Last year the Yuletide parade was the one thing that didn't happen. On the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, organizers canceled it because of forecast cold, the Waupaca County Post reported. Everything else stayed on the calendar. This year the parade gets another chance. It steps off Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, at 6:30 p.m., opening the Waupaca Area Arts and Culture Network's eighth annual Yuletide Celebration, which runs through Sunday, Dec. 6.
Last December showed that the celebration rests on Saturday's Yuletide Trail. That day starts with a $25 Cookie Walk tin that went on sale this past Monday, Nov. 2, a full month before the first float.
What the cold left standing
The 2025 cancellation was narrow. WSAW reported that the rest of Thursday's plans would go ahead, and the County Post spelled out what stayed:
- The community tree lighting, moved up to 5:30 p.m. at Danes Hall Plaza
- Late-night shopping, with downtown businesses keeping extended hours Thursday evening
- A showing of "Elf" at the Rosa Theatre that night
- Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday event, as scheduled
So the event was built to bend. Of the four days, only one evening hour depends on standing outside along South Main Street. The rest happens inside the library, Danes Hall, Bethany Home, the Waupaca Country Club and dozens of storefronts, or on a trolley. That shapes how to plan the 2026 weekend. Thursday night is still the one piece the weather can take away. Saturday holds up whatever the forecast does.
Thursday, Dec. 3: the route and the lights
The 2026 parade starts at Badger and South Main Streets at 6:30 p.m. and runs to Water Street. The community tree lighting follows immediately at Danes Hall Plaza, and Santa is on the schedule. Last year's backup plan put the tree lighting an hour earlier, at 5:30. That's the time to watch if a cold snap brings a change.
Last year's Thursday also included the $2 "Elf" screenings at the Rosa, which organizers billed as new for 2025. The 2026 Thursday listing has just the parade and the tree lighting, so plan around those two.
The tin you buy in November
Saturday's Cookie Walk runs on a tin. Each tin has a map inside of the participating businesses that serve as cookie stops. You collect one cookie per stop, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 5.
Tins went on sale Nov. 2 for $25 each. Here's where to get one:
- Holly History & Genealogy Center
- Community First Credit Union
- Northern Home
- Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce
All proceeds go to the Waupaca Historical Society, and Community First Credit Union sponsors the tin sale. The sale announcement tells buyers to "grab your cookie walk tin early." If you'd rather not leave it to chance, call ahead to one of the four locations before you drive over.
This is why Saturday carries the weekend. The parade is free and lasts about an hour. The tin is a commitment you make weeks ahead, it funds the local historical society, and its map sends you into Waupaca and King storefronts for six hours. The Waupaca Area Chamber calendar also lists Northern Home's Holiday Launch Party for today, Thursday, Nov. 5, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Northern Home is one of the four tin locations, so tonight you can pick up a tin and attend the party on the same stop.
Saturday, Dec. 5, on the trolley line
The Trail ties two business districts together. Shopping runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in both downtown Waupaca and King, and the Holly Jolly Trolley shuttles between them all day. It picks up on East Fulton Street downtown and stops at the Clear Water Harbor bar outlot in King. The schedule has no set pickup times. You wait at the stop and the next trolley comes around.
| Time | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m.–2 p.m. | Waupaca Area Public Library | Open for Yuletide Saturday |
| 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. | Indian Crossing Casino | Winter farmers market, no food vendors but the bar is open |
| 10 a.m. | Library, lower level | Storytime, books sponsored by Winchester Academy |
| 10 a.m.–noon | Library Exhibit Room | All-ages crafts with the Waupaca Arts Hub |
| 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Downtown Waupaca and King | Cookie Walk, shopping, trolley |
| Noon–2 p.m. | Danes Hall | Children's Christmas Party with Santa |
| 7 p.m. | Waupaca Country Club | Waupaca Fine Arts Festival holiday event |
The schedule also puts carolers in King and downtown Waupaca. The library programs are packed into the morning, so families with young kids can do storytime and crafts first, head to Danes Hall at noon, then spend the afternoon on cookie stops and the trolley.
Two Main Street doors that were dark last December
Since the last Yuletide, two businesses have opened on North Main Street, and both sit within a few blocks of the parade route.
April & Mae's on Main, 205 N. Main St. This children's boutique opened in spring 2026. It has a hat bar, a charm bar, permanent jewelry and a basement party space, The Business News reported.
Chocadoodledoo, 114 N. Main St. This confectionery and specialty retail shop moved to Waupaca from Antigo. It held a soft opening on July 4 and a grand opening on July 31, 2026. Owner Emiley Stevens told The Business News that the Main Street storefront is about 1,200 square feet, down from the 12,000-square-foot building in Antigo, and that "it's big enough to do what we need it to do." She also told the outlet that people met the opening with "open arms" and said "how much our store was needed here."
Whether either shop is a cookie stop will show up on the map inside the tin. Either way, both are open on Main Street during Saturday's 10-to-4 shopping window. For Waupaca residents, this is the first Yuletide with a candy counter at 114 N. Main.
The days around the Trail
Friday, Dec. 4, has moved earlier and indoors compared with last year. Light Up Bethany at Bethany Home, 1226 Berlin St., Entrance #2, runs 3 to 6 p.m., with live music, Christmas lights, eggnog, hot chocolate and voting for your favorite decorated tree. In 2025 it ran 5 to 7 p.m. The library's family movie is "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" at 5:30 p.m., and the Waupaca Fine Arts Festival holds a holiday event at the Waupaca Country Club at 7. Details are at fineartsfestival.org.
Sunday, Dec. 6, ends in King. The Commandant's House at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King holds a holiday open house from 1 to 4 p.m., with treats, holiday cards to make for veterans and a holiday storytime. Back downtown, the planters along Main Street hold a holiday-themed Storywalk.
One piece runs past the weekend. Local businesses and organizations decorate 12 Artful Trees outside the Library/City Hall, and you can see them day or night through Jan. 1. Groups that want a tree can register through the Waupaca Historical Society at 321 S. Main St., which also receives the tin proceeds.
Through November and into December, Empty Barrel Distillery has holiday programs on its events page:
- Paint & Sip Christmas Cows, Thursday, Nov. 12, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Holiday favorites with Eli, live music, Saturday, Nov. 28, 1 to 4 p.m.
- Paint-and-sip wine glasses, Wednesday, Dec. 2, doors at 4 p.m., class at 5:30
- Christmas cookie decorating, Thursday, Dec. 10, 6 to 8 p.m.
The Dec. 2 class falls the night before the parade. The Dec. 10 cookie decorating comes four days after the Commandant's House open house, once the Yuletide weekend is over.
If you're planning a winter move between Waupaca and Chicago or Milwaukee and want to time it around the Dec. 5 Trail, Phair-Hinton Group will work out the schedule with you, so you can be on Main Street with your tin that Saturday. Let's get you home. Schedule a call to get started.
