At noon on Saturday, Nov. 28, the ice rink at Main Street Square opens to live music from Tanner Johns. Eight hours later the rink closes. In between, the Square holds a vendor market, two figure skating performances, visits with Santa, the mayor's tree lighting and the start of the 28th annual Festival of Lights Parade.
That one afternoon carries most of the outdoor part of Rapid City's 2026 holiday calendar. After it, the dated events move inside to two buildings, The Monument and the Performing Arts Center on Columbus Street. December's second busy stretch comes on the weekend of Dec. 12 and 13. Plan around those two main weekends, with a handful of evening concerts and shows in between, and the season gets much easier to manage.
Saturday, Nov. 28 runs on a tight clock
Two days after Thanksgiving, Visit Rapid City's Winter Market page lays out the day hour by hour. Entry to Winter Market is free, and the whole event is outdoors.
- 12:00 p.m. The ice rink opens, with live music by Tanner Johns
- 1:00 p.m. The marketplace opens in the vendor village around the Square, and Santa takes visitors by the Christmas tree until 5 p.m.
- 2:00 p.m. First performance by Black Hills Figure Skating
- 2:30 p.m. Tanner Johns plays again
- 4:00 p.m. Second figure skating performance
- 4:50 p.m. Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun gives a special address
- 4:57 p.m. Tree lighting countdown
- 5:00 p.m. Live music by Tanner Johns
- 6:00 p.m. The Festival of Lights Parade begins
- 8:00 p.m. The ice rink closes
Vendors pack up at 5 p.m., but the rink stays open until 8. The parade starts at 6. So the Square has a second shift, after the market closes, when skating and the parade overlap. Families with younger kids who would rather skip the evening crowd can come early: the rink opens at noon, Santa starts at 1, and they can skate before the first figure skating show.
The rink costs $10 for a day pass and $5 for skate rental. Military members, first responders, seniors and students get $1 off. Visit Rapid City calls it the region's only maintained outdoor ice rink with real ice. A Black Hills Federal Credit Union Warm Up Station with a fire gives skaters and shoppers a place to thaw out between performances.
The parade turns the Square into a waypoint
Once the tree is lit, the evening shifts from the Square to the streets around it. The Festival of Lights Parade starts at 6 p.m. Its organizers say the floats, horse-drawn carriages and lit flatbed trucks draw more than 30,000 spectators. According to Visit Rapid City, the route goes down Main Street and comes back up Saint Joseph Street. The loop means the floats pass along two parallel streets, so spectators can line either one.
Businesses, nonprofits and community groups can still enter a float. KOTA reported on Oct. 23 that registration packets are on the parade's website and that organizers plan to release more details closer to the date. Before you set out that evening, check the parade site for staging and street details.
December moves indoors to two buildings
After Nov. 28, almost every dated holiday event takes place at The Monument or at the Performing Arts Center at 601 Columbus St. Ticket prices vary a lot from event to event, so the table below lists them where they've been published.
| Date | Event | Venue | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue., Dec. 1, 7 p.m. | Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet | The Monument, Fine Arts Theatre | From $34 |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. | Black Hills Symphony Orchestra: A Night Before Christmas | Performing Arts Center | See symphony site |
| Tue., Dec. 8, 5 p.m. | Community Christmas Mixer | The Monument, Rushmore Hall | $30 |
| Sat., Dec. 12, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Holiday Marketplace Pop Up | The Monument, Rushmore Hall | Free |
| Sun., Dec. 13, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | Treasure Hunt Winter Bash Craft Fair | The Monument, Aspen Room | Free |
| Sun., Dec. 13, 3 p.m. | A Christmas Carol | The Monument, Fine Arts Theatre | $57 |
| Thu., Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. | Black Hills Symphony Orchestra: Disco Inferno | Performing Arts Center | See symphony site |
Two weeknight events fall in the first half of the month. The Nutcracker is on a Tuesday, three days after the parade, and the Community Christmas Mixer is the following Tuesday. Between them, the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra's A Night Before Christmas gives Dec. 5 a Saturday evening event. The symphony's schedule page links to ticketing but doesn't list prices, so check before you go.
Dec. 12 and 13 is the second weekend that matters
The Monument has events on both days of the middle weekend, and they work well together.
On Saturday, the Holiday Marketplace Pop Up fills Rushmore Hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's free, and The Grinch is there from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Families who want photos should plan on the morning.
On Sunday, the Treasure Hunt Winter Bash Craft Fair runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Aspen Room, with free entry. The national touring production of A Christmas Carol starts at 3 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre, the same hour the craft fair closes. One parking trip covers both. Shop the fair in the early afternoon, then walk over to the theater.
The Nov. 28 market is outdoors and runs four hours. The two Monument markets are indoors and run six hours each, which may suit anyone who would rather shop local vendors without standing in the cold. Downtown gets the season opener, and The Monument handles most of the shopping after that.
Where to eat around the calendar this year
A few places that opened in 2026 fit around these outings.
Nanna's House opened at Uptown Rapid, 2200 N Maple Ave. The Rapid City Business Journal reported on Aug. 28 that it is Rapid City's only dedicated gluten-free restaurant and bakery. Breakfast is served all day, the menu runs from bison burgers to pizza, and everything can be made dairy-free. It's open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., has an Early Bird breakfast menu with items under $10, and makes fresh fried donuts Friday through Sunday. The bakery also takes orders for specialty cakes and cupcakes, which helps when you're hosting a holiday party with guests who eat gluten-free.
Hot Pot Spot, an all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant at 2206 N Lacrosse St., held its grand opening on Sept. 7, according to its website. A hot pot dinner suits a cold December evening after a concert or a craft fair.
Natural Grocers opened on July 22 at 855 Omaha St., at West Boulevard and Mount Rushmore Road, according to the company's announcement. That corner is convenient for picking up holiday baking supplies.
Two more projects are in the works, though neither has announced an opening date. Cohort Craft Brewery owner Jason Kingsbury is opening Fifth Street Pizza in roughly 2,000 square feet at the brewery's original Fifth Street location. The space opened up after Cohort moved beer production to its Hill City-area site, the Rapid City Business Journal reported on Oct. 2. In the former Northgate Theater, owners Breawna Schwartz Ventura, Trinity Conrad and Anna Starenkova are building The Gate Event Center. The Rapid City Post described a venue with a large dance floor, a mezzanine and a commercial kitchen caterers can rent. The Gate's website still says "Coming Soon" and is taking advance bookings ahead of a grand-opening announcement.
Everyone fits the season around a different schedule, and the same is true of a move. I spend a lot of time with military households and relocating families who arrive in Rapid City close to the holidays and want to know how the city's calendar works before they settle in. If you're planning a move around the holidays, or helping someone new to town get oriented, Kevin Andreson of ARC Real Estate Company is glad to talk through the timing with you. Let's Connect.
