"No partnership is possible." That was how the City of Liberty Lake put it in June 2025 when it announced that Winter Glow Spectacular, the light display a local nonprofit had run at Orchard Park since 2019, would no longer take place in Liberty Lake. The organizer had told the city early that year that it planned to end the event. The city said it tried several times to reach an agreement that would extend it and could not. KXLY reported at the time that the city was looking for a new holiday attraction to replace it.
Two holiday seasons later, the answer is on the calendar. The 2026 Home For The Holidays lineup, posted November 3, is the program's second year. Liberty Lake Parks & Recreation says it doubles the number of attractions and events, with 10 offerings, five of them new. Orchard Park still has the lights. The new pieces went to Pavillion Park, City Hall and the Rotary Room at Trailhead Golf. A December evening in Liberty Lake used to mean one destination. This year it depends on the date.
What the town hall asked for in June 2025
Before Winter Glow's end was final, the city held a community town hall on June 2, 2025, in the Trailhead Golf Course Rotary Room. Attendees heard the financial and logistical side of the event and of a proposal for the city to take over running it. About 46 people answered live phone polls. Roughly three-quarters said they lived in the city and about a quarter said they lived outside city limits.
The posted poll results show what that room wanted:
| Poll question, June 2, 2025 | Top answer | Next answer |
|---|---|---|
| Support the city taking over management? | Yes, 84.44% | No, 15.56% |
| Where should a city-run version take place? | Orchard Park, 82.98% | Distributed throughout the city, 14.89% |
| Most wanted addition | Food and beverage vendors, 40% | Another option not listed, 22.22% |
| Preferred way to cover the cost | Another option not listed, 43.18% | Visitor sales and hotel tax revenue, 34.09% |
Two answers got very little support. Only 2.13% wanted the event moved to another park or city facility, and only 6.82% supported charging attendees admission. In its June 13 update, the city said the town hall input showed that residents valued Winter Glow and would support continuing a holiday-themed winter event in Liberty Lake.
About 46 respondents in one room is a small sample. It is also the only public record of what attendees asked the city for. Their first preference was to keep it at Orchard Park.
Orchard Park kept the center
The 2026 program kept that request intact. Orchard Park has three of the 10 offerings, more than any other site:
- Winter Wonderland light display, November 21 through January 3.
- Cocoa & Carriage Rides, new this year, on Wednesday, December 9, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Ridgeline High School dance team will sell cocoa. Carriage ride tickets were already fully booked when the city posted the lineup.
- Jingle Bell Cruise, also new, on Saturday, December 12, starting at 5:30 p.m. Decorated vehicles leave Liberty Lake Elementary School and finish at Orchard Park, led by the Liberty Lake Police Department.
That cocoa table is the closest the lineup comes to the town hall's top request. Food and beverage vendors got 40% of the vote for the one thing people wanted added, well ahead of live entertainment at 15.56% and an ice rink at 13.33%. This year that request shows up as one evening of cocoa from a student dance team.
Everything else spreads out from the park
The other seven offerings explain why December needs a plan. Orchard Park keeps the lights, and the new additions are spread around the rest of town.
Pavillion Park gets the season's second light display. Hearth & Holly is new for 2026 and runs on the same dates as Winter Wonderland, November 21 through January 3. Anyone who wants to see both displays now makes two stops.
City Hall hosts two events. Reindeer Rendezvous, also new, runs Wednesday, December 2, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with a real reindeer outside and Santa Claus inside. Starting December 5, Battle of the Branches fills the front of City Hall with trees decorated by families and organizations, on display through January 3.
Trailhead Golf opens the season and hosts its last scheduled gathering. The third annual Light Up Liberty Lake tree lighting is Saturday, November 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Trailhead Golf parking lot, with Santa and Mrs. Claus inside the Rotary Room. The new Merry & Bright Trivia Night returns to the same room on Saturday, December 19, at 5 p.m. This is the room where the 2025 town hall met, and it now hosts both the opening night and the final scheduled event before the displays come down on January 3. Trailhead is the city-owned course whose new building we wrote about in September.
Liberty Lake Municipal Library has Santa's Mailbox, where kids can drop off letters from November 23 through December 11.
Neighborhood streets are part of the program through Deck the Homes, the second annual citywide decorating contest, with judging on December 5, 12 and 19.
Only 14.89% of the town hall voted to distribute the event throughout the city. The 2026 season does both. Orchard Park keeps its place at the center, and the new evenings went to other places.
The season in date order, with the deadlines that close first
Because the events are spread across sites, the calendar matters more than the map. Two signup deadlines close tomorrow, Friday, November 20, before the first event begins:
- Friday, Nov. 20: last day to sign up a family or organization tree for Battle of the Branches, and last day to enter Deck the Homes.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Light Up Liberty Lake, 5 to 7 p.m., Trailhead Golf. Winter Wonderland at Orchard Park and Hearth & Holly at Pavillion Park open the same day.
- Monday, Nov. 23: Santa's Mailbox opens at the library and runs through Dec. 11.
- Wednesday, Dec. 2: Reindeer Rendezvous, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., City Hall.
- Friday, Dec. 4: registration closes for Jingle Bell Cruise vehicles and for Merry & Bright Trivia Night, which can also close earlier if it fills.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: decorating day for Battle of the Branches and the first Deck the Homes judging.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9: Cocoa & Carriage Rides, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., Orchard Park.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Jingle Bell Cruise at 5:30 p.m., plus a second round of Deck the Homes judging.
- Saturday, Dec. 19: Merry & Bright Trivia Night at 5 p.m. in the Rotary Room, and the final Deck the Homes judging.
- Sunday, Jan. 3: last night for both light displays and the Battle of the Branches trees.
Two Wednesdays and two Saturdays in December each have a different main event at a different site. Most of the new programming fits after work on weekdays or into early Saturday evenings.
The park basics changed for winter, too
More nights at more parks also means more winter trips to them. On October 16, the city closed the permanent restroom buildings at Town Square, Orchard, Rocky Hill and Pavillion parks and at Harvard Trail for the season and set up portable restrooms in city parks instead. That includes both light display sites.
Driving between events has its own seasonal rule. From November 1 through April 1, the city has snow-event parking restrictions on E. Indiana Avenue between N. Harvest Parkway and N. Wildrye Road. The same notice reminds residents to clear snow and ice from their sidewalks. If a storm hits on a Hearth & Holly or Winter Wonderland night, check the street before parking on it.
The full list, with a page for each event, is on the city's Home For The Holidays page. For more on daily life around town, see our Liberty Lake neighborhood page.
At Robert Jacobs II & Associates, we keep track of how Liberty Lake's parks, streets and civic buildings are used through the year, because these patterns shape how a home near Orchard Park, Pavillion Park or Trailhead feels to live in. If you're curious how your own place fits into that picture, request a free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
