Tempe events, November 2026 to February 2027: parades, markets, lights and blooms

Tempe's cool season is short and busy. From Veterans Day to Valentine's Day, Mill Avenue and Tempe Beach Park host parades, markets, an art festival and a lake full of lit-up boats, and almost all of it is free. Here is what is on the calendar from mid-November through the end of February, with dates as each organizer publishes them. Times and details can shift, so check the organizer's page before you head out.

November: a parade, a market and the first lights

Every Veterans Day, Tempe turns out for a parade that has been on the city's calendar for more than fifty years. It runs from ASU Gammage north on Mill Avenue through downtown to Tempe Beach Park, with veterans' groups, scout troops, school bands and city council members along the route.

Most Sundays through April, the Tempe City Hall Farmers Market sets up downtown from 8 a.m. to noon with produce, baked goods, prepared food and handmade items from small vendors. Street parking downtown is free on Sundays, according to the city.

On Saturday, November 14, the city's sixth annual Tempe Jam moves the party to South Tempe: free live music from local bands, food trucks, dance battles, a drone show and hands-on art activities from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Tempe Sports Complex on South Hardy Drive. Space-themed outfits are encouraged.

The Hackett House, the 1888 building on Fourth Street that is home to Tempe Sister Cities, holds its Nutcracker Tea on Sunday, November 22, at 1 p.m. The house hosts a series of seasonal teas through the year, a nod to the teas Sally Hayden once gave at La Casa Vieja.

The holidays officially arrive downtown on Saturday, November 28, with the Fantasy of Lights Street Parade and Tree Lighting at Centerpoint on Mill. The listing runs from 4 to 8 p.m. and promises floats, lights, live entertainment and the lighting of the community holiday tree.

December: Grinch, art and boats on the lake

The touring production of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical plays ASU Gammage from December 1 to 6, with weekend matinees. The show runs 85 minutes with no intermission, and the theater asks that children be able to sit through the whole performance; babes in arms are not admitted.

The same weekend, December 4 to 6, the fall Tempe Festival of the Arts brings more than 350 artists to Mill Avenue, along with food, local music, beer and wine gardens and a Kids Block. It runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, and admission is free. It is the season's biggest chance to buy a gift straight from the person who made it.

Christmas at Petersen House opens the 1892 Victorian on West Southern Avenue for free self-guided tours on three weekends, December 5 and 6, 12 and 13, and 19 and 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The house has been decorated for the holidays for more than forty years, with a nod to the Danish heritage of the family that built it, and the Tempe History Museum adds refreshments, activities, music and a pop-up museum store.

After dark on select weekends, the city's Milluminate program projects animation and digital art by local artists onto the north side of the Hayden Flour Mill, facing the lake, from 7 to 10 p.m. It is free; upcoming dates are November 20 to 22, December 4 to 6 and 18 to 20, January 8 to 10 and 22 to 24, and February 5 to 7 and 19 to 21.

On Wednesday, December 9, the community Menorah Lighting at Ragsdale-MLK Park, hosted with ASU Chabad, includes blessings, music, crafts for children and kosher treats.

The Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade, on Saturday, December 12, is what the Downtown Tempe Authority calls its signature holiday event. Decorated boats glide across Tempe Town Lake, and Tempe Beach Park adds a holiday market, live entertainment, food, photos with Santa and a fireworks finale. It is free.

The Hackett House follows with its First Ladies Tea on Sunday, December 13, at 1 p.m., tied to the country's 250th anniversary.

January and February: flowers and a quieter Mill Avenue

The Downtown Tempe Authority's 2nd Sundays on Mill street market fills Mill Avenue between Third Street and University Drive on January 10 for its Create edition, built around make-and-take workshops and community art, and again on February 14 for Love on Mill Ave. Both run 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., admission is free and leashed dogs are welcome.

Tempe Blooms fills downtown with flowers on January 23 and 24, 2027, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Local florists build large floral installations, artists paint murals live, and there is a market of local vendors, live music, free floral design seminars, a bouquet bar and a children's area.

The Hackett House's Valentine Tea is Sunday, February 7, at 1 p.m.

A few local places to pair with an outing

If you'd rather keep moving, Hundred Mile Brewing Co., a woman-owned brewery on North Scottsdale Road, hosts a social run every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. called Lap Around the Lake; runners can stay for breakfast afterward.

Downtown, Foch Cafe & Bistro on Sixth Street, just off Mill, opens early every day with a brunch menu, which suits a festival morning or a farmers market visit. And Caffe Boa, on Mill Avenue downtown, hosts jazz on Monday nights and wine tastings on the first Saturday of the month, a calm counterpoint to a busy holiday weekend.

Before you go

Parking and street closures change around the big downtown events, especially the art festival and the boat parade. In early November the city closed Tempe Town Lake to boating while upstream reservoir releases sent fast-moving water through it, with the parks around the lake staying open; the city says it checks the lake daily, so watch its news page for the reopening before the boat parade. The Downtown Tempe Authority's events and parking pages carry the current details, and ASU Gammage's site has show times and ticketing. For the evening events, bring a jacket.