Glendale Glitters turns on its lights the night after Thanksgiving and leaves them on for 36 straight nights, from Friday, November 27, through January 1. After the kickoff, the displays are lit from 5 to 10 p.m. every night. Most of what people think of as Glitters fits into eight of those nights: the vendor rows, Santa, the beer garden and the stage acts. City council planning documents from this year lay out four programmed weekends, and vendors work those weekends only.
This is the 33rd season, and it is the first one back on the downtown blocks the event used before construction moved it. Your plans depend on which weekends you choose and on knowing where the event's edges are.
Eight Programmed Nights Out of Thirty-Six
Glendale Parks and Recreation took its entertainment schedule to the Glendale City Council's October 27 workshop, and it covers every Friday and Saturday from kickoff through December 19. The city marks the lineup as subject to change.
| Date | On the schedule | Start |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 27 | Marilyn's Dance Academy, Lori Ford's Vocal Studio, St. John Paul II Catholic High School Cheer | 5:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 28 | The Dance Shoppe Performing Group, Spotlight Youth Theatre, Fiesta Mexicana Dance Company | 6:00 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec 4 | Creative Edge Dance, Purely Dance Performance Team | 6:00 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5 | LiVE! @ Murphy Park: Mega Ran Presents: Buddy's Magic Holiday | 7:00 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec 11 | Movies by Moonlight Presents: Elf | 6:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 12 | LiVE! @ Murphy Park: A Winter's Evening With Ryanhood | 7:00 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec 18 | Michaela's Dance Magic, Cachito Dance Project | 6:00 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 19 | LiVE! @ Murphy Park: New Destiny | 7:00 p.m. |
Friday nights mostly feature local dance studios and school groups. Three of the four Saturdays after kickoff are LiVE! @ Murphy Park concerts, and the movie night lands mid-month. Families with performers in the show will want the early weekends. If you're coming for a headliner and a beer, Saturdays in December are the better fit.
Vendor approval covers the kickoff weekend and every weekend after it, and the city's plan states that weekdays are not used. The program ends December 19. From then through New Year's Day, including Christmas week, the displays stay lit every night with no programming.
Why the Event Is Back on the Old Blocks
According to the June council presentation, the 2026 footprint "returns to the pre-DCRP footprint": 57th Avenue to 59th Avenue, between Glendale Avenue and Myrtle Avenue. DCRP is the city's Downtown Campus Reinvestment Project. It rebuilds City Hall and its parking garage, Council Chambers, the E. Lowell Rogers Amphitheatre and Murphy Park itself, with Holly Street Studio Architects designing and Okland Construction building.
It took longer than planned. KJZZ reported in 2022 that the project was a roughly $70 million revitalization due to finish in March 2025. Later, the Glendale Star reported a council budget increase that put the estimate at $96.6 million, up from $89.9 million. Council materials from April 2026 set the City Hall ribbon cutting for June 18 and a Murphy Park and amphitheater celebration for June 20.
Last year's event shows the effect most clearly. The city's 2025 Glitters announcement put the lighting ceremony in front of the Glendale Civic Center, and the lights went dark December 31. This year the ceremony is at the E. Lowell Rogers Amphitheatre in Murphy Park, and the lights stay on one more night, through January 1. The park also has a new gazebo, which serves as the weekend home for Santa's holiday display.
The event has been rebuilt before. In April 2021, council moved away from large events like Glitters toward the smaller Murphy Park Lights, and FOX 10 reported that the city's recreation director at the time described the goal as year-round downtown foot traffic. The full name came back after that, and the Arizona Republic covered the revamped 2024 version with its two-day kickoff. In 2026 the brand, the park and the original blocks are all back together.
Seventy-One Vendors, Six Downtown Applicants
The city expanded the vendor program well beyond its June plan. Staff first proposed approving 25 to 30 vendors and listed local preference for downtown Glendale businesses first among the selection criteria. In August, the recruiting plan named Catlin Court and downtown merchants as its first audience.
Here is the final count from the October 27 update:
- 150 applications received
- 6 from downtown merchants
- 71 approved, "not all at the same time"
- 79 waitlisted or not approved
Last season's city announcement listed more than 20 vendors, among them Nothing Bundt Cakes, Visualize Creativity, KTT Concessions and Island Noodles. This year's 71 approvals rotate across the four weekends, so the vendor rows on December 5 may differ from those on December 18. Because only six applications came from downtown merchants, the booths will mostly be crafters, artisans and food operators from elsewhere. The Catlin Court shops are mostly in their own buildings along the same streets.
That has long been how downtown approaches the season. In 2022, ABC15 reported that the owner of Bears & More lit the trees on Catlin Court himself because he believed the lights brought visitors onto the street. The Historic Downtown Glendale Merchants Association's shop directory lists Bears & More at 7146 N. 58th Drive and Pink House Boutique at 7009 N. 58th Ave., both inside or next to the event box.
The footprint is also enforced. In June, council members raised concerns about unlicensed vendors setting up around the event blocks, the Glendale Independent reported. The city told applicants who weren't selected that "only vendors with written City approval may sell within the designated event footprint (or downtown Glendale)," and it plans four to five Code Compliance inspectors each Friday and Saturday night from 5 to 10 p.m. The rule covers the whole box from 57th to 59th Avenue and Glendale Avenue to Myrtle Avenue. The trash plan from the same process adds more receptacles and scheduled pickups during event hours.
Kickoff Weekend, Step by Step
The streets close earlier than the event opens. Here's the sequence for the first weekend:
- Wednesday, November 25, 6 a.m. Kickoff road closures begin, the day before Thanksgiving. They run until Sunday, November 29, at 6 a.m.
- Friday, November 27, 5 p.m. The kickoff opens at 5850 W. Glendale Ave. and is free.
- Lighting ceremony. The city's events page says 5:30 p.m. at the E. Lowell Rogers Amphitheatre, and the city calendar lists 5:45 p.m. Plan to be there by 5:30.
- 6 p.m. Lights on, according to the run of show. Community performances follow in three blocks until 9:15 p.m., and the evening ends at 10.
- Beer garden and Santa. The Glendale Ambassadors run the beer garden, and Santa is in the new Murphy Park gazebo on weekends.
For parking, the downtown merchants' site lists free covered parking at the Palmaire Parking Structure. On the three weekends after kickoff, the closures are shorter, running Friday at 6 a.m. to Sunday at 6 a.m. If you live or work near 58th Avenue, the streets around Murphy Park will be closed most of each programmed weekend.
The Thirteen Nights After December 19
The last LiVE! @ Murphy Park show is New Destiny on December 19. After that, Glitters is lights only. Murphy Park stays lit from 5 to 10 p.m. every night through January 1, which covers Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Eve. The city's lighting contractor, Christmas Light Decorators, submitted concepts for larger-scale features this year. The city's lighting plans include separate layouts for Murphy Park and for the bead and plaza areas. During those last nights there are no vendor rows, no road closures and no stage schedule, so the displays and the year-round shops along Catlin Court are what's left downtown.
The lights are on all 36 nights, and the vendors, Santa and stage acts are there on eight of them. That same timing question applies to selling a home in Glendale. CITIEA Brokerage builds each listing around a short, scheduled window of buyer attention, and times its production-grade marketing so buyers arrive while that window is open. Sell for more, faster.
