What time do you actually need to be on Main Street on Saturday, Dec. 5? Pick almost any hour between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. and something in Old Town Cottonwood will be starting, finishing, or about to close its window. The 72nd Annual Christmas Parade, the 33rd Annual Old Town Chocolate Walk and the Old Town Tree Lighting all land on that one day. The city lists them as three events. On the ground they work more like one long relay along the same few blocks, and the choices that shape your Saturday have to be made before December starts.
The route that ties the day together
The parade starts at 11 a.m. from the Verde Valley Fairgrounds parking lot. It heads east on Cherry Street, turns left onto Main Street and keeps going into Old Town, finishing at Main Street and N Cactus Street. The judge's stand is at the corner of Mingus and Main. This year's theme is "Christmas Traditions," the grand marshals are Lori and Dan Mabery, and Yavapai Title Agency is the listed sponsor.
The Cottonwood Chamber's parade listing gives the plain version: "Bundle up, bring your chairs, and experience a true hometown Christmas Parade." It promises floats, a car covered in toys, mountain men in authentic dress, dogs, horses, pigs, lambs, dancers, old tractors and fire trucks.
That last stretch of Main Street is where the afternoon happens too. The Old Town Chocolate Walk sends ticket holders down "beautifully decorated historic Main Street" to participating Old Town merchants, shops, tasting rooms and restaurants for handcrafted chocolates and holiday treats. The tree lighting happens in Old Town as well. So by evening, the same curb where you put your camp chair down in the morning is part of the Chocolate Walk route.
The day, hour by hour
The parade listing runs the event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Chocolate Walk pickup opens at 3 p.m. That leaves about an hour between the two. It's long enough to pack up the chairs and get lunch, but too short to go home to Clarkdale or Cornville and come back without hurrying.
| Time | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 a.m. | Parade entry check-in | Verde Valley Fairgrounds |
| 10:30 a.m. | Parade entries must be in line | Fairgrounds parking lot |
| 11:00 a.m. | Parade begins | Cherry St. to Main St. into Old Town |
| 2:00 p.m. | Parade listing's end time | Main St. & N Cactus St. |
| 3:00 p.m. | Chocolate Walk begins, ticket and bag pickup opens | Civic Center, Cottonwood Community Club House |
| 5:30 p.m. | Old Town Tree Lighting with Christmas music | Old Town |
| 6:00 p.m. | Unclaimed Chocolate Walk tickets may be resold | Civic Center |
| 7:00 p.m. | Chocolate Walk ends | Historic Main Street |
The evening is where the timing gets tight. The tree lighting starts at 5:30 p.m., right in the middle of the Chocolate Walk window, and the organizers describe it as a stroll with holiday lights and carolers. Half an hour later, at 6 p.m., any ticket that hasn't been picked up at the Civic Center can be resold, and it won't be refunded. Someone who spends the afternoon at a tasting room and plans to grab the bag "after the tree" has only 30 minutes to do it before the ticket can go to someone else.
The fix is simple. Pick up your bag as early as you can after 3 p.m., then walk. That gives you more than two hours of chocolate stops before the lights go on, and the bag is safely yours.
The deadlines that fall before December
Chocolate Walk tickets cost $35 and are sold through the Old Town event page. They aren't mailed. You pick them up at the Civic Center on the day. If your plans change, refund requests have to arrive by Friday, Nov. 27, 2026, and no refunds go out after that date.
Nov. 27 is the day after Thanksgiving, eight days before the walk. Anyone buying tickets for visiting family or for a group of neighbors should settle the headcount over the holiday weekend, not on the Friday before the walk.
Parade entries have their own November paperwork. Commercial and business entries cost $50. Nonprofits, schools and clubs pay $30. Registration runs through the chamber's event page. Clubs and businesses that want a float behind the grand marshals will be building through Thanksgiving, then checking in at 9 a.m. on parade day.
The Friday night with only 100 tickets
The day before has a smaller, adults-only version. The VIP Wine & Chocolate Experience runs Friday, Dec. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. It costs $55, is for ages 21 and up, and is capped at 100 tickets. Ticket holders go to participating tasting rooms, bars and restaurants, where each stop pairs wine or a specialty drink with chocolate. Pickup starts at 4 p.m. at Old Town Square, 1044 N Main.
Saturday's walk is built for families and crowds. Friday is the same idea for a much smaller group, and the 100-ticket cap means it can sell out well before the big weekend. Couples who would rather skip the parade crowds can do Friday night and spend Saturday morning on the curb.
What's new on Main since last December
This year's walk goes past at least one storefront that wasn't open last year. Bind & Banter, a bookstore with coffee, tea and a full bar, announced a quiet opening in Old Town for Oct. 27, 2026. The date matched the release of Sarah J. Maas' new book, A Court of Splintered Harmony, as The Verde Independent reported. Hoodline also covered the cocktails-and-books concept. With holiday shopping and a chocolate crowd on the same street, a bookstore with a bar fits the day well.
Elsewhere in town, Vue Optical, an independent optician owned by Saba Mottahed-Peters, held its grand opening on Oct. 23, according to The Verde Independent.
The November run-up to Dec. 5
Dec. 5 caps off a month with something on the Cottonwood calendar nearly every weekend, much of it on Main Street:
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Walkin' On Main. Old Town's Main Street fills with wine tasting, art, vendors, a car show and live music from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., per the event's official site. The Cottonwood Historic Property Tour runs the same day, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Nov. 20–22: Arizona Wine Country Artists Village, listed on Visit Cottonwood's holiday calendar.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Thanksgiving at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. The park's listed Thanksgiving hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., compared with its usual fall and winter day-use hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., per Arizona State Parks. If you want a walk before the turkey, go in the morning.
- Friday, Nov. 27: Holiday Hoedown and the Chocolate Walk refund cutoff. The Holiday Hoedown at Blazin' M Ranch, 1875 Mabery Ranch Road, includes a Christmas train, a visit with Santa, a Western barbecue dinner and a holiday show. That same day is the last day to request a Chocolate Walk refund.
- Friday, Dec. 4: VIP Wine & Chocolate Experience, 4 to 7 p.m., starting from Old Town Square.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Parade at 11 a.m., Chocolate Walk at 3 p.m., tree lighting at 5:30 p.m.
After that, Dead Horse Ranch has one more holiday change: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and closed on Christmas Day.
Our office sits in Historic Old Town Cottonwood, so the parade route and the Chocolate Walk are right outside our door every December. If you'd like local insight on Old Town year-round, from which blocks stay busy after the holidays to how the Main Street calendar affects nearby properties, the team at Adobe Group Realty is happy to talk it through. Get Your Free Market Report, and we'll see you on Main Street on Dec. 5.
