Downtown Towson has two holiday Fridays this December, and two different organizations run them. The Baltimore County Christmas Tree Lighting opens the season on Friday, Dec. 4. One week later, on Friday, Dec. 11, the Towson Main Street Collaborative hosts the Towson Winter Garden. The Collaborative is the group named to run Towson's downtown revitalization program under Main Street Maryland.
The tree lighting keeps its usual place at Olympian Park. The second Friday goes to the Collaborative, whose remit covers downtown Towson's storefronts, beautification, and events.
Dec. 4 Stays at Olympian Park
The Towson Chamber of Commerce lists the tree lighting for Friday, Dec. 4, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Olympian Park. The Chamber's description promises live performances, holiday treats, carolers and local entertainment, and a visit from Santa. In 2024 the event ran at Olympian Park, 1 W. Joppa Road, on a Friday in early December during the same 6 to 8 p.m. window.
Good Morning Towson gives one practical tip for the night: downtown garages fill up early, so leave extra time to park.
The next morning has its own plan. Charles Village Pub at 19 W. Pennsylvania Ave. holds Breakfast with the Grinch on Saturday, Dec. 5. There are two seatings, 10 to 11:30 a.m. and noon to 1:30 p.m., each with a brunch buffet and appearances by the Grinch, Buddy the Elf, and Santa. Tickets go on sale Nov. 29 for the noon seating and Nov. 30 for the 10 a.m. seating, both on Eventbrite. If you plan to go, keep both dates in mind, because the noon seating opens a day before the morning one.
The Second Friday Changes Hands
Towson's second holiday Friday has moved around. In 2024, ice sculptures at participating businesses ran alongside the tree lighting on the same night. In 2025, the Chamber gave the sculptures their own evening. The Fire & Ice + Cookie Crawl ran Friday, Dec. 12, from 6 to 9 p.m., with ice sculptures, s'mores, and cookies from participating shops, according to the Towson Torch holiday calendar.
On the Chamber's 2026 calendar, the Friday after the tree lighting goes to the Towson Winter Garden, which runs Friday, Dec. 11, from 5 to 9 p.m. The Towson Main Street Collaborative organizes it. The Eventbrite listing gives the location as 401 Delaware Ave., the Bread & Circuses address. Here's what the listing includes:
- Craft vendors and food vendors
- An elf bar with free hot chocolate and coffee
- A fire pit
- A festive movie at the Towson Torch booth
- Business giveaways
The listing calls it a four-hour, all-ages evening. That's an hour longer than last year's Fire & Ice window and twice as long as the tree lighting. With a 5 p.m. start, you can come straight from work, have dinner on Delaware Avenue, and stay into the evening.
Who the Collaborative Is
The Collaborative has a public mandate. On April 7, 2025, the Baltimore County Council considered Resolution 18-25. It supported Towson's request for Main Street Maryland designation and named the Towson Main Street Collaborative to run the program locally.
In July 2025, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development split Main Street Maryland into three tiers. The middle tier, "Aspiring Main Streets," covers communities that are working within the Main Street Approach and completing a two-year state training program on the way to national accreditation. DHCD's Visit a Main Street page lists Towson in that tier, alongside Denton, Laurel, Pocomoke, Rock Hall, Snow Hill, Taneytown, and Williamsport.
Christina Kelley manages the Collaborative. In a Towson Torch Q&A published Aug. 5, 2026, she said she grew up in Towson and spent about three years as a member coordinator at the Towson Chamber before taking the lead role. She drew the line between the two groups this way:
"The Towson Main Street Collaborative specifically focuses on revitalizing downtown Towson, a zoned district, through placemaking, beautification, economic development, and community improvement projects. Meanwhile, the Towson Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization that supports local businesses through networking, advocacy, marketing, and professional development."
In the same interview, Kelley said success would be measured partly by foot traffic, event attendance, new business openings, and fewer commercial vacancies. Seen that way, the Winter Garden is a holiday event and also a way to bring people downtown that the Collaborative can count.
What Downtown Said It Wanted
The Collaborative has put numbers on what people asked for. Its community survey drew 1,051 responses from residents, students, and business owners.
| Survey question | Top answers |
|---|---|
| Events wanted | Live music 83%, art and vintage shows 56%, cultural and heritage festivals 55% |
| Retail wanted | Bookstore 86%, clothing and vintage 82%, homeware and gifts 52% |
| Leading concern | Parking 77% |
Two of these results show up in December. The Winter Garden's craft vendors are the closest match on the holiday calendar to the art and vintage shows that more than half of respondents asked for. The parking concern lines up with Good Morning Towson's advice to give yourself extra time on tree-lighting night.
The Winter Garden also follows a run of Collaborative events earlier this year. Kelley's interview listed Savor and Stroll for Aug. 15 to 22 and a Towson Movie Night on Sept. 11. Trick or Treating Uptown Towson was on the Chamber calendar for Oct. 23. The Winter Garden carries that schedule into December.
The Weeks Around the Two Fridays
The rest of the calendar runs from mid-November to early January:
- Thursday, Nov. 19. The Towson Farmers Market on Allegheny Avenue ends its season, which started June 4. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 21. The Holiday Train Garden opens at The Shops at Kenilworth, 800 Kenilworth Drive, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The St. Paul's Schools and Hilb Group sponsor it. The center is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.
- Nov. 21 through Dec. 24. Photos with Santa runs at Kenilworth. Hours vary by day, and the center encourages reservations. The booking system also shows appointments on Nov. 20, so check the date when you book.
- Friday, Dec. 4. The tree lighting at Olympian Park, 6 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5. Breakfast with the Grinch at Charles Village Pub, 10 a.m. or noon.
- Friday, Dec. 11. The Towson Winter Garden at 401 Delaware Ave., 5 to 9 p.m.
Kenilworth's train garden and Santa season overlap with both downtown Fridays. On a Saturday with kids, you could see the train garden in the morning and still have the evening free.
A Roof Deck Open Through Winter
Barley's Backyard Uptown, at 408 York Road, has new owners for its first holiday season under them. According to the Towson Torch, Dave Williams, Joe Becker, and Anita Zeller Comstock bought the restaurant in a sale announced in July 2026. Becker had managed Barley's for years before the sale. The Torch reported that about 95% of the 82-person staff stayed through the change, including chef Sanit Ramos, who has been there 12 years.
The owners told the Torch they want guests to think of the roof deck for parties and gatherings year-round, including winter. They also plan more upscale menu options and are building a dedicated sensory room, a quieter space for children and other guests who find loud, crowded rooms hard. Their aim of drawing more residents downtown for business lunches and dinners matches the Collaborative's goal of more foot traffic, and both Fridays this December lean on the same thing.
For more on how Towson's evenings have been shifting, see our look at what a Towson summer night looks like in 2026. For the neighborhood overall, visit our Towson neighborhood page.
If you'd like to talk about how downtown Towson's changing calendar fits into a move you're considering in Towson or West Towson, Carolina Cronin is glad to walk through it with you, calmly and with real numbers. Let's Connect.
