On Saturday, Nov. 28, the Lighted Christmas Parade leaves the Scottish Rite Temple at 6 p.m. That same night, a few blocks to the west, the drive-through lights in the Cottonwood Flats open for the season. Two different nonprofits run these events, each with its own volunteers, its own mission and its own logic about how people should experience the holidays. Their schedules interlock across five Saturdays, and only one of them, Dec. 5, carries more than one major event.
Two Organizations, Two Ways to See It
Downtown belongs to the Territorial Christmas Foundation, a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) that produces the parade, the Historic Homes Tour and the Victorian Walk Nights. In 2025, the Guthrie News Page described the Foundation as dedicated to preserving the holiday heritage behind Guthrie's title as the Christmas Capital of Oklahoma. Nearly everything it puts on is meant to be seen on foot.
The Cottonwood Flats belong to A Very Merry Guthrie Christmas, a separate 501(c)(3) public charity that has lit the Flats since 2020. You see its display from your car.
Because the two groups are separate, their schedules don't step on each other. In 2026 they fit together like this:
- Friday, Nov. 27: The Pollard Theatre opens A Territorial Christmas Carol, which runs through Dec. 23.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: The Lighted Christmas Parade, followed by the Territorial Governor ceremonies. The Cottonwood Flats drive-through opens.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Historic Homes Tour by day, Victorian Walk Night from 5 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Second Victorian Walk Night, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 19: The Lights in the Cottonwood Flats Festival and fireworks, held on the third Saturday of December.
- Saturday, Dec. 26: Last night of the drive-through.
Downtown Is Built for Walking
The parade is the one Foundation event that doesn't carry a historical theme. The Foundation's parade page describes it as "a glittering promenade of illuminated cars, trucks, dune buggies and even be-lighted people." It heads west along Oklahoma Avenue and ends at 2nd Street. The Territorial Governor ceremonies follow right away on the front steps of the Post Office. Last year, the Guthrie News Page reported that streets closed at 3 p.m. to get ready for the parade. Plan on something similar if you're parking downtown that afternoon.
The Victorian Walk Nights are where the Foundation's on-foot approach shows most. According to the Foundation's FAQ, more than six blocks of historic downtown close to cars, and entertainers and reenactors fill the streets. The best-known feature is the living windows. Downtown businesses stage scenes of Victorian life in their storefronts with real people in costume, from live historical music to painting to mothers reading Christmas stories to their children. Each shop owner decides who appears in its window, and anyone in a scene needs a historically accurate costume.
The street food follows the same period-first rule. The Foundation allows street vendors only with its approval. Its examples are Boy Scouts selling peanuts, Cub Scouts selling handmade chili and cobbler, and the Logan County Historical Society selling pies. Modern vendors get assigned spots. The Walks themselves are free, but businesses and vendors set their own prices, so the Foundation suggests bringing some spending money. You don't need a costume. The Foundation encourages one, along with comfortable shoes and layers for the weather.
The Second Walk Night Is a Weather Backup
The FAQ explains why there are two Walk Nights:
"We host two Walk evenings in case of bad weather. Most, if not all, of the windows and activities will be present both weeks."
That changes how the two Saturdays work for someone who lives here. Dec. 12 isn't a different program. It's mostly the same evening a week later. Locals can pick whichever Saturday fits their calendar and the forecast, and save the other one for something else.
The second Walk also matters for the Foundation's Shop Guthrie & Win raffle. In its usual format, the raffle runs from Oct. 1 through the second weekend in December. Every $20 spent at participating locally owned businesses earns a chance, and winners are drawn at the season's final Victorian Walk. If that format holds this year, the drawing falls on Dec. 12.
December 5 Is the Fullest Day
The first Saturday of December stacks the Foundation's biggest fundraiser on top of its first Walk Night. The Historic Homes Tour opens decorated historic homes and landmark buildings to ticket holders, and the Guthrie Carnegie Library has been on the tour every year. The Guthrie News Page called it a self-guided tour in its 2025 coverage.
The details for 2026:
- Price: $25 per ticket. Tickets have been on sale since Oct. 31.
- Buying: Reserve online and pick up on tour day, or buy in person from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Guthrie City Hall, 101 N 2nd Street, at the corner of Oklahoma Avenue and 2nd Street. Sales close at 2 p.m.
- Refunds: Pre-purchased tickets are non-refundable.
- Addresses: For security reasons, the homes aren't published ahead of time. You get the list in a brochure when you pick up your ticket.
Since tickets stop selling at 2 p.m. and the Walk starts at 5, a household can do both in one day. Tour the homes in the early afternoon, then stay downtown as the streets close for the evening. A household that would rather split them up can tour on Dec. 5 and come back for the Walk on Dec. 12.
The Flats Light Up Every Night Through Dec. 26
The Cottonwood Flats display works almost the opposite way. It isn't one evening. It runs for nearly a month, every night from Nov. 28 through Dec. 26, and admission is free. Donations are collected at the end of the route. The organizer describes a seven-block drive with 100,000 lights, more than 70 wrapped trees, more than 100 wireframe displays and inflatables. KFOR's community calendar lists the address as 700 W Warner Ave.
The display has grown fast. In 2022, the Guthrie News Leader counted more than 30 large displays, including a 40-foot roller coaster with moving cars and riders made of lights and a replica of the Griswolds' RV from "Christmas Vacation." The organizer's site now says the display has more than 125. The same News Leader story gave the entrance as 7th Street and Mansur and pointed out that the lights are visible from Gumerson Bridge, formerly the Viadock, on Highway 33.
The donations pay for a specific cause. The organization's stated mission is to brighten the lives of older and sometimes forgotten residents of Guthrie and Logan County. Each year it delivers gifts to the town's nursing home residents, averaging $20 or more per resident, and it expects to reach 300 residents this year. In 2022, the News Leader reported that the group raises that money through donations at the light display and through its December festival. Downtown money stays with the event. The Homes Tour is the Foundation's largest annual fundraiser, and it pays for Territorial Christmas itself.
Fireworks Night Changes How the Flats Work
For one evening, the Flats switch from a drive-through to a gathering place. The Lights in the Cottonwood Flats Festival is held on the third Saturday of December, which this year is Dec. 19. It brings food trucks and pop-up shops to the southwest corner of the Flats near 7th and Mansur. The night ends with a fireworks show by Fireworkz A' Poppin'. It averages about 20 minutes and starts around 8 p.m.
The organizer's logistics affect anyone who lives or drives nearby:
- Fireworks launch from the east side of 5th Street, and 5th is closed from College Avenue to Warner Avenue all day.
- Festival parking is north of Warner Avenue.
- The drive-through closes during the fireworks.
- Bring lawn chairs, or watch from your vehicle.
If you want to see the lights and the fireworks on Dec. 19, drive the route before dark or after the show. If you only care about the lights, any of the other 28 nights in the season gives you the route without the closures.
The Pollard Theatre runs alongside both calendars. A Territorial Christmas Carol has passed 30 years, 1,000 performances and 150,000 patrons. The 90-minute show has one intermission and is rated 7+. Tickets are $35 for adults, $30 for seniors 65 and older, military and teachers, and $10 for children 12 and under. A $15 student rush opens 30 minutes before curtain. Infants and toddlers aren't admitted, and the box office is at 405-282-2800.
If you're working out how Guthrie's December calendar fits with time in a historic downtown home, or you're wondering what the Homes Tour looks like from the homeowner's side, Matthew Simms and the team at Simms Realty are glad to talk it through. Schedule a complimentary consultation, and come with questions about the blocks you'll be walking on Dec. 5.
