"Everybody is used to having the trees [at Murphy Park] lit up, that will not be the case here because of that construction," Downtown Glendale manager Daniel Sabillon told ABC15 in November 2023, the year Glendale Glitters turned 30. That winter, the main lights and attractions moved to the front of the Glendale Civic Center. Tree trunks across downtown were still wrapped, but the park at the center of the tradition stayed dark.
Three seasons later, the City's event page says the 33rd Glendale Glitters "makes its triumphant return to Murphy Park." So the seven weeks before the lights come on look different too. The events between now and Thanksgiving are the first stretch of ordinary programming in a rebuilt park that hasn't yet been through a holiday season.
Three winters somewhere else
For three seasons of the Downtown Campus Reinvestment, Glitters ran from the Civic Center.
| Season | Where the lighting ceremony happened | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | In front of the Glendale Civic Center | Murphy Park trees not lit; amphitheatre closed for remodeling |
| 2024 | In front of the Glendale Civic Center | Two-night kickoff, displays open for strolling downtown |
| 2025 | In front of the Civic Center, listed at 5750 W. Glenn Drive | Same Civic Center setup |
| 2026 | Murphy Park | Footprint returns to its pre-construction boundaries |
The 2023 change came from ABC15's report, which explained that performances couldn't use the amphitheatre while it and City Hall were being remodeled. The City's 2024 announcement kept the ceremony at the Civic Center, and so did the 2025 announcement.
The construction behind all of this wrapped up in June. The City called it a three-year, nearly $100 million rebuild of City Hall, the Council Chambers, the E. Lowell Rogers Amphitheatre and Murphy Park. The ribbon was cut on June 18, Glendale's 116th birthday. Two days later, the reopened park hosted an America 250 celebration, with the Glendale Summer Band and DSB: A Journey Tribute Band on the new amphitheatre stage, followed by a patriotic drone show. That was a summer party. The holiday season is the park's first real stress test.
What the council actually put back
The clearest statement of what's being restored is in a planning document for the June 23, 2026 council workshop. It says the 2026 event footprint "returns to the pre-DCRP footprint," running from 57th Avenue to 59th Avenue and from Glendale Avenue to Myrtle Avenue. The same document lists the lights from November 27, 2026 through January 1, 2027, a traditional light-switch kickoff on November 27, and four event weekends with vendors, music and activities. It also says light installation was scheduled to begin in September.
Some of the plan was still in pencil at the end of summer. An August 25 update from Parks and Recreation Director John Kennedy marked these items TENTATIVE:
- The vendor and food vendor maps, with the final vendor layout still to be determined
- The beer perimeter and road closures
- Larger-scale lighting features, which Christmas Light Decorators sketched as preliminary concepts that staff were still reviewing
The vendor application window ran from September 1 to October 9, and notifications go out by October 23. The recruiting list starts with Catlin Court and the downtown merchants, then crafters, artisans, home-based businesses and food vendor operators. For anyone who plans their evenings around which streets close, the final map is the piece to watch for after that date.
October: the park's first ordinary nights
After the June opening party, the weeks before Glitters bring the rebuilt park's first fall programming. Two events this month are set inside Murphy Park itself.
Masterpieces & Margaritas, Saturday, October 17, 5 to 8 p.m. The Historic Downtown Glendale merchants describe it as a new art-and-music social in Murphy Park, with free activities and local food trucks.
LiVE! @ Murphy Park, Folk Gathering, Saturday, October 24. This one is on the new amphitheatre stage, with Down With The Shine, Fossil Creek, and Eric Douglas and the RPMs. The City's events page lists a 5 p.m. start and says more dates are coming. The individual calendar entry shows a 4 to 10 p.m. window, so check the time again closer to the date.
The next morning, Sunday, October 25, is the last Sunday of the month. That means the merchants' Sunday Brunch Art Crawl, which runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the last Sunday of every month. On this calendar, that's November 29 and December 27 too.
The 32nd Annual Front Porch Festival already happened on October 10. Halloween Hometown Happening is still listed with its date as TBD, so it isn't on this schedule yet.
November: the merchants go first
Downtown's shops start their holiday season two weeks before the City turns on the lights.
The 30th Annual Holiday Open House is Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The merchants say the eight-foot wooden nutcrackers are coming back, and there will be ornament customization for the Patriotic Community Tree.
Then comes Thanksgiving weekend, the busiest stretch of the season:
- Friday, November 27, 5:45 p.m. The official Glendale Glitters lighting ceremony in Murphy Park.
- Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28, 5 to 10 p.m. The two-night kickoff, with light displays, interactive attractions, local vendors, live entertainment, carolers and Santa.
- Saturday, November 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Small Business Saturday with the downtown merchants, who are inviting shoppers to stay into the evening for Glitters.
- Sunday, November 29. The monthly Brunch Art Crawl falls the morning after the kickoff closes.
The kickoff dates are a day earlier than last year's November 28 and 29.
December: everything inside one footprint
The move back to Murphy Park matters most in December. With the lights on nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. through January 1, the merchants' evening events and the City's park events now share the same few blocks between 57th and 59th avenues.
- Fridays and Saturdays, December 4 and 5, 11 and 12, 18 and 19, 6 to 8 p.m. Christmas in Catlin Court & Old Towne Holiday Happening.
- Friday, December 11. Movies by Moonlight comes to Murphy Park, its last stop after Sahuaro Ranch Park on October 16 and Rose Lane Park on November 13. It falls on the same evening as a Catlin Court Holiday Happening night.
- Saturday, December 12, 11 a.m. The Hometown Christmas Parade on Glendale Avenue, which is also the footprint's southern edge. That evening brings another Holiday Happening and another night of lights.
- Sunday, December 27. The last Brunch Art Crawl of the year.
- Friday, January 1, 2027. The final night of lights.
The merchants note that their dates and times can change. The City hasn't published its four Glitters event weekends beyond the kickoff yet, so it's still unclear which December Fridays and Saturdays will also have Glitters vendors and entertainment.
A place to eat inside the boundary
One new address sits squarely inside the footprint. Cornish Pasty Co. opened in January 2026 at 5747 W. Glendale Ave., in the historic Gaslight Building at Glendale and 58th avenues, according to Your Valley. The company's locations page lists the downtown Glendale restaurant as open. This will be the restaurant's first Glitters season, and it sits on Glendale Avenue, the same street the December 12 parade runs down.
If you're a Glendale homeowner thinking about whether next year's holiday season will be in your current home or a new one, the Openshaw Real Estate Group team is glad to walk you through it, from timing a listing around a busy downtown season to planning a move without missing the dates you care about. Let's Get Started.
