"Nearly 1,000 feet long with 14 rail cars, each decorated with hundreds of thousands of technology-leading LED lights." That is how the Village of Gurnee describes the CPKC Holiday Train, which is scheduled to stop near Depot Road and Old Grand Avenue on Tuesday, December 8, 2026.
The train is the best-known event of Gurnee's season, but it is one stop in a much denser week. Between Saturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 13, Gurnee holds Breakfast with Santa, a Nutcracker dance party, the train, a 55+ holiday mixer, three performances of a live radio play, a holiday craft fair, a park district train ride and a Santa brunch. Most of the free and low-cost events are within a few hundred yards of Viking Park. Before that comes a short opening stretch on Thursday, Nov. 19 and Friday, Nov. 20.
The opening pair, Nov. 19 and 20
The season opens at Gurnee Mills. The mall's Santa's Arrival Parade & Holiday Celebration runs Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6 to 7 p.m. Santa arrives at Entry A and then walks to his set near Dining Pavilion South in the Macy's Wing. Santa photos at the mall start the next day and run through Dec. 24.
On Friday, Nov. 20, the season moves to Old Grand Avenue. The Gurnee Park District's Holiday Lights / Luces Festivas runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Welton Plaza, 4555 Old Grand Avenue. It is free and includes trolley and carousel rides, Santa, crafts, food and a holiday light display.
Nov. 20 is also when decorating begins for the Festival of Trees at The Ten Hotel Gurnee, 6161 W. Grand Avenue. Trees must be finished by Dec. 4 and are judged on Dec. 6. The hotel lists public voting as running from after judging through the rest of December.
The nine days, laid out
Here is every dated event in the Dec. 5–13 window, in order:
| Date | Event | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Breakfast with Santa | 8 a.m.–12:15 p.m., three sittings | Viking Park Community Center / Dance Hall, 4374 Old Grand Ave. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Caring Santa | 8:30–10:30 a.m. | Gurnee Mills |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Dazzle Dance Parties: Nutcracker Remix | 1–3 p.m. | Hunt Club Park Community Center, 920 N. Hunt Club Rd. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Festival of Trees judging | Not listed | The Ten Hotel, 6161 W. Grand Ave. |
| Tue., Dec. 8 | Monthly Mixer 55+: Holiday Singo | 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. | Viking Park Community Center |
| Tue., Dec. 8 | CPKC Holiday Train | 4–6 p.m.; train about 5 p.m. | Depot Rd. at Old Grand Ave. |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | It's A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play | 7 p.m. | Viking Park Dance Hall |
| Dec. 11–13 | Holiday Craft Fair | Not listed | Gurnee Mills |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Arctic Express | 11:52 a.m. and 3:52 p.m. departures | Grayslake Train Station |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | It's A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play | 7 p.m. | Viking Park Dance Hall |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | The Ten Hotel |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | It's A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play | 2 p.m. | Viking Park Dance Hall |
Five of these dates use Viking Park or its corner of Old Grand Avenue: Breakfast with Santa, Holiday Singo, the Holiday Train and the three radio play performances. Welton Plaza, where the Nov. 20 lights event takes place, is on the same street at 4555 Old Grand. For one week, this part of Gurnee hosts more of the season than anywhere else in the village.
Why Dec. 8 is the busiest day
Tuesday, Dec. 8 has two events at the same end of town. The Gurnee Park District's Holiday Singo for the 55+ Monthly Mixer group runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Viking Park Community Center. The train event starts at 4 p.m.
The Village's page sets out the evening's logistics. The event is free and runs from 4 to 6 p.m. The train is estimated to arrive at 5 p.m., and a holiday concert starts at 5:15. The train is expected on the east side of the tracks near Depot Road. Parking is listed at Viking Park, 4374 Old Grand Ave., and Viking Middle School, 4460 Old Grand Ave., and visitors are asked to walk from there to Depot Road and Old Grand Avenue.
Village staff will also collect non-perishable food for the Northern Illinois Food Bank and are asking attendees to bring one or more items. Since the village is collecting at the train, a bag of canned goods is worth packing along with gloves.
The first parking option listed for the train is Viking Park, the same site that hosts Breakfast with Santa three days earlier and the radio play three days later.
The weekend of Dec. 12 and 13
The second weekend has the most overlap, and two of its events take some planning.
- Saturday morning or afternoon: Arctic Express. This Gurnee Park District trip departs at 11:52 a.m. and 3:52 p.m. from Grayslake Train Station at Lake and St. Paul Streets, so it is the one event in the window that starts outside Gurnee.
- Saturday or Sunday at the mall: Holiday Craft Fair. Gurnee Mills is holding its second craft fair of the season Dec. 11 through 13.
- Saturday evening: the radio play. It's A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play runs at 7 p.m. at Viking Park Dance Hall. Tickets are listed at $15.
- Sunday late morning: Brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Visit Lake County lists the brunch at The Ten Hotel Gurnee, 6161 W. Grand Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Festival of Trees has been judged by then, so the decorated trees will be on display at the hotel.
- Sunday afternoon: the radio play matinee. The last performance is at 2 p.m., the only daytime showing of the three.
The Sunday brunch runs until 2 p.m., the same time the matinee starts, so families who want both will need to leave the brunch early enough to get from Grand Avenue to Viking Park. On Friday the 11th, the 7 p.m. performance is the only scheduled event in the window that evening.
What Gurnee Mills adds before and after
Gurnee Mills, 6170 W. Grand Ave., runs the longest holiday schedule in town. Most of it is spread across all of December. The mall's holiday events page lists:
- Santa Paws: Nov. 29, 6:30–8:30 p.m.
- Holiday gift wrapping: Dec. 1–24 at Entry A
- Caring Santa: Dec. 6, 8:30–10:30 a.m.
- Roving caroling: Dec. 22, 5–7 p.m. at Entries A and E
- Santa photos: through Dec. 24
The mall's Pick a Wish Giving Tree program runs through Dec. 15 during mall hours. The trees are at Entry A near Dick's Sporting Goods, and gifts go to the Management Office near Entry B. With the food drive at the Holiday Train a week before, December offers two separate ways to give locally.
The holiday shopping trip also has some new stops this year. Patch reported in August that several retailers and restaurants planned fall openings. The mall directory now lists regular weekly hours for Toys "R" Us near Entry A. It also lists hours for Sophia's Mexican Grill in Dining Pavilion North near Entry J. Archive Room is listed near Five Below.
The largest planned addition is a 66,000-square-foot IKEA in the former Sears Grand area of Parking Lot B, next to Hobby Lobby, which the Daily Herald and Patch both reported as a fall 2026 project. The mall describes a smaller-format store with more than 5,000 products, full planning services, over 3,000 items available to take home the same day, and delivery or free next-day store pickup.
All of this happens along Grand Avenue, and the mall's calendar runs nearly every day through Christmas Eve. The village and park district events are scheduled for specific days instead, and they are concentrated on Old Grand Avenue in the week of Dec. 5.
If you only pick two dates
The two events with no Gurnee Mills equivalent are the Holiday Train on Tuesday, Dec. 8, and a radio play performance at Viking Park Dance Hall the following weekend. Both are on Old Grand Avenue, and the train is free. Breakfast with Santa sittings and radio play tickets go through the Gurnee Park District, so check its event pages for registration before the first weekend of December.
Planning December around Gurnee's calendar is something we do as locals too. If you're also wondering what your own place on the Old Grand side or near the Mills is worth before the new year, Renee Obrien can help. Get an Instant Home Valuation and have a number in hand before the holiday rush.
