At 2 p.m. on Friday, November 27, the lights go down in the Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court for a matinee of The Royale. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission, so the audience is back outside around 3:30. By then the Weinberg Family Recreation Center rinks at 305 Randolph Street have been open since that morning, their first day of the 2026–27 season. At 5 p.m., a few steps from the theater, the Village lights Village Court.
The Village, the Park District and Writers Theatre each publish their own calendars, and this year all three land on the same day. The times fit closely enough that someone in East Glencoe can spend the day after Thanksgiving downtown and never move the car. The lake, which usually sets the pace of a Glencoe weekend, won't be part of it this year.
The afternoon, in order
| Time | Place | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| Rink hours vary | Weinberg Family Recreation Center, 305 Randolph St. | Opening day for open skate, open hockey and open broomball |
| 12 p.m. | Village Court | Street and parking lot close for the festival |
| 2 p.m. | Nichols Theatre, Writers Theatre | The Royale matinee, about 90 minutes |
| 5 p.m. | Village Court | Lighting ceremony |
| 5 to 7 p.m. | Village Court, Wyman Green, Writers Theatre, Glencoe Public Library | Light the Lights festival |
The rink's hours change from day to day, so check the Park District's schedule or call 847-835-4440 before heading over. The theater and festival times are fixed. Each part of the day affects the next, and the rink comes first because its rules are strictest.
Friday is the rink's only open-admission day of opening weekend
The Glencoe Park District sells daily admission Monday through Friday only. On Saturdays and Sundays, only season pass holders and the guests they bring can skate. Opening day falls on a Friday, so November 27 is the one day of Thanksgiving weekend when someone without a pass can walk up and skate. On November 28 and 29, the ice is reserved for passholders.
Here are the 2026–27 rates as the Park District lists them:
- Season pass: $71 per person for Glencoe and Highland Park residents ages 3 to 64, $142 for nonresidents, and free for Glencoe seniors 65 and over and children under 3
- Daily admission, weekdays only: $12 resident, $24 nonresident
- Guest 5-visit punch pass: $50 resident, $75 nonresident, and guests must come with the passholder
- 10-visit punch pass: $100 Glencoe resident, $200 nonresident, shared within a household and good on weekends
- One-month college pass, ages 18 to 22: $45 for Glencoe and Highland Park residents, $90 for nonresidents
- Skate rental: $5 per visit; sharpening: $10
The college pass matters most on Thanksgiving weekend. It goes on sale November 27, only in person at the rink or at Takiff Center, and buyers must show a school ID. The pass lasts one month from the day it's bought. A student who buys one at the rink that Friday can skate weekends too, which daily admission doesn't allow. The season runs through February 28, 2027, with a Winter Break schedule from December 19 to January 1 and closures on December 25 and January 1.
The matinee is over in time for the lighting
Since the Friday matinee runs 90 minutes, the theater lets out with more than an hour to spare before the 5 p.m. ceremony. The Royale, by Marco Ramirez and directed by Tyrone Phillips, follows a Black boxer in the Jim Crow era chasing his chance to make history. The cast includes La'Tevin Alexander, Scott Aiello, Ajax Dontavius, James Vincent Meredith and AnJi White.
Writers Theatre's performance calendar also lists these dates before the holiday:
- Saturday, November 14 at 2 p.m., ASL interpreted
- Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m., open captioned
- Sunday, November 22 at 7 p.m., Pay What You Can
The show closes after two performances on Sunday, November 29.
There's a closer deadline too. Sisters, directed by Jessica Thebus with Brenda Barrie and Chloe Johnston, has its last performances in the Gillian Theatre from November 5 through November 8. After The Royale closes, the theater has one more event tied to it, a Final Word Audience Discussion on December 5 at noon. The next production, Brief Encounter, opens February 11, 2027. On the night of Light the Lights, the building at 325 Tudor Court also hosts the Santa photos.
How downtown changes from noon on
Village Court closes to traffic and parking at noon on November 27 and stays closed until the festival ends. All of the Village Court parking lot and part of the Temple Court lot are cleared that day. According to the Village of Glencoe's festival page, visitors can park in the rest of the Temple Court lot, the train commuter lots, or any downtown space that isn't closed for the event. Anyone at the 2 p.m. matinee should plan to use those lots too.
At 5 p.m. the ceremony lights the park, including a six-foot, 3D light-up display of Glencoe's ZIP code, 60022. Then the festival fills several blocks:
- Village Court and Wyman Green: live music from Rosie and the Rivets, so bring lawn chairs or blankets, plus characters from Frozen and Bluey, live reindeer, a kids' carnival ride and a trackless train that loops through downtown
- Writers Theatre: photos with Santa and the Writers Theatre Bar
- Park Avenue to Tudor Court: a tunnel of lights connecting the two
- Food and drink: Writers Theatre's Bar, Lincoln Land Kettle Corn, Tievoli Pizza, La Cocinita, and hot chocolate at Hometown Coffee & Juice, with picnic tables and heaters in the Village Court lot
The Glencoe Public Library stays open from 5 to 7 p.m. It's running a children's craft in the Johnson Room and a low-stimulus sensory room in the Hammond Room. Both are drop-in, with no registration. The Village is offering the sensory room with the Glencoe Council for Inclusion and Community. Downtown shops are invited to stay open, and holiday shopping is part of the official program. North Shore Community Bank & Trust is the seasonal sponsor, and Savin Dental is the amusement sponsor.
The lakefront is closed for construction
All of this happens on a few downtown blocks because the lakefront is a construction site. The Glencoe Park District closed Glencoe Beach on September 8, 2026. The lower ramp, beach, beach house and playground are closed to everyone while work continues. For walkers and runners, the Park District's renovation page says the upper road above the Halfway House is open after 4 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends. The lower access road and the stairs stay closed. Boats in winter storage can't be reached.
The work has moved quickly. On June 16, 2026, the Park Board voted 3–0, with two commissioners absent, to award the beach contract to Schaefges Brothers for $4,027,400. The October board report says demolition at South Beach and inside the beach house is finished. Sun shelters, the boardwalk layout, plumbing and wall preparation are underway, and North Beach closed on October 12 so the contractor could start there.
The money comes from the $14.7 million bond referendum Glencoe voters approved on November 5, 2024. That package covers the playground, the Safran Beach House, the boat house and racks, the boardwalk, sun shelters, ramps, and the walls and stairs down to the beach. The beach house's last interior update was in 2003, and the plans call for restrooms and showers that are easier to reach from outside, so the building can open earlier and stay open later in the season. The historic exterior won't change. The Park District expects to reopen the beach in May 2027.
That leaves a long gap. From Thanksgiving until the beach reopens, Glencoe's public gathering places are Village Court, Tudor Court and the rinks on Randolph Street.
Nine days later, the Red Invitation
The season's other big date comes nine days after Light the Lights. The Winnetka-Northfield-Glencoe Chamber of Commerce holds its 47th Red Invitation on Sunday, December 6, 2026, the second Sunday after Thanksgiving as usual. It started in 1976 as one retailer's pre-holiday Sunday sale, announced with a simple red invitation. Northfield joined in 2011 and Glencoe in 2021. Shops taking part put out clusters of red balloons, and the Chamber promises free parking and seasonal refreshments. Winnetka and Northfield hold their own tree lightings that weekend. Glencoe lit its tree on November 27, so downtown already has its lights up on Red Invitation Sunday.
From November 27 to December 6, Glencoe's holiday events all happen on the same few downtown blocks. The rinks then stay open through February 28, and the beach is expected back in May 2027.
If you're thinking about when to list or buy in Glencoe, timing around this season and the beach's expected spring reopening can make a difference. LWG Real Estate follows these calendars closely and responds quickly. Request a Home Valuation & Market Plan, and we'll build your plan around Glencoe's actual dates.
