Warsaw's Christmas Town Used to Be a Night Out. Now It's a Whole Saturday.

When Christmas Town first ran in Warsaw, it was an evening event. The December 2021 listing had it running from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on a Friday, with live music, food and spirits, fresh-cut trees, skating, train rides, snow machines and photos with Santa. This year the town will open the gates at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 12, and the parade will step off at 6 p.m. Over five years the festival has moved from the dark hours into the daylight. That changes how a family plans the day, when a vendor needs to pack up, and where the parade falls in the schedule.

Five years of hours, side by side

Here is what the town's sponsor letters, vendor applications and calendar listings in the Rappahannock Record have printed each December.

The first two years were weeknight-style evenings, five hours long and over at 10 p.m. The Rappahannock Record's 2022 listing described ice skating, carriage rides, a concert and two movies. Two movies on the program tells you it was built for after dark.

In 2023 and 2024 the festival moved to 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., which started it in the afternoon and still kept several hours of evening. In 2024 the town also scheduled a kickoff concert at Oyster Shoals on Friday, December 13, the night before the main Saturday.

Then 2025 started at 11 a.m. The town's own event page promised a festival "revamped and better than ever," with "new rides, a better layout, larger parade, more vendors and food offerings." The 2026 vendor application keeps the 11 a.m. start.

The parade now lands in the final hour

The parade time has barely moved. In 2025 the Rappahannock Record listed it at 6 p.m., and the 2026 sponsor letter keeps it at 6 p.m. What changed is everything around it.

When the festival ran until 9 or 10 p.m., a 6 p.m. parade came in the early or middle part of the night, and the skating, music and vendor rows kept going for hours after the last float. With an 11 a.m. opening and a printed close of 6 or 7 p.m., the parade now comes in the last hour or so of the day. The 2026 merchandise vendor application lists the event as running 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the food vendor application says 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The 2025 materials disagreed the same way. The town's event page said 6 p.m. and its sponsor letter said 7 p.m. A fair reading is that the gift and craft booths may close as the parade starts while food stays open about an hour longer. The town hasn't published a public closing time that settles it.

The route is the same as last year. It gathers at NNEC, comes down Belle Ville Lane and Main Street, and ends on Hamilton Boulevard. The town is sponsoring the parade together with the Warsaw Richmond County Main Street Program.

For a household planning the day, the order matters. Skating, the carousel and the carriage rides all happen in daylight hours now. If you want to see the parade, plan to stay into the event's final hour.

What the 2026 version promises

In the town's Christmas Town 2026 sponsor letter, this year's event "will take on a more intimate feel." It ties the festival to the country's 250th year, saying it "will weave the stories of our past, and present history with ice skating, a carousel, carriage rides, visits with Santa Claus, a parade, Carolers, Bell Choirs, and many more surprises."

The same letter says the festival, "in addition to our brick-and-mortar retail stores and eateries, will be host to hundreds of vendors selling food, clothing, and giftware," and that nonprofit groups will be on site with information. The town hasn't said exactly what the phrase means. What it has printed is a full list of attractions and a one-day schedule.

The letter also calls this the sixth annual Christmas Town. The idea came from Councilwoman Rebecca Hubert at a Town Council meeting in October 2020, and the first festival followed three months later. The town still names carrying on her idea as the first reason it hosts the event.

If you make things to sell, November 2 is the date

The earlier schedule matters most to the local makers, bakers and small food operators who fill the booth rows. The 2026 vendor application sets an application deadline of November 2, 2026, and says plainly that "no applications will be taken past the due date."

Here's how the 2026 terms compare with 2024:

• Fee. A merchandise space is $50 in 2026 and a food space is $55. The 2024 application charged $35 for the same 10-by-10 booth.
• Space. Each space is 10 by 10. You bring your own tables, chairs and tent, and you pay a second fee if you need a second space.
• Lighting. The town doesn't provide lighting, and vendors are asked to bring battery-operated lights. Even with the earlier hours, a booth open until the parade is selling into a December dusk.
• Setup. You park first and carry your setup to your spot. Vendors who arrive before their scheduled time "will not be allowed to participate."
• Timeline. Applications are approved or denied, and payment is processed or returned to match. Merchandise vendors hear about details and placement in mid-November. The food application says details will come in early December.

Checks go to the Town of Warsaw at PO Box 730, Warsaw, VA 22572. The application tells food vendors to contact the Richmond County Health Department about permits, and it says the town isn't liable for fines or removal from the event. This is general information, not legal advice, so confirm your permit needs with the health department directly before you apply.

The calendar between now and December 12

Christmas Town is the biggest date of Warsaw's holiday season, but a few other events in Richmond County fill the weeks before it.

1. This weekend, October 23 to 25. Pumpkins Illuminated at Menokin runs 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each night. Admission is $15 per carload, cash only, paid at the gate, and good for one day. On Saturday the Chesapeake to Cat Point Creek Conservation Festival runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a lantern parade at 7 p.m.
2. Wednesday, November 4. Rappahannock Community College's RILL program holds a fall table design class at the Warsaw campus from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
3. Sunday, November 8. Menokin's Feuding Founders program starts with a guided tour at 4037 Menokin Road and continues at Stratford Hall with lunch, a roundtable and tours.
4. Early December. The Richmond County Museum describes its Holiday Tree of Love Illumination as an annual event on the first Sunday in December. That would be December 6 this year, though the museum hasn't posted a separate 2026 notice.
5. Saturday, December 12. Christmas Town opens at 11 a.m., and the parade starts at 6 p.m.

Planning around the new shape of the day

Christmas Town has filled a whole Saturday since it moved to an 11 a.m. start. The rides and skating fit in the morning or early afternoon, and lunch can come from the vendor rows or from the Main Street restaurants and shops the town's letter mentions. The 6 p.m. parade comes near the close, with food vendors listed until 7 p.m. The town hasn't posted a public parking or shuttle plan, road closures, or the rink location for 2026 yet. Merchandise vendors get their placement details in mid-November, and that's a reasonable time to check townofwarsaw.com for the public schedule.

If you're a Warsaw homeowner thinking about the year ahead, or a local maker trying to decide whether a December booth is worth it, the team at Middle Bay Realty follows these small-town calendars closely and is glad to talk about anything happening in Richmond County this season. Contact Us any time.