Fayetteville's Host of Christmas Past Changes Shape at 5 O'Clock

Where will your car be at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14?

The 34th Host of Christmas Past opens Friday, Nov. 13. If you've been before, you know the bandstand, the crowds on the square and the craft show traffic out on Huntsville Highway. Saturday runs as two different festivals that change over at 5 p.m. All day, events are spread across town and a shuttle connects them. The brochure lists the last shuttle stop to offsite parking at 5 p.m. That is also the hour the evening program starts, and the evening program is a walk.

Plan the day around that switch and Saturday is easy. Miss it and you'll be walking back to a lot after dark while the lights come on at Stone Bridge Park.

Saturday Morning Spreads Across Town

The festival's own map splits Saturday into zones, and the daytime zones are far apart. Downtown alone keeps the Courthouse Lawn busy from 9 a.m. The three big vendor events sit out on the edges of town, and each one starts early.

Downtown is the most packed. The Candy Cane Hunt for kids 10 and under starts at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the west side of the Courthouse Lawn, and the first 50 hunters get stockings. Santa's Reindeer are beside First United Methodist Church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and you can take your own photos for free. Professional photos with Santa are in the Higgins Funeral Home west side breezeway during the same hours, at $30 for an emailed digital image. Upstairs in the Courthouse, in the 2nd floor Circuit Courtroom, Meet Mr. Lincoln runs at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Storyteller Jerry Mansfield takes the room at noon and 1:30 p.m.

The skating rink is the new piece this year. The schedule calls it a feature of "this year's festival," and the 2025 brochure listed no rink. It's free for all ages, HH Lincoln Health presents it, and it closes at 3 p.m. with the rest of Kids Village.

Look down the hours column and you'll see the daytime festival winding down between 2 and 6 p.m. That leaves a gap right where the shuttle schedule ends.

The Shuttle Covers the Daytime Festival

The 2026 map shows shuttle stops at the Park & Ride, Lincoln County High, the corner of South Elk and Market for southbound riders, and the FLC Museum and the corner of South Main and Market for northbound riders. Gallant Funeral Home appears as additional offsite parking. The EVCA Craft Show listing mentions the shuttle to and from downtown, and the craft show has food trucks, restrooms and an ATM on site.

The festival FAQ says there are several parking lots around the square, and general admission is free, though some activities cost money. If you're carrying cash, plan for these:

• Cow Train in Kids Village, $5 per ride, with proceeds going to the Humane Society of Lincoln County
• Big Red Fire Truck ride with Sparky, $2 per ride or a new toy for the Lincoln County Toy Drive
• Junior's House Kidz Zone, $10 armband for open play from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., free during the 9 a.m. "Inclusive Hour" for children with disabilities
• Ornament crafts in the FLC Arts Center downstairs classroom, up to $20, with a free craft upstairs

The map lists the last shuttle stop to offsite parking at 5 p.m. If you parked out at the Park & Ride or Gallant Funeral Home and plan to stay for the evening, your choices are to get back to your car before 5 and drive in again, or to walk back once the evening is over.

After Five, the Festival Is a Walk

The evening program covers a few blocks, all on foot, and the schedule lays it out as one route from the church to the park. The candlelit path and the concert overlap in time, so you can pick when to head toward Stone Bridge Park.

1. Old City Cemetery Stroll, First Presbyterian Church. A tour for senior and aided adults runs from 4 to 5 p.m. After that, guided tours leave the church sanctuary every ten minutes, and the last one goes at 7:15 p.m. It's a living-history tour that runs from the American Revolution to the aftermath of the Civil War and tells the early story of Fayetteville and Lincoln County through its founders and the first church. Admission is free, and donations are accepted.
2. Candlelight Walking Tour, 5 to 8 p.m. A candlelit path starts at the cemetery stroll and follows Market Street to the Elk Avenue Greenway.
3. Four on the Floor at Stone Bridge Park, 5 to 7:15 p.m. The concert is free. The schedule suggests walking the Greenway from downtown. If you'd rather drive, turn on Lynn Drive from Main Avenue South, and parking is on the north side of the park.
4. A Stone Bridge Christmas. After the music, Fayetteville Parks & Rec lights the whole park, animated displays included, and the decorated trees on Christmas Tree Lane are sponsored by local businesses and individuals.

The route also tells you where to park for the evening. For most of the night, the lot on the north side of Stone Bridge Park is closer than the offsite lots. If you start at First Presbyterian and walk the candlelit path, your car is waiting at the end of the night.

Two other evening events sit off the route. At 7 p.m. the Carriage House Players perform "We The People" in the museum auditorium as part of the museum's Celebration 250 programming on the Preamble to the Constitution, directed by Mickey Johnson. Tickets are by phone at (931) 433-1300. Oh My! Mercantile keeps Whoville open until 8 p.m., with a final reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at 6 p.m.

Stone Bridge Park Stays Lit After the Weekend

Every other part of the festival ends Saturday night, and the park doesn't. The schedule says Stone Bridge Park "will remain lit for walking or driving through New Years."

That gives you about seven weeks with the park lit. You can skip the 7:15 crowd and come back on a weeknight. You can drive through with grandparents who aren't up for the walk. You can also walk the Elk Avenue Greenway from downtown any evening in December and end up under the same lights. If you can only make one part of Saturday night, make it the cemetery stroll, because the park will still be lit next week.

Friday Is a Short First Night

Friday, Nov. 13, is one evening that starts at 5 p.m. on the Southside Courthouse Lawn. The HCP Festival Committee opens the festival, Leadership Lincoln lights the Christmas tree, and The Rock Fayetteville Campus Choir sings carols. All of it is free. At 5:45, Levi Ogle plays at Carter's Drug and Jeremy Raby plays at Bagley & Bagley Insurance, and shops and restaurants stay open late.

Families with young kids have a reason to show up Friday. The FLC Public Library's free A Very Merry Stuffie Sleepover runs 5 to 6:30 p.m. with storytime, milk and cookies, and a mini stocking to decorate. The stuffed animals stay overnight and are ready for pickup by 2:30 p.m. Saturday. That pickup time is one more thing to fit into Saturday, so put the library on your daytime list before the shuttle stops.

Oh My! Mercantile opens Shop Whoville at River Oak Plaza on Friday and stays open until 10 p.m.

One Saturday event needs booking now. The Stained Glass Workshop at the historic Gleghorn Hospitality House seats 20, costs $75, and requires prepaid registration. Pay by cash or check at the Chamber office, or through PayPal or Venmo at cordellm1805. Sessions run 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Each guest makes a festival-themed ornament with Cordell McCurry and Kelly Martindale from Gilded Palomino.

The Square's Calendar on Either Side

The festival falls in the middle of a busy run of events on the square. On Saturday, Nov. 7, the Veterans of Lincoln County present the Veteran Celebration on the downtown square, as the Elk Valley Times reported.

After the festival, Fayetteville Main Street lists the Second Annual Breakfast with Santa at Sacred Stone, 47 Hawthorne Lane, on Nov. 28 from 8 to 10 a.m. The City of Fayetteville Parks & Recreation Department has the 2026 "A Christmas to Remember" Parade on Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. The listing gives the Rec Center at 1203 Winchester Hwy. The parade is on a Saturday at 5 p.m. with Stone Bridge Park still lit, so you could drive over to the park afterward.

The full 2026 schedule and the downloadable map are on the Host of Christmas Past schedule page. Look for the shuttle stops before Saturday.

At Mike Winton Realty & Auction, we work across Lincoln County, and we like seeing the square full for weekends like this one. If you'll be downtown on Nov. 14 and have questions about a property in Fayetteville, whether you plan to buy, sell or auction it, give us a call. We'll gladly talk it through with you, maybe over coffee once the festival is over.