At The Lamar, Oxford's Holiday Calendar Sorts Itself By Night Of The Week

The Lamar is a 48-acre neighborhood about a mile from the Oxford Square. From here, the 2026 holiday season comes in two parts. One is on the Square at City Hall, along East Jackson Avenue and around the courthouse. The other is at mTrade Park on Old Sardis Road, where the Walk of Lights and the outdoor ice rink run for six weeks.

The two parts rarely meet. The town's big holiday events happen before mTrade Park opens for the season, on a morning before it opens for the day, or on a Monday when it's closed. That makes the day of the week a useful way to plan the season.

Downtown goes first, nine days ahead of mTrade

The season starts next Thursday, Nov. 12. Visit Oxford lists the Oxford Lighting of the Square for Thursday, Nov. 12, from 6 to 7 p.m. at City Hall, 107 Courthouse Square. The town's lights go on nine days before Holly Jolly Holidays opens at mTrade Park on Nov. 21. For that stretch, the Square is the only lit-up holiday setting in Oxford.

The date is later than it was two years ago. The Daily Mississippian reported that the 2024 lighting on Thursday, Nov. 7, was the earliest in the event's history. This year's listing gives the time and the City Hall location but doesn't yet describe the program. Anything you remember from past years, like Santa photos, may or may not be part of this year's hour.

Two days later comes the season's daytime shopping event. The Shop Oxford Holiday Open House is listed for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with full details still marked "coming soon." It's part of the Oxford-Lafayette Chamber's Shop Oxford program, which encourages people to shop locally. In 2024, the Oxford Eagle described a cookie stroll, Santa photos, hot chocolate, children's crafts and a prize drawing entered with receipts. That was 2024. The 2026 program and venue haven't been announced yet.

The Open House ends at 2 p.m., well before anything at mTrade Park would open. The season's first week uses a Thursday evening on the Square and a Saturday morning of shopping. Neither competes with the lights across town.

Holly Jolly keeps a five-night week

Holly Jolly Holidays is in its seventh year and runs Nov. 21 through Jan. 3 at mTrade Park, 4259 Old Sardis Road. It pairs the Walk of Lights with Oxford on Ice, a real-ice skating rink. Both have been at mTrade Park together since 2024, when the event expanded there to combine the established rink with the Walk of Lights.

The schedule matters most for the rest of the season. The Holly Jolly FAQ lists hours as Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays are dark all season. Here are the details to know before you drive over:

• Last entry is 8:30 p.m. No tickets are sold and no one is admitted to either attraction after that, so a 9 p.m. close really means arriving by 8:30.
• Closed Thursday, Nov. 26, for Thanksgiving, and Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 25. That takes two more nights off the Wednesday-to-Sunday pattern.
• Skate rental is included in the ticket. Sizes run from children's to adult, but socks are not sold on site, so bring your own.
• Parking is free at mTrade Park, with marked accessible spaces, and the Walk of Lights path is concrete or asphalt throughout.
• Card is preferred at the gate, and all sales are final. There are no rainchecks. The rink is almost always open rain or shine, and weather updates go out on the @hollyjollyholidaysoxms Instagram and Facebook accounts.
• No pets, scooters or golf carts. Service animals with proper documentation are allowed.

The FAQ doesn't list 2026 prices yet. For reference, the Oxford Eagle's 2025 preview put last year's Oxford on Ice and Walk of Lights tickets at $15 each, a same-day combo at $25, and Wednesday and Thursday tickets at half price. If that midweek discount comes back, Wednesdays and Thursdays would be the cheapest Holly Jolly nights, and the Monday and Tuesday nights it skips are when the Square tends to have something on.

Monday, Dec. 7 belongs to the Square

The Oxford Eagle reported that the 2026 Oxford Christmas Parade starts at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, around the Downtown Square. Stronger Together Oxford is organizing it, and the theme is "A Very Oxford Christmas." According to the Eagle, organizers intend the theme to recognize the Lafayette-Oxford-University community and its ability to support one another through a challenging year.

Holly Jolly is closed on Mondays, so the parade doesn't compete with mTrade Park that evening. A weeknight parade is nothing new, either. The Eagle's 2025 photo gallery shows last year's parade on the Square on Tuesday, Dec. 2, another night mTrade Park was closed.

Entries are still open. Local organizations, businesses, groups and individuals from the LOU community can enter for free. Entries are accepted first-come, first-served and are subject to approval, and organizers encourage early registration through the form linked in the Eagle's story. A neighborhood group that wants to walk in the parade should register soon.

The Square's late-night option also runs on weeknights. Rhythm & Rye's event calendar lists Miracle at Rhythm & Rye from Friday, Nov. 20 through Thursday, Dec. 31. It's a Christmas cocktail pop-up with lights, kitschy décor and novelty mugs. Visit Oxford lists it daily from 5 to 11 p.m. during the rooftop tavern's operating hours at 305 E. Jackson Ave. It is Oxford's stop on the Miracle pop-up's 2026 locations list. That page says reservation details vary by location and points visitors to each venue's social media. Miracle opens a day before Holly Jolly and runs past its New Year's Eve close at 9 p.m. It's the one holiday event that covers almost the whole season, so check Rhythm & Rye's hours for the night you have in mind.

The weekends that need the car

The Square and mTrade Park take turns, so the crowded dates are the ones where a third venue is added, and those venues are outside town.

Nov. 13 and 14. The Holiday House Arts & Crafts Fair runs Friday and Saturday at Lafayette County Arena, 70 FD Buddy East Parkway, with hours still unposted. The fair's Saturday overlaps the Shop Oxford Open House. Fitting both into that Saturday depends on when the fair posts its hours and where the Open House sets up.

Nov. 28. The Oxford Christmas Galleria is the Saturday after Thanksgiving at The Jefferson, 365 MS-6 East. Holly Jolly reopens that weekend after its Thanksgiving Day closure, so the Saturday has an indoor event and an evening at the rink, both a drive away.

For Square nights, the City of Oxford's downtown parking page lists free parking in the OPC/Water Tower lot and on floors two through four of the garage. That's the city's general guidance, not an event plan, so expect the busiest nights to fill faster.

Laid out by night, the season from The Lamar looks like this:

1. Thursday, Nov. 12: Lighting of the Square, 6 to 7 p.m., with no competing event across town.
2. Saturday, Nov. 14: Shop Oxford Holiday Open House, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., plus Holiday House at the arena.
3. Wednesday through Sunday evenings from Nov. 21: Holly Jolly at mTrade Park, with last entry at 8:30 p.m.
4. Saturday, Nov. 28: The Galleria at The Jefferson, with the rink open that evening.
5. Monday, Dec. 7: Christmas Parade on the Square at 6:30 p.m., on a night mTrade Park is closed.
6. Any evening through Dec. 31: Miracle at Rhythm & Rye on East Jackson Avenue, during the venue's hours.

If you'd like help timing a move, a sale or a family visit around Oxford's holiday calendar, Cherie Matthews and the Matthews Real Estate team are glad to help. We can tell you which weekends downtown fills up and which ones it doesn't. Talk with a local real estate expert.