On Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 11 a.m., the Lerner Theatre at 410 S. Main St. stages a free, hour-long performance of Nutcracker highlights, and it's over by noon.
That's ten days before Winterfest, which the City of Elkhart bills as the kickoff of the holiday season, takes over downtown on Saturday, Dec. 5. This year the free events start in Thanksgiving week, well ahead of the parade. And if Winterfest keeps last year's evening schedule, Dec. 5 is the one night when Main Street's two big draws, the parade downtown and the lights at the north end, run during the same hours. If you plan around those two facts, December gets a lot easier.
A shorter Nutcracker for the lunch hour
The Lerner posted the free performance on Oct. 15, and its event page calls the show "a free, shortened performance of The Nutcracker" featuring highlights of the ballet. The theater says it's shortened to enjoy "during a lunch break" and for "families with young children who need a shorter performance." The production follows Klara and Herr Drosselmeyer's mysterious gift, with snowflakes, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and dances inspired by China, Spain, India and other cultures.
The full ballet comes three days later. Aurinko Ballet's Nutcracker plays the Lerner on Saturday, Nov. 28, at 3 p.m. The theater calls it an annual holiday tradition, and those seats are ticketed. So a household gets two ways into the same ballet in one week. A downtown office worker can catch the highlights between meetings. A family with a four-year-old can find out whether an hour holds their attention before buying tickets for the full show.
Five days, four events, two of them free
Here's how Thanksgiving week lines up from the Lerner to the north end of Main Street:
| Date | Event | Where | Cost and time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Nov. 25 | The Nutcracker: free community performance | Lerner Theatre, 410 S. Main St. | Free, 11 a.m. to noon |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Winter Wonderland Holiday Lights opening night | Wellfield Botanic Gardens, 1011 N. Main St. | $15 adults, $8 ages 3 to 12, free for kids under 2 |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Aurinko Ballet's The Nutcracker, full production | Lerner Theatre | Ticketed, 3 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | The Lerner Loves You: Home Alone | Lerner Theatre | Free, 3 p.m. |
The Sunday Home Alone screening is part of the Lerner's monthly "Lerner Loves You" movie series. Add it to Wednesday's free performance and you have two free trips to the same downtown theater in five days, sitting on either side of the holiday.
For anyone hosting relatives over Thanksgiving, that's a full long weekend: a matinee Wednesday, the lights Friday night, the ballet Saturday afternoon and a movie Sunday. Every stop is on Main Street.
Wellfield's lights grew tenfold, and they run for weeks
Wellfield Botanic Gardens says Winter Wonderland began with about 200,000 lights in its first year. The 2026 display has nearly 2 million, laid along a three-quarter-mile walking path through the garden's 36 acres, with fire pit stops and photo spots along the way. The garden also has a new credential to put on the sign out front. Its Oct. 20 announcement says a 2026 national study of more than 400 public gardens ranked Wellfield the top botanic garden in the United States.
What matters most for planning is how many nights it's open. Visit Elkhart County lists these 2026 dates, with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. and last admission at 8 p.m.:
- Nov. 27 and 28, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving
- Dec. 4 and 5
- Dec. 11 and 12
- Dec. 17 through 23, seven nights in a row
- Dec. 26 through 29
That's 17 listed nights through Dec. 29, and Wellfield's own release says the season runs through Saturday, Jan. 2. Tickets are sold through the Winter Wonderland page. Seventeen nights at the garden against one Winterfest downtown is what makes Dec. 5 such an easy call.
Dec. 5 is where the clocks are likely to collide
Winterfest takes all of Saturday, Dec. 5. The City of Elkhart's Winterfest page describes Breakfast with Santa at the fire station, holiday shopping with downtown merchants, kids' activities, and an evening that ends with the lighted parade and the tree lighting downtown. The city hasn't posted 2026 start times yet.
Last year's schedule gives a fair idea of the rhythm. For Winterfest on Dec. 6, 2025, GreatNews.Life reported Breakfast with Santa starting at 8 a.m. at Central Fire Station. The parade stepped off at 6 p.m. and ran along Main Street from Harrison to Lexington, and the tree lighting was set for 7:30 p.m. on the Central Green Stage. Those were the 2025 times. Check the city page before you set your evening.
If 2026 follows that pattern, the parade and tree lighting would fall right inside Wellfield's 5:30 to 8 p.m. admission window that same night. Wellfield is also open Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, so the lights fit easily on another evening. Winterfest happens once.
The same 2025 report gives one more reason to be downtown early. The ice skating season at NIBCO Water & Ice Park opened at 1 p.m. on Winterfest day, and kids 12 and under skated free. The city's NIBCO page still shows summer roller skating hours and hasn't announced the 2026 to 2027 ice season. Watch for the opening date, but don't plan around a Winterfest-day start until the city confirms it.
Out on County Road 26, Southgate Crossing is holding a free Jingle & Mingle Market on Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 27751 County Road 26. It closes three hours before last year's 6 p.m. parade start, so if the 2026 parade keeps a similar time, there's room for both.
A Dec. 5 that uses every slot, based on last year's timing, looks like this:
- Morning: Breakfast with Santa downtown, at the fire station the city names.
- Late morning to early afternoon: Jingle & Mingle at Southgate Crossing, which ends at 3 p.m.
- Afternoon: Back downtown for the merchants and kids' activities, and the rink if the city confirms an ice opening that day.
- Evening: The lighted parade on Main Street and the tree lighting, with times confirmed on the city page.
- Another night: Wellfield on Dec. 4, 11 or 12, gates at 5:30 p.m.
After the parade, the Lerner keeps December going
The south end of Main Street stays busy after Winterfest. The Lerner's calendar lists the Elkhart Municipal Band's "North Pole Radio Hour" on Sunday, Dec. 6, the day after the parade, and "The Lerner Loves You: Miracle on 34th Street" on Sunday, Dec. 20. The Dec. 20 screening falls in the middle of Wellfield's seven-night stretch from Dec. 17 to 23. That makes it easy to see a movie downtown and the lights at the north end of Main on the same day.
From Nov. 25 to Dec. 20, the season moves between the Lerner at the south end of Main and Wellfield at the north end, with Winterfest downtown between them on one Saturday. Check the Lerner's events calendar for times and tickets for the December shows.
If a December walk through Wellfield or a spot on the parade route has you thinking about which part of Elkhart you'd most like to spend the holidays in, the team at Michael Lee would be glad to talk through what living near Main Street, the garden or any other part of town looks like day to day. Let's Connect.
