In This Guide

All November 2026 Events, Day by Day Highlights: Parades & Tree Lightings Christmas Markets & Holiday Light Shows Craft Shows, Bazaars & Makers Markets Up North & in the Upper Peninsula Before You Go

November is Michigan's hinge month, the stretch of short, pewter-gray afternoons when the harvest season quietly folds itself into the holidays and seemingly every town with a school gymnasium, a church fellowship hall or a downtown parking deck throws open its doors to makers, bakers and seasonal shoppers. This guide rounds up 155 fairs, festivals, craft shows, holiday bazaars, makers markets and civic celebrations across the state for November 2026, from small-town school bazaars to the Lansing tree lighting at Silver Bells in the City and America's Thanksgiving Parade, which marks its 100th edition on Woodward Avenue on Thanksgiving morning. The list below runs day by day, soonest first, and within each day the earliest openings come first, so you can jump straight to a free Saturday and see everything happening statewide. Every entry names the town and venue, and most carry hours and admission as the organizers published them. Each event name links to a page with fuller details, which is the place to confirm plans before setting out, because small community events occasionally shift dates, move rooms or reach capacity. After the list, our highlights pick out the parades, Christmas markets, light shows and craft fairs most worth the drive, for a month that richly rewards anyone willing to trade a lazy Saturday for a gymnasium full of hand-thrown pottery, quilted table runners and homemade fudge.

All November 2026 Events, Day by Day

Jump to: Nov 1 · Nov 4 · Nov 6 · Nov 7 · Nov 8 · Nov 12 · Nov 13 · Nov 14 · Nov 15 · Nov 18 · Nov 19 · Nov 20 · Nov 21 · Nov 22 · Nov 23 · Nov 26 · Nov 27 · Nov 28 · Nov 29

Sunday, November 1 · 3 events

Wednesday, November 4 · 1 event

Friday, November 6 · 2 events

Saturday, November 7 · 36 events

Sunday, November 8 · 5 events

Thursday, November 12 · 2 events

Friday, November 13 · 1 event

Saturday, November 14 · 41 events

Sunday, November 15 · 3 events

Wednesday, November 18 · 1 event

Thursday, November 19 · 2 events

Friday, November 20 · 7 events

Saturday, November 21 · 25 events

Sunday, November 22 · 4 events

Monday, November 23 · 1 event

Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving) · 2 events

Friday, November 27 · 5 events

Saturday, November 28 · 13 events

Sunday, November 29 · 1 event

Highlights: Parades & Tree Lightings

Detroit's America's Thanksgiving Parade is the month's undisputed headliner, and 2026 brings its 100th edition. The parade began in 1924 as an undertaking of the J. L. Hudson department store, whose display director borrowed the idea from Toronto's Santa Claus parade, and it is now produced by the nonprofit Parade Company. According to the organizers' visitor information, marchers step off at 8:45 a.m. at Woodward and Kirby and proceed roughly three miles south to Congress Street over about an hour and a half. Its signature flourishes include the Big Head Corps, whose oversized papier-mâché heads are crafted in Viareggio, Italy, and the Distinguished Clown Corps, a troupe of business and civic leaders in greasepaint. The state's veterans agency has even put out a call for volunteers for the 100th parade, a sign of how grand this milestone year is expected to be. The same morning brings The Parade Company's Turkey Trot, so early risers can earn their stuffing before the first float rounds the corner.

Friday, November 20, is the brightest night on the calendar, with three cities switching on their Christmas trees within a few hours of one another. In Lansing, the 42nd Silver Bells in the City fills downtown from 5 to 9 p.m., with an Electric Light Parade stepping off at 6 p.m. and fireworks over the Capitol, weather permitting. The centerpiece is the official state Christmas tree, a 60-foot spruce from Iron Mountain that the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget says will arrive on November 7 and be lit at about 7:30 p.m. on the lawn of the Michigan State Capitol, the Elijah E. Myers design dedicated on January 1, 1879. In Detroit, Campus Martius Park hosts the 23rd annual Detroit Tree Lighting from 4 to 9 p.m., a few weeks after the tree itself is hoisted into place downtown on November 4. Arriving early is wise at both, since the best sightlines fill long before the countdown.

Northern and western Michigan answer with parades of their own. Downtown Traverse City stages a two-day Light Up Downtown celebration that begins with a tree lighting from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on November 20 and continues with the Traverse City Light Parade from 6 to 8 p.m. on November 21, while a Cookies & Cocoa Crawl and a Find the Grinch hunt keep families roaming the shops between events. Kalamazoo's holiday parade steps off downtown at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 21, a cheerful downtown tradition now in its seventh decade. In Petoskey, merchants open the season with Ladies Opening Night from 4 to 8 p.m. on November 20, and the Downtown Petoskey Holiday Parade rolls through town at 10 a.m. on November 28. Small-town parades like these are blessedly informal affairs, with marching bands, fire engines and scout troops, and they reward anyone who brings a thermos and a folding chair.

Detroit's illuminated Christmas tree and light-wrapped trees at Campus Martius Park on a December evening
Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Christmas Markets & Holiday Light Shows

The European Christmas market has taken firm root in Michigan, and two of the state's best-known examples open this month. The tradition began in German-speaking Europe, where Dresden's Striezelmarkt is documented as early as 1434, and its familiar trappings include mulled wine, gingerbread, nutcrackers and carved nativity figures. The Grand Rapids Christkindl Markt returns to the Downtown Market on Ionia Avenue from November 18 through December 24, open Wednesday through Sunday with evening hours until 9 p.m. later in the week, and closed on Thanksgiving Day. On the lakeshore, Holland's Kerstmarkt brings its outdoor holiday market to the 8th Street Marketplace on weekends from November 20 through December 19, sharing its Saturday space with the farmers market in front of the Civic Center. Pair either with an afternoon in downtown Grand Rapids or among Holland's Dutch heritage sites, and a quick shopping errand becomes a full and festive day.

For many families, the season is measured in light displays, and three of the largest open in the second half of the month. Wayne County Lightfest transforms a five-mile stretch of Hines Park into a drive-through gallery beginning November 19, open Wednesday through Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m. through December 24, with free entry during the first half hour of opening night. Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo opens November 21 in Royal Oak, with November nights on the 21st and 22nd and over Thanksgiving weekend from the 27th through the 29th; tickets are required for everyone two and older, and the zoo notes that online prices beat the gate. In Grand Rapids, ENLIGHTEN at Frederik Meijer Gardens returns November 23 for its third season, a mile-long illuminated path through the sculpture park that now concludes inside the Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory. Daytime visitors know the Detroit Zoo and Meijer Gardens well, but both assume an entirely different, almost enchanted character after dark. Timed tickets are the norm at the ticketed shows, so booking ahead is prudent for holiday weekends.

Craft Shows, Bazaars & Makers Markets

The true heart of a Michigan November, though, beats in school cafeterias and church halls. On Saturday, November 14, alone, more than forty shows open across the state, among them the Saline Holiday Craft Show, which opens its doors at 8 a.m. with a $4 admission and free entry for children five and under. The week before, the Dakota Holiday Craft Show in Macomb charges $3, with children ten and younger admitted free. Larger productions run over several days: the Mason Christmas Craft Show takes over the Community Building at the Ingham County Fairgrounds from November 12 to 14 in Mason, the Ingham County seat, and the Novi Original Sewing and Quilt Expo draws quilters and sewists to Novi over the same three days. Because so many of these shows are staged in schools and churches, they carry a neighborly warmth that no shopping mall can quite imitate. Arrive early for the best selection, since the most coveted handmade ornaments and baked goods have a way of vanishing before lunch.

A newer generation of makers markets brings a more urban sensibility to the season. The Ferndale Underground Market sets up inside a downtown parking structure in the Woodward Avenue suburb of Ferndale on two weekends, November 14 and 15 and again November 21 and 22. In Mount Clemens, the Anton Art Center hosts a holiday market from November 14 through December 23, open Tuesday through Sunday, and the Royal Oak Market Art Fair fills the Royal Oak Farmers Market on November 19 and 20. Kalamazoo closes the month with the Bizarre Bazaar on Sunday, November 29, at the Eccentric Cafe of Bell's Brewery, the brewpub Larry Bell opened beside his original brewery in 1993. Out in Livonia, Expo Michigan stages a marketplace on every weekend of the month, and on Small Business Saturday the Saint Joseph Makers Market fills the Box Factory for the Arts in lakeside St. Joseph.

Up North & in the Upper Peninsula

Travelers bound for the northern half of the state will find a thinner but heartfelt calendar. Escanaba, the Delta County seat on Little Bay de Noc, hosts two shows: the Holiday Art and Craft Fair at the Bonifas Arts Center on November 7 and the Thanksgiving Craft Show at the Ruth Butler Building on November 27 and 28. Kingsford, the neighbor of Iron Mountain and the hometown region of this year's state Christmas tree, holds its holiday craft show at Kingsford Middle School on November 7. In the northern Lower Peninsula, the Emmet County Holiday Craft Show in Petoskey asks $2 or a nonperishable food item at the door on November 21, and Boyne City keeps its indoor farmers market going on Saturday mornings at the Veterans Park Pavilion. Gaylord's Christmas vendor and craft show on November 28 and Atlanta's holiday craft and vendor show at the VFW post on November 21 round out a list that richly rewards anyone heading north for the holiday weekend.

Before You Go

A few rhythms shape the month and are worth knowing before you plan. Saturdays carry most of the load, and the heaviest days fall on November 7 and November 14, when three dozen and then more than forty shows open simultaneously across the Lower Peninsula. Admission at community shows is usually free or a few dollars, and bringing small bills keeps the lines at the door moving briskly. The regular firearm deer season opens November 15 and runs through November 30, bringing an influx of hunters to northern towns and to public land, so anyone pairing a craft show with a woodland hike should review the Michigan DNR's deer hunting information and wear something bright. Thanksgiving falls on November 26, and the Saturday after it is Small Business Saturday, first observed in 2010, which explains the cluster of pop-up shops and makers markets on November 28. Weather is the final variable, since an early lake-effect squall can empty an outdoor market with little warning, which is one more reason to glance at each event's page the night before.

The big public celebrations in this guide were checked against their organizers' own 2026 announcements, from Silver Bells in the City in Lansing to the Downtown Detroit Partnership's event calendar, and traditions that had not announced firm dates when this guide was compiled were left out rather than guessed at. That means a few beloved favorites, Christmas walks and village light nights among them, may still surface later in the season. Where an event's posted hours contradicted its own dates, the hours were left off, and its page will carry the latest word. Multi-day markets and light shows appear on the day they open, with their full run noted beside them, so a late-November visit to a market that opened mid-month is still well worth planning. The Gleaner refreshes this calendar every month, and the December edition will gather the Christmas-season events that are still settling their schedules.

Plans change, and the organizers' own pages always have the final word, so check each event before you go. If something is missing, it may appear in a later edition: the Gleaner rebuilds this calendar every month, confirming the big public celebrations, such as America's Thanksgiving Parade and Wayne County Lightfest, against their organizers' own announcements.

Further Reading

America's Thanksgiving Parade visitor information ↗ Silver Bells in the City ↗ State of Michigan's 2026 Christmas tree ↗ Grand Rapids Christkindl Markt ↗ Holland Kerstmarkt ↗ Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo ↗ Wayne County Lightfest ↗ Downtown Traverse City events ↗