Last December, the person running Cottonwood's Christmas parade was worried about one specific neighbor. "My biggest fear is somebody camped out on Main Street, waiting for the parade to come through," Andrea Schultz, director of operations for the Greater Verde Valley Chamber of Commerce, told Journalaz.com. Nobody was coming down Main Street that day. For the 71st parade, the floats stayed parked in the Verde Valley Fairgrounds lot at 800 E. Cherry St. People walked past them like an exhibit instead of watching from the curb.
This year the floats move again. The rebuilt street that brings the parade back also carries the rest of the day. On Saturday, December 5, 2026, the parade, the Old Town Chocolate Walk and the Old Town Tree Lighting all happen on one stretch of Main Street between late morning and dark. A household can spend that whole Saturday in one place without moving the car.
What kept the floats parked in 2025
The reason was the road. Schultz told Journalaz that road work on Main Street "from Walgreens to 10th Street" took up "about 50% of our normal parade route," and that the Chamber had "considered every other option that there is." City Manager Mario Cifuentez II and his wife Michelle were grand marshals that year. He told the paper that the community loves the parade and "the improvements on Main Street made it necessary."
The parked format had some upsides. The 2025 event ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free spectator parking, and it added a Community Choice award so residents could vote for a favorite entry. Still, a parade that stays in a parking lot never brings a crowd onto the town's main street.
The street the parade comes back to
The City of Cottonwood rebuilt Main Street one segment at a time. A July 2025 city notice set the order for asphalt replacement: city limits to Cactus Street, then Cactus to Willard, then Willard to the 10th Street roundabout. The final segment ran from the 10th Street roundabout to SR 89A/Cottonwood Street. Crews were still working there in late 2025, when the Chamber called off the moving parade.
That segment wrapped up over the winter. On February 4, 2026, the City, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Combs Construction Company announced that asphalt paving between Mingus Avenue and SR 89A was complete and the phase was substantially complete. Final pavement striping, planned for spring, was the only item left. The work included rebuilding sections of concrete curb, gutter and driveway entrances before the old asphalt came out. Part of the cost was covered by a Transportation Alternatives Grant through ADOT. The announcement, published by Signals AZ, described the project this way:
"With work finished in this phase, the City of Cottonwood has finished reconstructing the entirety of Main Street between the City limits and SR 89A/Cottonwood Street."
For anyone who drove Main Street through 2025, that sentence is the reason the parade can come back.
Saturday, December 5, hour by hour
The Chamber lists the 72nd Annual Christmas Parade for Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme is "Christmas Traditions," the grand marshals are Lori and Dan Mabery, and Yavapai Title Agency is the event sponsor. The Old Town Association has scheduled its Chocolate Walk and tree lighting for the same afternoon. Here is the full day in order:
- 9 a.m. Parade entrants check in at the Verde Valley Fairgrounds.
- 10:30 a.m. Entrants are expected to be in line.
- 11 a.m. The parade leaves the Fairgrounds parking lot, heads east on Cherry Street, turns left onto Main Street and continues into Old Town Cottonwood.
- 2 p.m. The Chamber's listed end time. The route finishes at Main Street and N. Cactus Street.
- 3 p.m. Chocolate Walk ticket and bag pickup opens at the Civic Center, also called the Cottonwood Community Club House. The walk runs until 7 p.m. along historic Main Street, with stops at participating Old Town shops, tasting rooms and restaurants.
- 5:30 p.m. The Old Town Tree Lighting begins, with Christmas music and carolers.
- 6 p.m. Chocolate Walk tickets that haven't been picked up may be resold, and they are non-refundable.
There's about an hour between the parade's listed end and the Chocolate Walk pickup. The parade finishes at Cactus Street, inside Old Town, which is where the afternoon events take place.
Chocolate Walk tickets are not mailed. They wait at the Civic Center, and any not collected by 6 p.m. may be resold.
Where the parade is worth watching
The Chamber's advice for spectators is short: "Bundle up, bring your chairs, and experience a true hometown Christmas Parade." The lineup it describes has floats, a car covered in toys, mountain men in period dress, dogs, horses, pigs, lambs, dancers, old tractors and fire trucks.
The route has three natural reference points:
- Verde Valley Fairgrounds, 800 E. Cherry St. This is where the parade starts. Entrants are in line by 10:30 a.m., so it's the best spot to see the floats before they move.
- Mingus Avenue and Main Street. The judge's stand is here, so entries will likely put on their best show at this corner. The last stretch of Main Street to be repaved, from Mingus to SR 89A, starts at this corner. That paving was finished in early 2026.
- Main Street and N. Cactus Street. The parade ends here in Old Town. It's the closest end to the afternoon's Chocolate Walk and tree lighting.
If you're entering a float, the Chamber charges $50 for commercial and business entries and $30 for nonprofits, schools and clubs, and you register through the same listing page.
Old Town's weekend starts on Friday
For adults who want a quieter start, the Old Town Association holds its VIP Wine & Chocolate Pairing Experience the night before the parade, on Friday, December 4, 2026, from 4 to 7 p.m. It's an adults-only stroll through Old Town, and ticket pickup starts at 4 p.m. at Old Town Square, 1044 N. Main St.
Two weeks earlier, the Arizona Wine Country Artists Village comes to Old Town Activity Park, 187 E. Pima St., from November 20 to 22. Organizers John and Lauri Maeder list hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Chamber's calendar shows shorter hours for the same event, so check the organizer's page before you go. It's an art fair rather than a holiday market, but it's on the calendar the weekend before Thanksgiving, when many people start looking for handmade gifts.
All of these events end up at the same few blocks of Main Street between Pima and Cactus.
Getting there and road closures
A moving parade means some streets will close for the morning. For a sense of the timing, the 2023 parade notice said closures would start at 10:30 a.m. and roads were expected to reopen by 2 p.m. This year's closures will be announced closer to December 5, so look for the City of Cottonwood's notice before you plan a route across Main Street that morning. If you have questions about the Main Street project itself, the City and ADOT have kept cottonwoodroadconstruction.com and a project hotline at (928) 405-0111.
Last year's planning centered on one empty street. This year the floats come down Cherry, turn left onto Main and finish at Cactus by 2 p.m., and the tree lights come on in Old Town at 5:30.
I've loved watching the Verde Valley's small-town traditions since I came to Northern Arizona in 1985, and a parade back on Main Street is good news for everyone who lives along the route. If you're thinking about life near Old Town Cottonwood, or just want to talk about how the rebuilt Main Street has changed the neighborhood, Judy Ivicek is glad to help. Let's Connect.
