Kids are still feasting on Halloween candy, and you’ve got less than two weeks to figure out which sides you’re making for Thanksgiving. Oh, and Santa Claus is coming to town — if he’s not already here.
Feel like the holidays are creeping earlier every year? You’re not alone. On Thursday, the D.C. Holiday Market opened on a block-long stretch of New Hampshire Avenue NW, just north of Dupont Circle, with 35 vendors selling everything from jewelry to prints to cheese. On Friday, the DowntownDC Holiday Market, which fills two blocks of F Street NW in front of the National Portrait Gallery with 120 vendors, opens with live music and a ribbon cutting, beginning at 10 a.m. Both markets run for 40 days, stretching across six weekends before closing on Dec. 23.
Two years ago, when the D.C. Holiday Market made its debut in Dupont, both markets opened on Friday, Nov. 22 — the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Holiday shopping isn’t the only draw over the next few days: Gerren Price, the president and CEO of the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, says there’s a planned synergy to kick-start the city’s holiday spirit: Frosted, a seasonal attraction that fills Franklin Park with holiday light displays, twinkling tunnels and photo ops with “giant illuminated snowflakes,” opens Friday. On Saturday, pop and R&B singer JoJo performs a free outdoor concert of “well-known hits and holiday songs” at CityCenter, where she’ll compete for attention with the lighting of the 78-foot holiday tree and two 25-foot reindeer.
In the 13-year history of CityCenter’s holiday display, this is the first time the tree has been lit before Thanksgiving.
Market organizers say they’re not part of a scheme created by Big Christmas, but rather responding to public demand for more time to shop. Price says the DowntownDC Market had record-breaking attendance in 2025, with more than 300,000 visitors over 30 days. A survey of vendors by the market’s Brooklyn-based producers, the Maker’s Show, found that most wanted to extend the market beyond 30 days. There was a groundswell of support from downtown businesses, too. Price says a BID survey found that, for every $1 visitors spent at the holiday market, they spent $1.10 at restaurants and shops.
Michael Berman, the creator of Dupont’s D.C. Holiday Market, said the previous schedule was too congested for both visitors and vendors, especially on weekends. “People couldn’t get everything they wanted out of it,” he says. “I’ve been trying to get six weekends for the vendors. The small businesses and artists — they need all the opportunities they can to get their products in front of customers.”
For the Grinches among us, the key to surviving this early holiday season might be compartmentalizing the different elements. You might not want to hear “All I Want for Christmas Is You” or pose for a social media photo with a 10-foot candy cane in the first week of November, but wouldn’t it relieve some holiday stress if you’d already found a present for your mom or your niece before Black Friday rolls around?
“Waiting until Thanksgiving — that ship has sailed,” Berman says. “I don’t think [Black Friday] is the tradition any more.” The National Retail Federation agrees. The trade organization, which represents such behemoths as Walmart and Costco as well as mom-and-pop shops, says in its annual holiday survey that “for more than a decade, at least two in five holiday shoppers have reported they’re starting to browse and buy before November” to spread out their spending.
“Retailers have responded to this consumer demand by stocking holiday merchandise earlier and launching holiday sales events as early as October,” the group reports, even though “a growing share” of consumers wait until Black Friday to do most of their shopping, and most consumers don’t finish their purchases until some point in December, which tracks with Berman’s experiences of running both holiday markets and the Flea Market at Eastern Market. Opening weekend, he says, sees a “spike of excitement” — “Maybe they don’t shop like crazy, but they browse.” And in the December homestretch, the buzz builds: “It gets busier every day. People are there for a reason.”
Let us be clear as the moon on the breast of new-fallen snow: Most of Washington’s favorite holiday traditions remain on the other side of Turkey Day. The Washington Ballet’s 50th season of “The Nutcracker” begins at the Warner Theatre on Nov. 28. The U.S. Botanic Garden’s holiday train display is unveiled on Thanksgiving Day. Potomac River boat parades, Waterskiing Santa, Step Afrika’s holiday step show, the Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Show and the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony all take place in December.
For now, anyway. But who knows how things will look in a year or two?
“I am a lover of the holidays,” Price says, laughing. “I would do it on Oct. 31 if I could.”
If you go
D.C. Holiday Market: Open daily through Dec. 23, except on Thanksgiving and Nov. 30. 1500 block of New Hampshire Avenue NW. dcholidaymarket.net. Free.
DowntownDC Holiday Market: Open daily Friday through Dec. 23, except Thanksgiving. F Street between Seventh and Ninth streets NW. downtowndc.org/holiday-market. Free.
Frosted: Open daily Friday through Jan. 9. Franklin Park, I Street between 13th and 14th streets NW. downtowndc.org. Free.
CityCenter Tree Lighting: Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. Family-friendly activities begin at 5 p.m.; tree lighting and concert at 6 p.m. The Park at City Center, New York Avenue and 11th Street NW. citycenterdc.com. Free.
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