and admission at the public skates is $2, with rentals at $4.
- Saturday, October 31, 2 to 3:20 p.m. Halloween Party on Ice is two days after this post goes up. Skaters in costume get in free; masks that cover the whole face aren't allowed.
- November 19 to 22. Children's Theatre of Winnetka stages Annie the Musical at the Community House.
- Thursday, November 26, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Turkey Day Skate falls on Thanksgiving morning, the day the Red Invitation count starts from.
- Saturday, December 12. The Ugly Sweater Holiday Skate runs from 2 to 3:20 p.m., with free admission in an ugly sweater. The Holiday Skating Exhibition starts at 12:50 p.m., with skaters from the Snowplow Sam through Free Skate programs.
That means a skate on Thanksgiving morning, the tree lighting the next Friday, the Red Invitation that Sunday, and the ugly sweaters a week later.
If the holiday weekend has you thinking about a home on Chestnut Street, in Hubbard Woods, or close to the new corner at Elm and Lincoln, The Dickstein Group would be glad to talk it through over coffee in town. Request a private consultation, and we'll share what we're seeing in the blocks you care about.
