Christmas & Holiday Events in Prior Lake
The holiday season around Prior Lake runs about five weeks, from the greenhouse Christmas markets that open before Thanksgiving to the tree lighting in early December, the last Santa visits before Christmas Eve, and family New Year’s Eve parties to close it out. This page collects all of it in one place as organizers announce dates, so check back as the season gets close.
2026 holiday events
Most organizers announce in late October and November. The newsletter carries new listings the week they land.
DecemBRRR Dazzle and the tree lighting
The city’s DecemBRRR Dazzle is the season’s big night out. The 2026 edition runs Friday, December 4 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Lakefront Park, opening with the Prior Lake tree lighting ceremony and a fireworks show right after. The rest of the night brings photos with Santa at the pavilion, ice carving demonstrations, and a giant bonfire, with snacks and refreshments for sale. Full details are on the DecemBRRR Dazzle 2026 listing, and the City of Prior Lake posts the official schedule at priorlakemn.gov.
Breakfast with Santa and other Santa stops
Santa keeps a full local calendar in December. The Prior Lake Lions Club hosts Breakfast with Santa at the VFW in early December, and recent years also brought Santa photo days at Charlie’s on Prior, Santa at Sailer’s Greenhouse, pet photos with Santa at Spot’s Last Stop, and Santa’s Cheer Shop at Prior Lake High School. Each one gets its own listing above once its date is announced.
Christmas markets and holiday boutiques
The local anchor is Barn on the Hill’s Christmas Market in the Greenhouse, which moved in 2026 from Queen Bee’z Lawn & Garden to the greenhouses at Cal’s Garden Center in Savage. It runs every day from November 13 through December 6 (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday), with Christmas trees, wreaths and porch pots for sale on site and a Santa and Mrs. Claus visit. The Wilds has hosted a November holiday boutique, and Boathouse Brothers Brewing has run a holiday mini market on Thanksgiving weekend. Markets post to the list above as vendors and dates firm up.
Junk Bonanza Holiday
Junk Bonanza, the big vintage and repurposed market, has run its holiday edition at Canterbury Park in Shakopee in early December in past years. Holiday 2026 dates haven’t been announced yet, and junkbonanza.com has the latest. If you can’t wait, the fall show runs September 10 to 12, 2026, also at Canterbury Park.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services
Looking for a Christmas service? I keep the full list of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service times for churches around Prior Lake, Savage, and Shakopee, with livestream links, on one page: Christmas church service times. Times refresh each year in late November as churches publish their schedules.
Have a holiday event?
Hosting a market, a Santa event, a concert, or anything else open to the community? Add it to the calendar and it will show up here and in the newsletter.
For the week-to-week rundown of everything happening around town, join the Prior Lake Events newsletter. Free, Mondays and Fridays, and 1,300+ neighbors already get it.
Photo: Prior Lake in winter by Jeanqueq, CC BY-SA 4.0.
