"This is a tradition longer than I can remember, and this is my 39th parade," Ken Malcom told The Covington News after last December's Christmas Parade. At the time he was the City of Covington's tourism and downtown development director. The paper reported that the parade started at Legion Field on the morning of Dec. 6, 2025, and rolled across downtown. The Square and the streets around it were full of rainbow umbrellas, plastic ponchos and winter coats.
The route explains how the whole season works. Covington's holidays have two homes. The Square gets a few short Thursday evenings. Legion Field, at 3173 Mill Street NE, gets a month of nights. The parade is the one morning a year that literally carries people from one to the other. Once you see the two schedules side by side, it's much easier to plan a December here.
December 5 is the one day both venues share
On the 2026 calendar, Saturday, December 5, is the only date with major events at both places. The annual Christmas Parade steps off at 10 a.m. That evening, Lights at Legion opens with its kickoff from 6 to 9 p.m. at Legion Field. The night includes the Covington Mistletoe Market, food trucks and a chance to visit with Santa. According to the City's Mistletoe Market page, vendors include local artisans, craftspeople and bakers.
The City of Covington parade page says the City and Discover Covington are carrying the parade tradition forward. The 2026 route, theme and grand marshal hadn't been posted when this went out. Last year's crowd is still a useful guide. Malcom told The Covington News that 2025 had worse weather than 2024 and a larger crowd anyway. He also said interest in marching is always high. Regular participants know the City usually starts taking sign-ups around Labor Day, and the slots can fill quickly. That window has closed for 2026, but if your group wants a spot in 2027, mark early September.
From there the season splits.
The Square runs on Thursday evenings
Downtown's holiday events are brief, and three of the four land on a Thursday. Here is the 2026 lineup from the Discover Covington events calendar and the City's own listings:
| Date | Event | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 19 | Lighting of the Square | 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. | The Square |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Annual Christmas Parade | 10 a.m. | Leaves from Legion Field, through downtown |
| Thursday, Dec. 10 | Candlelight Shopping on the Square | 6 to 8 p.m. | The Square |
| Thursday, Dec. 17 | Santa, Live Reindeer and Christmas Movie Shorts | 6 to 8 p.m. | The Square |
The City's listing for the Lighting of the Square calls it an annual tradition with children's choirs, Santa and the tree lighting. This year it runs one hour, Thursday, November 19, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The City's 2025 listing ran from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on November 20. On the 2026 schedule, if you arrive at 7:15 you'll catch the last fifteen minutes.
The December 17 event has grown a little too. In 2025 the City listed Santa and Christmas movie shorts on the Square on Thursday, December 11. The 2026 listing adds live reindeer to the name and moves the date six days later, putting it closer to the holiday itself.
These short windows make the Square easy to plan around. Each event is a single weeknight evening, over in an hour or two, held downtown where dinner is a short walk away.
Legion Field runs every night
Legion Field works on the opposite schedule. Lights at Legion is free. After the December 5 kickoff, the trees are lit every night through Sunday, January 3, 2027, for walking through at your own pace. That gives you about four weeks of evenings, including the stretch between Christmas and New Year's when the Square calendar has nothing listed.
The trees come from the community. Businesses, organizations and families each sponsor and decorate one. The City's Lights at Legion page shows that applications for 2026 trees are open and links the decorating guidelines. The Rockdale Citizen reported more than 170 decorated trees last season, all from area businesses, organizations and families.
The kickoff also has a contest. The Rockdale Citizen reported that attendees at the Dec. 6, 2025, kickoff voted for their favorite trees in four categories. These were the 2025 winners:
- People's Choice Family Tree: The Phyall Family
- People's Choice Business Tree: All Air
- People's Choice Organization Tree: Shelby Shines On Foundation
- Discover Covington Tree: Heart of Newton
Since the voting happens at the kickoff, the December 5 crowd at Legion Field helps pick each season's favorites. The quieter weeknights after that are when you can actually take your time with each tree. The City hasn't published nightly viewing hours, so check its Lights at Legion page before a late visit.
Lights at Legion is the newer half of the season. The City's page still calls it an "inaugural event" and a "new holiday tradition," wording left over from its first year. The same page now says it is "returning" in 2026 and thanks the businesses, organizations and families who reserved trees in 2025. In just a few seasons it has filled the late-December nights that the Square's schedule leaves open.
November gets downtown warmed up first
Lights at Legion doesn't open until December. Before then, the Square has a few more dates on the Discover Covington calendar:
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Cinema Saturday on the Square, showing A Minecraft Movie at 6:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day Ceremony on the Square at 11 a.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: Lighting of the Square, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Newton County Ministers' Alliance Thanksgiving Box Giveaway
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday is the natural moment to stop by downtown shops before the December events start. The Discover Covington shopping directory lists Bitten by Shelvie Jean at 1111 Washington Street, Your Sister's Closet at 1116 Monticello Street, Ridge Avenue & Co at 1120 Monticello Street and Woven at 1140 Church Street. Those same blocks are where you'll be on December 10 for Candlelight Shopping. It's a good idea to check with any shop you plan to visit about its hours that evening.
There's also a new place to warm up. Patience Coffee has opened a brick-and-mortar café at 4128 Carroll St NW, a few minutes from the Square. The Newton County Chamber's calendar listed its ribbon-cutting and grand opening for Saturday, September 26, 2026. This will be the café's first holiday season, so it can be your coffee stop before the parade or ahead of a Thursday on the Square.
Putting the two schedules together
With the dates side by side, the season breaks into three stretches. From mid-November until the parade, the holiday events are all on the Square. December 5 is the overlap day: the parade leaves Legion Field in the morning, and Legion Field opens for the season that night. For the rest of December, the Square has two more Thursday evenings and Legion Field stays lit every night, right up to Sunday, January 3, 2027.
For a single big outing, choose December 5. The two Thursdays after that are easy downtown evenings, and the nights at Legion Field are there whenever the rest of your week leaves room.
If a Thursday on the Square has you wondering what your own place near downtown would bring this winter, Watkins Real Estate Associates is glad to talk it through, with no pressure and no rush before the holidays. Get a Free Home Valuation, and enjoy the lights.
