"Downtowns are special places, like the living room of a community," Glendale City Manager Patrick Banger said, according to the City of Glendale's June 22 release on the ribbon cutting for the rebuilt civic campus. This holiday season is the first real test of that idea. The 33rd Glendale Glitters returns to Murphy Park with a lighting ceremony on Friday, Nov. 27, at 5:45 p.m.
The park is finished. The event plan was still marked tentative in late summer. The dates you can count on this season come from the shop owners around the park, not from the light display.
A Finished Park With a Draft Event Plan
The city wrapped a three-year, nearly $100 million rebuild of its downtown civic campus in June. The project covered City Hall, the Council Chambers, the new E. Lowell Rogers Amphitheatre and Murphy Park. The ribbon cutting fell on June 18, Glendale's 116th birthday. On June 20 the park hosted the city's America 250 celebration, with the Glendale Summer Band and DSB: A Journey Tribute Band on the new amphitheatre stage and a drone show afterward.
Holly Street Studio, the project's architect, describes the new Murphy Park as having clearer paths, new landscaping with native plants, new gathering spaces and a layout that faces City Hall and the amphitheatre. The legacy trees were kept and framed as views. That matters for Glitters, because a light display is really a walking route. If you've strolled the park every December, expect the paths to run differently this year.
Last year's event worked around the construction. The city's 2025 announcement put the lighting ceremony in front of the Glendale Civic Center, and the lights ran nightly through Dec. 31. This year the Historic Downtown Glendale Merchants Association lists the event back in Murphy Park, with lights on from 5 to 10 p.m. every night through Jan. 1. Visit Arizona's listing shows the same Nov. 27 to Jan. 1 run.
The details inside the park are less settled. On Aug. 25, Parks and Recreation Director John Kennedy gave the City Council an update. It labeled the vendor map, the food vendor map, the beer perimeter, the road closures and the display plans "TENTATIVE." Larger lighting features were "being considered." The contractor, Christmas Light Decorators, had sent early concepts that staff were still reviewing, and the update said all of them "remain preliminary and subject to continued review." Before the next update, staff planned to refine the programming, the street closures, sanitation and lighting placement.
Vendor applications closed Oct. 9, and the city planned to send notifications by Oct. 23. The vendor lineup should be close to final by now, but the published materials don't yet give a parking plan, a shuttle or a light count. Check the City of Glendale for those before kickoff weekend instead of assuming last year's setup carries over.
The Fixed Dates Belong to the Merchants
The merchants have published their full holiday calendar on the association's 2026 events page, and it covers more weeks than the light show does. Here is the full sequence, with Glitters placed where it falls:
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: 30th Annual Holiday Open House.
- Friday, Nov. 27, 5:45 p.m.: Glendale Glitters lighting ceremony, followed by kickoff festivities until 10 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Small Business Saturday. That evening, from 5 to 10 p.m., is the second kickoff night.
- Sunday, Nov. 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Sunday Brunch Art Crawl, which runs on the last Sunday of each month.
- Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19, 6 to 8 p.m.: Christmas in Catlin Court & Old Towne Holiday Happening.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m.: Hometown Christmas Parade on Glendale Ave.
- Sunday, Dec. 27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: the year's last Sunday Brunch Art Crawl.
- Friday, Jan. 1: last night of the lights, 5 to 10 p.m.
The association's page notes that dates and times are subject to change. This is the 30th Holiday Open House, and the association's two-hour Holiday Happening blocks in Catlin Court sit inside the 5 to 10 p.m. window the lights are on every night.
Two days do the most stacking. On Saturday, Nov. 28, Small Business Saturday starts at the Arizona Information Center, 5836 W. Palmaire Ave. Downtown Docents hand out walking maps and shopping and dining information there from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the first 50 visitors get a free gift. The association invites shoppers to stay for the lights, and that evening is the second kickoff night, with carolers, vendors, live entertainment and Santa.
Saturday, Dec. 12, starts with the parade on Glendale Ave. at 11 a.m. and ends with the Catlin Court Holiday Happening from 6 to 8 p.m., with the lights on in between. Expect Glendale Ave. to be busy at both ends of that day, so plan your errands around it.
The association says the district has more than 70 independently owned shops. The city's vendor outreach for Glitters listed Catlin Court and downtown merchants first among the groups it wanted to recruit. The city's event and the merchants' calendar are built to share the same streets.
Where to Eat Between the Dates
The newest restaurant near the park took a while to open. The Peoria Independent reported that Cornish Pasty Co. opened in January 2026 in the historic Gaslight Building at the southeast corner of Glendale and 58th avenues. The original plan was spring 2024. The concept is Arizona-born. Founder Dean Thomas, an English expat, started it in Tempe in 2005. The company's locations page lists the downtown spot at 5747 W. Glendale Ave. as open, along with its hours. Its corner sits about where the city's tentative vendor maps place the event along 58th Ave.
Blue Corn Cafe & Bakery closed for about a week in August and has since reopened. ABC15 reported that its four-year anniversary celebration at the downtown location drew a line out the door, and noted it is one of the few Valley restaurants rooted in Hopi heritage.
The association's dining directory also lists these spots:
- A Touch of European Cafe
- Bitz-ee Mama's
- Packer Family Ice Cream
- The Pink Door Tea House
- The Spicery in Our 1895 Home
For holiday shopping, the shop directory includes Cerreta Candy Company, Auntie Em's & Smilin' Jack's Pedal Cars, Drawn to Comics, Bears & More, Cactus VHS, Tangled Root Botanicals and The Cottage Garden shops. These directories don't show live hours, and hours often change in December, so check with a shop before planning a night around it.
If you have kids who will tire of the lights quickly, the association's free Peacock Passport gives them a job to do. They search for metal peacocks and collect stamps at participating businesses in Historic Downtown Glendale and Historic Sahuaro Ranch. A finished passport earns a free gift at the Arizona Information Center. According to the association, Glendale's peacock history goes back to 1933.
The Amphitheatre After the Lights
The new amphitheatre's first big booking after the holidays is already set. The city lists the Downtown Glendale Arts & Culture Fest for Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027, at Murphy Park and the City Hall Amphitheatre, with cars, food, live bands, children's activities and live art. That gives the rebuilt park a two-month run, starting with the Glitters ceremony on Nov. 27 and running to a full festival four weeks after the lights go dark.
In the city's June release, Kennedy said the park's heart "is now beating louder and stronger than ever" after the reopening. Kickoff weekend has the most moving parts. On Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19, the lights and the Catlin Court Holiday Happening fall on the same evening.
If you're settling an estate downtown, or just wondering what your Catlin Court bungalow is worth, Russell Harris has worked these historic streets for more than 20 years and answers the phone 24/7. Call him for a home valuation before or after the holidays. Let's connect.
