"The City's Christmas tree lighting happens at 7pm in Rotary Park, with Congress Hall's Christmas tree lighting typically happening shortly after." That's the Washington Street Mall's event page for Friday, December 4, 2026. Add the Borough of West Cape May's own lighting at 6 p.m. in Wilbraham Park, and three trees go on within roughly an hour of each other.
Four different organizers set those times: a borough, a city, a hotel and a merchants' association. Together they work like one schedule. The same pattern runs through the whole 2026 season. Each event leaves room for the next one, starting with a fixed-price dinner weekend in early November and ending with the last candlelight tour the Saturday before Christmas. The one exception is Saturday, December 5. That night two of the area's longest-running traditions share the same evening hours.
Friday, December 4, in the order it happens
The trees light in sequence on December 4, and the Mall's page bills the evening as "Christmas Tree Lightings Night in Cape May." Here's how the evening lines up:
- 2 p.m. Congress Hall's Winter Wonderland opens for its regular Friday hours, which run until 9 p.m. The hotel notes that special hours may apply on select dates.
- 6 p.m. West Cape May's Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony begins in Wilbraham Park. The borough says it holds the ceremony on purpose on "the Friday before the Community Wide Christmas Parade."
- Between lightings. The Mall's page pitches the stretch as a stop "before, during, or after the lightings," with its festive décor and holiday shopping. It doesn't list a separate tree ceremony on the Mall itself.
- 7 p.m. The City of Cape May lights its tree in Rotary Park.
- Shortly after. Congress Hall lights its tree on the Grand Lawn at 200 Congress Place. The Festival Choir sings first, then the crowd counts down to the switch.
The hotel hasn't posted an exact start time for its ceremony, and the Mall's "typically shortly after" is the best guide so far. Plan the last stop loosely. Congress Hall's Friday hours run to 9 p.m., though, so Winter Wonderland stays open after its tree goes on. That means carousel rides, the Congress Hall Express train through the hotel's "North Pole," spiced cider and roasted chestnuts, and the Enchanted Vendor Village.
The first tree goes on two weeks earlier
December 4 isn't the start of the season. Cape May MAC lights the grand tree at the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., on Saturday, November 21. MAC describes that moment as "officially kicking-off the holiday season in Cape May."
The Physick Estate evening has its own schedule, built so each part leads into the next:
- 4 p.m. The Holiday Preview Weekend Craft Show opens on the estate grounds, with handmade gifts, hot chocolate and adult hot beverages for sale.
- 5 to 8 p.m. The first floor of the Physick Estate house museum opens for free, self-guided tours, decorated for the holidays.
- 5 to 5:30 p.m. Strolling musicians play around the grounds.
- 5:30 p.m. The John Walter Cape Community Band gives a free concert of holiday classics.
- 7 p.m. Santa lights the tree. A reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas follows on the outdoor stage.
- 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" runs in the Carroll Gallery in the Carriage House, with a Department 56 Dickens Village collection, trains and a drop-off for letters to Santa. Admission is free.
It's also a drop-off night. MAC collects non-perishable food in front of the outdoor stage for the Cape May Community Food Closet. Toys for Tots representatives will take gifts at the Carriage House Museum Shop. Sturdy Savings Bank sponsors the evening.
The Washington Street Mall holds its Holiday Preview Party the same Saturday, so both ends of Washington Street open the season together.
What fills the weeks between the two openings
The November calendar is lighter, and it builds toward the trees. It starts a week after this post goes up:
| Date | Event | Where | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 5 to Sun., Nov. 8 | Cape May Restaurant Weekend | Participating restaurants across Cape May | Three-course fixed-price menus starting at $38 per person |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Physick Estate tree lighting and Holiday Preview Party | 1048 Washington St. and the Washington Street Mall | Season kickoff, tree lit at 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Winter Wonderland opens | Congress Hall, 200 Congress Place | Thursday to Sunday through Dec. 31 |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Small Business Saturday | Washington Street Mall | Live music and the Mall's holiday décor |
CapeMay.com hosts Restaurant Weekend with Cape May Magazine. The organizer's 2026 registration page tells restaurants to set menu prices at $38 per person and up. The Jersey Cape vacation guide's listing says menus typically run from $38 to $70 per person. That's a wide range for a three-course meal, so check each restaurant's menu before you book. The ones at the top of the range are pricing very differently from the ones at the floor.
Winter Wonderland keeps different hours on each of its four days. Thursdays run 3 to 8 p.m., Fridays 2 to 9 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you have young children, Saturday's longer hours give you the most room to work around naps.
Saturday, December 5, is the one real collision
On most nights this season, the organizers' plans don't compete. December 5 is different. West Cape May's 57th Community Christmas Parade steps off at 5 p.m. from the West Cape May Volunteer Firehouse, rain or shine. It heads south on Broadway, turns east on Perry and finishes at the end of Carpenter Lane in the City of Cape May. CapeMay.com's listing gives the parade a 5 to 8 p.m. window. The borough says the parade is "funded solely by donations" and is always held on the first Saturday in December.
Half an hour after the parade starts, Cape May MAC's 52nd annual Christmas Candlelight House Tours open their first night, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. MAC started the tour in 1974. It's a self-guided walk through homes, inns, B&Bs, churches and hotels decorated for the holidays, centered in a three-quarter-square-mile area of the Historic District. It's also MAC's largest annual fundraiser.
Both events take most of an evening, and both are on foot, so the timing matters. MAC recommends walking the tour because most properties sit within a 20-minute walk of each other. It also runs an express shuttle from the Physick Estate to the one or two farthest stops. Wristbands and maps are picked up at the Physick Estate the day before or the day of your tour. If you plan to watch the parade, you can collect a December 5 wristband on Friday, before the trees light, and save the Saturday trip.
The easier fix is to tour on a different night. The tour repeats on Saturday, December 12 and Saturday, December 19, also 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Those two dates also come with this year's main addition.
December 12 and 19 carry the new dinner package
For 2026, MAC added a dinner package with the Washington Inn. Guests sit down at 4 p.m. for a three-course dinner, then walk the tour from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. It's offered only on December 12 and 19, not on the December 5 opening night. MAC "highly" recommends buying tour tickets in advance, which matters even more now that two of the three nights have a dinner seating attached.
The Mall's own calendar lines up around those Saturdays. Hospitality Night, which the Mall calls "A Mall tradition!", falls on Friday, December 11, the night before the second tour. The Merriest Mall lands on Saturday, December 19, the same day as the final candlelight tour. That puts the Mall event, the last tour and the second dinner seating on one Saturday. You can shop the Mall in the afternoon, eat at 4 p.m. at the Washington Inn if you booked the package, and finish on the tour by 8:30 p.m. Winter Wonderland's Saturday hours run until 10 p.m. that night if anyone still has energy.
The houses on the candlelight tour show what a well-kept Cape May property looks like when it's dressed for the season. If you own one on these streets and wonder what it's worth heading into 2027, Dorothy Phillips can give you a clear, private answer before the holidays get busy. Get a free home valuation.
