Opelika's holiday calendar starts Sunday, Nov. 15, and runs through December. Most of it lands on two nights in the same week. On Friday, Dec. 11, four events overlap in a single evening. On Saturday, Dec. 12, the Victorian Front Porch Christmas Tour closes North 8th and 9th Streets to everything except foot traffic. That happens only once in its five-day run.
For anyone in east Opelika, including the Foxchase on Emerald Lake neighborhood, picking which events to attend is the easy part. The decision that matters is whether you see the porches from the car on Friday or on foot on Saturday. Everything else in December fits around that choice.
The November Warm-Ups
Two shopping days come before December. You can treat them as practice runs for parking downtown.
- Holiday Open House, Sunday, Nov. 15, noon to 4 p.m. Opelika Main Street's open house brings shop promotions and a passport prize challenge. Elves will be handing out $5 or $25 in Downtown Dollars, $250 in all, sponsored by Taylor Made Designs. The Opelika Main Street event page has the current details.
- Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28. The Auburn-Opelika Tourism listing encourages shopping downtown. Hours vary from shop to shop.
Dec. 4 Shows How a Downtown Christmas Night Works
SNOPELIKA comes a week before the busy stretch, and its street closures and parking plan are a good preview of the later nights downtown.
The Opelika Chamber of Commerce has set the Christmas parade for Friday, Dec. 4, at 5:30 p.m. This year's theme is "Christmas Movies." Last year's night parade had more than 90 entries. After the parade, artificial snow falls on Courthouse Square. The evening includes Santa photos, food trucks, local vendors, and snowball fights with the Opelika Police Department. It ends with the lighting of a 72-foot tree, which the Chamber calls the second tallest in Alabama. The tourism listing puts the activities at 6:45 p.m., the tree lighting at 7:30 and the end of the evening at 8:30.
The logistics:
- Streets close at 2 p.m. while floats line up, and they reopen at 8:30 p.m. The event goes on rain or shine.
- Free shuttles run 4 to 9 p.m. every 15 to 20 minutes. They leave from Parking Lot D at Southern Union State Community College and drop off near City Hall at South 7th Street and Avenue A. To reach the lot, turn right onto Lake Condy Road at Opelika High School, then right onto S. Union Drive.
- Public parking is available at the Chamber lot, 200 S. 6th St., and at the lot beside City Hall and The Surcie House, 204 S. 7th St. You can also park on the street along North Railroad Avenue, 1st Avenue and North 8th Street on the north side of the tracks. Handicap-accessible parking is in the back lot of the Lee County Courthouse, entered from South 10th Street.
If you'd like to help out, the Chamber's required volunteer information session is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chamber. Volunteers get a food and drink voucher and an entry for a $500 grand prize.
The Week Everything Lands: Dec. 9 to 13
The Victorian Front Porch Christmas Tour started in 1993 with a handful of homes. Today 60 homes on North 8th and 9th Streets in the Northside Historic District take part. The porches are filled with life-size Santas, angels, toys and carousel horses, and the tour has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living.
Most nights it's a self-directed driving tour. The schedule on the tourism listing shows how the week is set up:
Night | Porch tour format | Hours | What else is on |
|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday, Dec. 9 | Driving | 5 to 9 p.m. | Where's Theodore elf hunt, daytime |
Thursday, Dec. 10 | Driving | 5 to 9 p.m. | Christmas Drop-In, grades 3 to 5 |
Friday, Dec. 11 | Driving | 5 to 9 p.m. | Christmas in a Railroad Town, Collinwood Luminaries, Reindeer Express |
Saturday, Dec. 12 | Walking only | 6 to 9 p.m. | Reindeer Express, Winter Wonder Workshop in the morning |
Sunday, Dec. 13 | Driving | 5 to 9 p.m. | Christmas in Camelot, nightly all month |
Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday are the quiet nights. Friday and Saturday are where the decision gets made.
Friday, Dec. 11: Four Events, One Evening
Opelika Main Street's 31st annual Christmas in a Railroad Town runs downtown from 6 to 9 p.m., and every activity is free. The Railroad Investment Group provides train rides on South Railroad Avenue. At Santa's Workshop, children can decorate a train ornament, make reindeer food and write letters to Santa. Many merchants plan to stay open late with their own in-store activities. The only costs are food trucks and shopping.
The other events that night:
- Collinwood Luminaries, 5 to 9 p.m. on North 10th Street. This free neighborhood display includes a live nativity, and you can see it on foot or by car.
- Rocky Brook Rocket Reindeer Express, 5 to 8 p.m. at Municipal Park, also called Monkey Park. Train rides are $2 cash, s'more kits are $1 cash, and Santa visits are free.
- The porch tour's driving hours, 5 to 9 p.m.
The times suggest an order for the night. The Reindeer Express closes first, at 8, so families with young children may want to start at Municipal Park. The luminaries, Railroad Town and the porch drive all run until 9. Friday is also the last day of Opelika Parks and Recreation's free Where's Theodore elf hunt, which runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from Dec. 7 to 11. Participants follow clues on social media and bring the ornament they find to the SportsPlex for a prize.
On Friday you see the porches through a car window, in a line of traffic, between other stops.
Saturday, Dec. 12: The Porches on Foot
On Saturday the porch tour runs from 6 to 9 p.m., and North 8th and 9th Streets are closed to everything but foot traffic. It's the only night you can stop in front of a single house and take your time. The tour describes candlelit porches, costumed carolers and holiday music on the street.
You can fill out the rest of Saturday too. The Reindeer Express runs a second night, 5 to 8 p.m. at Municipal Park. That morning, Opelika Public Library at 1100 Glenn St. holds its free Winter Wonder Workshop from 10 to 11 a.m., with crafts, games, cocoa and letters to Santa.
The tour is run by volunteers, and the organizers have a volunteer sign-up linked from the listing for anyone who wants to work a night of it.
Dinner on Either Night
On both Friday and Saturday, the evening events run past the usual dinner hour, so the kitchens that matter are the ones posting late hours on those nights.
Restaurant | Address | Posted Friday and Saturday hours |
|---|---|---|
Café 123 | 123 S. 8th St. | Dinner 5 to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, full bar |
Zazu | 112 S. 8th St. | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday |
Irish Bred Pub | 833 S. Railroad Ave. | Kitchen 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., bar until 2 a.m. |
Jefferson's | 905 S. Railroad Ave. | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
Karvelas Pizza Co. | 704 1st Ave. | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
Karvelas is new to this holiday season. The company announced a Feb. 9 grand opening for its downtown location and marks it "EST. 2026" on its Opelika page. Its address is on 1st Avenue, and the Chamber's parking guide places 1st Avenue on the north side of the tracks, the same side as North 8th Street. Red Clay Brewing at 704 N. Railroad Ave. is also on that side. After former team member Chris Hutchison bought the brewery, it announced a taproom reopening for March 13 and 14, 2026, as Bama Buzz reported. Next door to Karvelas, Boxcar at 706 1st Ave. opened earlier this year as a microcinema, performance and arts venue with a café, according to the Opelika-Auburn News.
Café 123 and Zazu post hours for Tuesday through Saturday. If you're planning a Sunday drive on Dec. 13, check with them directly before counting on dinner there.
After the Big Week
The season keeps going after Dec. 13. Christmas in Camelot is listed nightly through December in the Camelot neighborhood off Rocky Brook Road. If you're looking for something earlier in the week, Opelika Parks and Recreation's Christmas Drop-In on Thursday, Dec. 10, runs 6 to 8 p.m. at Covington Recreation Center for students in grades 3 through 5 and costs $10. The city keeps its full holiday listing on its Opelika's Very Merry Christmas page.
Our agents work across Opelika all year, including in December. If you're thinking about a home in Opelika, from east Opelika to the historic blocks around North 8th and 9th, Three Sixty Real Estate can show you the area in person. Book an Appointment and we'll find a time that works around your December plans.
