Main Line Holiday Events: Tree Lightings, Markets and Shows for 2026
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By Max Karasick, Compass real estate agent licensed in PA and NJ
Clear your calendar for December 5 and 6. That's the Main Line's big holiday weekend in 2026. Saturday brings the Ardmore Holiday Market (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Tredyffrin Township's tree lighting at Wilson Farm Park in Wayne (5 to 7 p.m.). Sunday is the Narberth Dickens Festival. People's Light gets a head start with its holiday panto in Malvern on November 18. Downtown Wayne's Christmas in Wayne and a Bryn Mawr tree lighting hadn't posted 2026 dates when these pages were checked in late October.
When Is the Wayne Tree Lighting in 2026?
Depends which one you mean. A Wayne mailing address covers more than one township, so there are two.
Tredyffrin Township: Saturday, December 5
This one's locked in. Tredyffrin's Tree Lighting Celebration 2026 is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Wilson Farm Park, 500 Lee Road, Wayne. It's free. The township's page promises photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, music from a local DJ group, sweets from the Tredyffrin Parks Foundation and a drop off for letters to Santa. Food trucks were listed as coming soon. Rain date: Sunday, December 6.
Downtown Wayne: Not Announced Yet
The Wayne Business Association's Christmas in Wayne page still showed the 2025 edition on October 28, 2026. Last year's version ran Friday, December 5, 2025, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. with carriage rides, crafts at the firehouse, carolers, the tree lighting and Santa's arrival. Saturday brought the Radnor Memorial Library Elves for Shelves 5K at 8 a.m. and the Santa Parade at 10 a.m. The 2026 date isn't out, so don't plan around last year's. Check back in November.
Ardmore Holiday Market: Saturday, December 5
Start your Saturday here. The Ardmore Holiday Market runs December 5, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Cricket Avenue at Lancaster Avenue, per the Downtown Ardmore District. Art Star Bazaar curates it: more than 20 local craft vendors plus live music. The listing doesn't mention an admission charge.
No Ardmore tree lighting had shown up on the district's events calendar by late October. If one gets added, that's where you'll see it first.
Narberth Dickens Festival: Sunday, December 6
Sunday belongs to Narberth. The Narberth Business Association lists the Dickens Festival for December 6, 2026. It's free, and it turns downtown into 1840s London for the day: carolers, period vendors and food, dancers, musicians and puppet shows. Past maps spread it along North Narberth Avenue, Haverford Avenue, Essex Avenue and Forrest Avenue.
The catch: the 2026 schedule and map were marked coming soon in October, and sponsors and vendors were still to be posted. The date's set. The hours aren't. Scrooge would approve of the suspense.
Holiday Shows and Exhibits
People's Light Panto in Malvern
People’s Light has Cinderella: A Musical Panto running November 18, 2026 to January 3, 2027 at 39 Conestoga Road in Malvern. That covers Thanksgiving week and New Year's week, so it's a handy answer when the house is full and everyone's restless.
CraftForms at Wayne Art Center
CraftForms 2026, the 31st international juried exhibition of contemporary fine craft, hangs in the Davenport Gallery at Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Avenue, from December 6, 2026 to January 23, 2027. The ticketed preview party is Saturday, December 5, 6 to 9 p.m. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sundays.
How to Plan the Weekend
December 5 is stacked. Ardmore's market wraps at 4 p.m., the Tredyffrin tree lighting starts at 5 and the CraftForms preview kicks off at 6. With a car you can do all three. Just know it's three stops in three townships. Sunday is Narberth's day, and also Tredyffrin's rain date.
Downtown Ardmore and Narberth both sit on SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail line, so you can do the market and the festival car free; check SEPTA for weekend trains. Wilson Farm Park and People's Light sit away from the stations, so you'll probably drive those.
What This Means for Owning or Renting Nearby
Like the idea of walking to all this? The downtowns hosting these events share a pattern. Within a few blocks of the Ardmore, Narberth, Bryn Mawr and Wayne stations, you'll mostly find twins, older rowhouses and apartments above storefronts, with stone and Victorian single homes on the side streets. The Main Line, Ardmore, Bryn Mawr and Wayne pages cover each town.
Prices swing a lot by ZIP. As of September 2026, Zillow's Home Value Index put the typical home in ZIP code 19003 (Ardmore) at about $526,000 and in ZIP code 19087 (Wayne) at about $834,000, according to Zillow Research. Those are ZIP level numbers, not a price on any one street.
When you're choosing between Main Line towns, Max builds the short list by train station first, then walks each block with you to the platform and the downtown. He also checks township event and road closure notices for your move month, because nobody wants a moving truck stuck behind a Santa Parade. Buying? Start at Buy. Renting? Start at Rent. For the cost side, see what it costs to own in Pennsylvania versus New Jersey, and for a night in the city, the Philadelphia holiday markets and rinks guide.
Maximize Your Weekends.
Official Sources
FAQ
When is the Tredyffrin Township tree lighting in 2026?
The Tredyffrin Township Tree Lighting Celebration is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Wilson Farm Park, 500 Lee Road in Wayne. It's free, Santa and Mrs. Claus are taking photos and there's a rain date of Sunday, December 6 if the weather doesn't cooperate. Food truck details were still coming.
When is the Narberth Dickens Festival in 2026?
The Narberth Dickens Festival is Sunday, December 6, 2026, per the Narberth Business Association's festival page. It's free and takes over the streets of downtown Narberth for the day. The 2026 schedule and map were marked coming soon in October, so check the times before you head over.
When is Christmas in Wayne in 2026?
The Wayne Business Association hadn't announced a 2026 date for Christmas in Wayne by late October 2026. Its event page still showed last year's edition, which ran Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6, 2025, with the tree lighting and Santa's arrival Friday evening and a Santa Parade Saturday morning. Check back in November.
When is the Ardmore Holiday Market in 2026?
The Ardmore Holiday Market is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Cricket Avenue at Lancaster Avenue, per the Downtown Ardmore District. Art Star Bazaar curates it, with more than 20 local craft vendors and live music. Go early, then make the Tredyffrin tree lighting that evening.
