The first runners reach The Village Green at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving, November 26, for Gobble on the Green, the Thanksgiving 5K that winds through Cashiers before anyone has carved a turkey. The 52nd Cashiers Christmas Parade turns south onto Highway 107 nine days later. The Chamber's Twelve Days of Christmas plays its last free set on December 12, a week after that.
That makes 17 days from the start line to the last song. The parade has run through town for more than 50 years, and the music series is only in its fourth. The 2026 calendar has two big days, Friday, November 27 and Saturday, December 5, and a music series that fills the gap between them. The series runs through the crossroads and out to Glenville and Sapphire.
Two Days Carry Most of the Weight
The Friday after Thanksgiving has more going on in Cashiers than any other day of the season. The Village Green and the Summit Charter School Foundation both build their biggest holiday events around it, and the times overlap enough that you can do a full loop in one afternoon.
Here is how November 27 lays out:
- 10 a.m. The Cashiers Festival of Trees opens at the Summit Center and High School and runs until 5 p.m. It runs the same hours on Saturday, November 28.
- Noon. The Mistletoe Market opens in Lewis Hall at The Village Green with local artisan gifts and holiday goods, running until 5 p.m.
- 1 p.m. Santa on the Green begins in Lewis Hall and runs until 4 p.m. Visits are by registration only, which opened October 27, and the Village Green suggests a $5 donation per child.
- 5 p.m. The free Christmas Tree Lighting gathers at the Gazebo. The tree is lit at 5:45, and the event wraps at 7.
Santa visits are the only part of the day that needs registration, so if you have kids or grandkids coming up the mountain for the holiday, sign up before the rest of the weekend gets planned.
What the Festival of Trees Actually Funds
The Summit Charter School Foundation started the Festival of Trees in 2021 to raise money for the school and for other nonprofits across the Cashiers-Highlands plateau. The way it shares the money is unusual. When another nonprofit decorates a tree or wreath, 80 percent of that item's sale goes back to the nonprofit. A wreath you buy on Friday morning can end up supporting a cause well beyond the school.
Admission is $5, and anyone 18 or younger gets in free. Inside you'll find decorated trees, wreaths, gift baskets, children's crafts, story time, performances, and a pop-up O.P. Taylor's Teddy Bear Workshop. The Chamber's listing also includes artwork, auction experiences, scavenger hunts, food trucks, artisan demonstrations, and visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus. The festival also shows rivalry-weekend football games, so the Saturday session works for households where half the group wants to shop and the other half wants the score.
The Weekdays Now Belong to the Twelve Days
The newest part of the season fills the stretch between Black Friday and the parade. The Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce is holding its fourth annual Twelve Days of Christmas from December 1 through 12. Local businesses and venues in Cashiers, Glenville, and Sapphire host live music every day. Laurel Magazine reports that this is the series' fourth year and that every performance is free.
The series runs from the bottom up. According to Laurel Magazine's November 2026 preview, each business provides its own venue, picks its musicians, and chooses its dates, and the Chamber gathers everything into a single calendar. That's why some days have more than one show. Chamber Executive Director Susan Sapienza told Laurel she welcomes the overlap: "It just means more music."
These are the 2026 dates and venues named so far:
| Date | Venue | What's Planned |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, December 1 | Whiteside Brewing and The Fix | Opening day of the series |
| Saturday, December 5 | Duck Hawk Provisions and Cashiers Celtic Table | Live music on the parade route |
| Sunday, December 6, 2 p.m. | Lewis Hall at The Village Green | Cashiers Valley Community Chorus and Cashiers Valley Youth Chorus |
| Saturday, December 12 | Blue Line Bar at Brookings | Closing-day performance |
| Date on the Chamber calendar | Crossroads Cream and Coffee in Slab Town | Solo musician |
The December 6 chorus concert is the most formal event in the series. The Youth Chorus will sing "Signs of Christmas" by Pam Andrews, and the Community Chorus will perform "Appalachian Winter" by Joseph Martin. The Chamber posted the full lineup as an image, and its Cashiers411 community calendar has the performance times and musician names.
Every show is free. Sapienza says she hopes the music will get people to linger over a meal with their neighbors. She also told Laurel why she thinks the series belongs in town:
"After all, we've had Santa and Mrs. Claus parading through town for more than 50 years. Why shouldn't we have a soundtrack?"
Parade Saturday Is Where the Two Halves Meet
December 5 is the one day when the old tradition and the new series run on the same street. The 52nd Cashiers Christmas Parade starts at 3 p.m. and runs until 5, with the Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce as organizer. Laurel counts more than 70 entries this year.
The route follows the town's two main roads. It starts at Frank Allen Road and US 64 West, passes through the Cashiers Crossroads, turns south onto Highway 107, and ends at Cashiers School Road. When you pick a spot, keep in mind that Duck Hawk Provisions and Cashiers Celtic Table are both on the route and both have live music during the parade. If you stand near either one, you'll have music before the first float arrives and a warm place to go after the last one passes.
The next afternoon, the chorus concert brings everyone back indoors to Lewis Hall at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday together make the busiest weekend of the season.
The Edges of the Calendar
A few smaller events fall just outside those 17 days and help fill out the season.
- Friday, November 20. The St. John's Choir gives a free concert, "Voices in Harmony," in the St. John's sanctuary.
- Saturday, November 21. RetroWhims hosts a winter wreath-making class at Buck Gap Blooms Farm from 10 to 11 a.m., which gets a wreath on the door before Thanksgiving guests arrive.
- Wednesday, December 9. St. John's holds its 4th Annual Community Christmas Carol Sing-a-Long from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. It's free, with refreshments and more music afterward.
- Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13. The Sapphire Valley Winter Arts and Crafts Show fills the Sapphire Valley Community Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days with handmade crafts, folk art, food, and live music.
The Sapphire show opens the same day the Twelve Days series ends at the Blue Line Bar at Brookings, so the last weekend of the run reaches past the crossroads. Back in town, the lights at The Village Green stay up rain or shine from Thanksgiving weekend into early February. The Village Green is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit park and relies on community donations to keep the display going. If you want to volunteer as one of Santa's helpers on November 27, the sign-up is on the Christmas on the Green page.
At Vignette Realty, we spend our days telling the stories of these mountain towns, and the season from Thanksgiving morning to the parade is one of Cashiers' best. If you have family coming up for the holiday and want ideas for filling those 17 days, or if you're hoping to spend next December here yourself, we'd love to help you start your mountain story.
