Old Saybrook has two December Saturdays on the calendar this year, one week apart. The Starlight Festival takes over the Town Green on Saturday, December 5, from 2 to 5 p.m. The Torchlight Parade steps off on Saturday, December 12, at 6 p.m. and runs from 63 Main Street to 300 Main Street.
Both happen on the same few blocks, and people tend to lump them together as "the holiday stuff downtown." They come from different places, though. Starlight is five years old and has the town's economic development office behind it. Its afternoon is built to get families onto the Green and then into Main Street shops and restaurants. Torchlight has run for more than half a century as a volunteer-led march in the dark, and the music is the main event. That difference should shape how you plan each day, and it explains why the week between them looks the way it does.
The Same Few Blocks, Built by Different People
The quickest way to see the split is side by side.
| Starlight Festival | Torchlight Parade | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 date | Saturday, Dec. 5 | Saturday, Dec. 12 |
| Time | 2 to 5 p.m. | 6 p.m. step-off |
| Where | Town Green and Main Street | 63 Main St. to 300 Main St. |
| Age | First held in 2021 | Running "for over 50 years" |
| Who runs it | Town economic development staff, Chamber and civic groups | Volunteer citizens, with financial support from the Town |
| Built around | Families, shopping, restaurants | Fife and drum corps, torches, floats |
Starlight's origin is easy to date. Zip06 reported that the festival started in 2021, which made last year's edition the fifth. The town's Economic Development Commission minutes from November 2025 show the planning running through the Town's Economic Development & Communications Director, with 14 restaurants signed on to take part. A festival that tracks its restaurant count in commission minutes is designed to keep people downtown after the kids' crafts wrap up.
The Torchlight Parade's own site describes something older and simpler. It's held on the second Saturday of December, volunteer citizens run it, the Town helps pay for it, and its name comes from the torches the marchers carry.
December 5: A Festival That Sends You Down Main Street
The official Starlight page confirms the 2026 date. The program posted below that date is still last year's, though, so the details here are 2025 precedent and not a promise for this year.
Last year the day had two halves. On the Green, organizers set up crafts and a scavenger hunt, face painting and games, holiday-card making, an inflatables walk, greens from the Garden Club, lighted stars, and free hot chocolate. A long list of local groups staffed it, including Acton Public Library, Youth & Family Services, Blue Star Moms, the Garden Club, the Lions Club, the Masons, and the Knights of Columbus. Santa came in on a firetruck and took photos at the Town Green gazebo, with the program listing him from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
On Main Street, the 2025 program had the Chamber Stocking Walk with $5 stockings, extended shopping hours, ornament decorating for kids, and a set from the Senior Strings. Wagon rides left from the Green. Zip06 described those rides as horse-drawn Clydesdale wagons and also mentioned food trucks, performances, and a display of lights donated by a local family.
The festival also reached past downtown. Fresh Salt and the Choo Choo Lounge at Saybrook Point Resort ran a Starlight drink special in 2025. The evening before the 2025 festival, Gold Star Moms sponsored a Hero Tree Lighting outside The Kate from 5:30 to 6 p.m. to honor veterans and service members.
For planning, the 2 to 5 p.m. window is the Green's schedule, not the whole day. The 2025 setup assumed families would move between the gazebo, the wagons, and the storefronts. With 14 restaurants involved last year, the evening was clearly part of the plan too.
December 12: Older, Darker, and Built Around the Music
A week later, the same stretch of Main Street gets a different kind of crowd. The Torchlight Parade puts fife and drum corps from around New England next to floats designed by local businesses. The marchers carry torches, and according to the parade site, people who stay until the end get to see the guest of honor, Santa Claus.
The Old Saybrook Rotary calendar blocks out 6 to 8 p.m. for the parade, and Rotary will run a hospitality tent for marchers and the public. That two-hour window is a reasonable estimate of how long the evening lasts once you count the last float and the walk back to the car.
Who marches this year hasn't been posted yet. The parade site says the lineup isn't available. The site does run a "favorite band" ballot that names Westbrook Fife & Drum Corps, Deep River Jr. Ancients, Connecticut Patriots, Ancient Mariners, Col. John Chester, and Westbrook Jr. Fife & Drum Corps. That gives you a sense of the regional corps tied to the parade, but it isn't a roster for December 12.
The route sets the logistics. The parade starts at 63 Main Street and ends at 300 Main Street, which is The Kate's address. Standing near the finish means the whole parade passes you before the night wraps up at the theater. Near 63 Main Street, the corps go by first and you're on your way home sooner. Neither the parade site nor the Rotary listing posts road-closure times or parking guidance yet, so check the parade site closer to the date.
The Days in Between Belong to The Kate
The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center sits at 300 Main Street, right at the parade's finish line. Its holiday schedule starts the weekend before Starlight and continues almost to Christmas Eve. On the 2026 calendar, the dates fill in the gaps around the two Saturdays:
- Sunday, Nov. 29: Lights Out: It's A Very Valli Holiday, 2 and 7 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 30: Carpenters Legacy: A Christmas Portrait, 7 p.m.
- Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 1 and 2: The Irish Tenors: A Family Christmas, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Starlight Festival on the Green
- Sunday, Dec. 6: Frosty by The Barter Players at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., then Tartan Terrors: Celtic Christmas Spectacular at 7 p.m.
- Tuesday, Dec. 8: Steven Page Trio: Season's Greetings, 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9: The Empty Pockets: Holiday Tour, 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 11: Mary Fahl's Wintersongs and Carols, 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Torchlight Parade, ending at The Kate's door
- Monday, Dec. 14: Frisson's Christmas By Candlelight Tour, 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 16: Old Lyme Town Band holiday concert, 7 p.m.
- Thursday, Dec. 17: Legends of the 60's with a Christmas Twist, 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 20: Cappella Cantorum's Messiah Sing or Listen at 2 p.m., then Jon McLaughlin's Home For The Holidays at 7 p.m.
- Dec. 21 through 23: holiday shows from Nick Fradiani with Nick Fradiani Sr., at 7:30 p.m. on the 21st, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. on the 22nd, and 7:30 p.m. on the 23rd
The Sunday after Starlight is the busiest single day on the list, with a children's matinee in the morning and a Celtic show at night. The week between the two Saturdays has three evening shows on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Seats change as dates get closer, so check The Kate's event listings before you plan around a show.
What Isn't Confirmed for 2026 Yet
A few December traditions people may remember don't have 2026 dates posted yet. The Old Saybrook Chamber's holiday events page still shows last year's lineup. That included a Ladies Night on Friday, December 5, with participating businesses open until 8 p.m., the $5 Stocking Walk on Saturday, December 6, and an Elf Hunt that ran from Sunday, December 7, through Saturday, December 13. In 2025, those dates bracketed Starlight weekend and ran right up to the parade. That fits the pattern of Starlight as the town's shopping kickoff, but none of the three is confirmed for this year.
The Old Saybrook Historical Society's Holiday House Tour has an archived listing for December 7, 2024. That tour featured seven decorated historic homes and started at the Archives building beside the Hart House at 350 Main Street. No 2026 date has turned up.
As of October 12, Starlight is 54 days away. The pages to check as it gets closer are the Starlight festival page, the Chamber's holiday page, and the parade site's lineup link.
If you're planning December in town, or deciding which Main Street weekend to show off to visiting family, Dylan Walter is happy to share what he knows about both Saturdays and the stretch of Main Street between them. Let's Connect.
