Norco's Christmas Festival Now Closes Before the Parade of Lights Begins

On Saturday, Dec. 12, the City of Norco runs Breakfast with Santa, a Gingerbread Build, the Christmas Festival and the Horsetown Parade of Lights from the same stretch of Sixth Street. Breakfast, the Gingerbread Build and activity wristbands all sell through the same online ticket link, the parade is free, and it starts at 5 p.m., the same time as last year.

The festival grounds now close at 4 p.m. Last December the festival ran 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., so the parade happened in the middle of it. This year the festival ends an hour before the first lit float leaves Corona Avenue. Families who show up planning to stay all day the way they did in 2025 will find the Barn and Turf packing up just as the light fades.

What Changed Between 2025 and 2026

Admission to the festival is still free. The $8 breakfast and the $10 wristband prices don't include processing fees. The wristband is required for anyone who joins an activity, and that includes parents going along with small children. A parent riding the train with a 4-year-old needs a wristband too, so a family of four that does activities together spends $40 before fees.

The Day Now Runs in Three Pieces

With the festival ending at 4, Dec. 12 works better as three separate blocks than as one long visit. Here's the city's schedule in order:

1. 7:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Breakfast with Santa. Seatings start at 7:30, 8:45, 10 and 11:15 a.m., and each lasts 60 minutes. Tickets are sold online only, not at the door, and they're good only for the slot you choose. They went on sale Nov. 1 at 1 p.m., and the city warns they may sell out before the event.
2. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Christmas Festival. It takes place at the Barn and Turf at Ingalls Event Center, 96 and 97 Sixth Street. Wristbands are sold online and at the gate until 4 p.m.
3. 2 to 3:30 p.m., the Gingerbread Build. It costs $35 for a family of up to five and includes one gingerbread house and a printed photo with Santa. Each extra house is $20. Tickets are online only, with limited numbers.
4. 5 p.m., the Parade of Lights. The parade is free and runs on Sixth Street from Corona Avenue to Ingalls Event Center.

The morning block runs from breakfast into the festival. The afternoon block runs from the Gingerbread Build to closing time, since the build ends 30 minutes before the festival does. The evening block is the parade. You can stay for all three, but the gap between the second and third is a full hour, and the festival grounds won't be open to fill it.

The Hour Between 4 and 5

That hour matters because of where the parade starts. Parade entries check in at Sixth Street and Corona Avenue at 3 p.m. and must be in their numbered spots by 4:30. The route runs east on Sixth toward Ingalls. So while the festival winds down at the east end of the route, the whole parade is lining up at the west end.

Every seat along Sixth sits somewhere between those two ends, and that's where the hour goes. Some Sixth Street spots fit an early dinner before the 5 p.m. step-off:

• Norco's Famous Sixth Street Deli & Grill, 1261 6th St., Suite 8, has sandwiches, soups, salads and burgers. Check the deli's own site before heading over.
• Saddle Sore Saloon and Eatery, 343 Sixth St., is listed by the Norco Area Chamber of Commerce as a place serving food.
• Last Chance Inn, 1200 Sixth St., and Whiskey River Dancehall & Saloon, 980 Sixth Street, appear on the same Chamber list as bars serving food or drinks.

For something sweet on the way home, Nothing Bundt Cakes is at 1180 Hamner Ave., Suite D, in Gateway Center. The Press-Enterprise reported that the shop opened July 25, 2026. It's owned by the same operator as the Corona location, which opened in 2018.

Where the Streets Close, and When

Once you've picked a block, the road closures decide how you get there and where you park. The city lists three closures for Dec. 12:

• Sixth Street, Crestview Drive to Pikes Peak Drive: closed to vehicles from 7 a.m. to about 10 p.m. for the festival's pedestrian traffic.
• Sixth Street, Valley View Avenue to Crestview Drive: closed from 2 p.m. to about 8 p.m. for the parade.
• Vandermolen Drive at Crestview Drive: the intersection is closed from 5:30 p.m. to about 8 p.m.

General parking is at Gate A on Crestview Drive. Accessible parking is at Pikes Peak Park on Sixth Street, and directional signs mark both. The parade itself ends at Ingalls through Gate A, so the general parking area and the end of the parade share an entrance. Anyone parking for the festival in the afternoon and leaving after the parade should count on the evening closures still being in place.

For Anyone Entering the Parade

Your Dec. 12 starts earlier and has a deadline before it. This year's theme is "Christmas Through the Decades." Entries are due by email by Nov. 30, 2026, and the city has to approve each one. The categories cover motorized units, floats, marching bands, novelty entries and equestrian entries. Subcategories include tractors, golf carts and cycles, school and non-school bands, animals, horse-drawn entries and mounted groups.

The 2026 Parade Packet has one rule that matters most for a nighttime parade:

Holiday lighting is required on ALL entries. The more the merrier!

The rest of the packet's rules shape how the parade looks from the curb. Entries can't throw or hand out anything along the route, candy included. Units have to keep moving, with no gaps and no stops to perform. Music, live or recorded, can't start until an entry leaves the Corona Avenue staging area. Cars and trucks aren't allowed on the route, and dogs have to be leashed. The parade has one selected Santa Claus, and no other Santa may enter. Equestrian riders 17 and under must wear helmets, and riders 9 and under must march with an adult. Every participant signs the City waiver, and every horse needs a Healthy Horse Waiver. Questions go to [email protected].

For parade-goers, the no-candy rule means kids at the curb should come to watch the lights. Nothing will be tossed to them.

November Runs Through the Same Gates

The Christmas Festival is the biggest date on the calendar, but it isn't the first event this month at Ingalls Event Center. The city's November events use the same buildings, so they're a good chance to learn the parking before Dec. 12.

Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5: Día de los Muertos runs 6 to 8 p.m. at The Barn, 96 Sixth St. Admission and parking are free, and food is for sale. Last year it fell on Thursday, Nov. 6, at Pikes Peak Park, 97 Sixth St.

Wednesday, Nov. 11: The Veterans Day ceremony starts at 10 a.m. at George A. Ingalls Veterans Memorial Plaza, 3737 Crestview Drive. Afterward there's a free picnic at Ingalls Event Center with a Norco Lions Club barbecue. Admission and parking are free.

Sunday, Nov. 15: Kids Rodeo Fun Day runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Arenas at Ingalls Event Center. It's open to children 7 and under who weigh less than 65 pounds. Kids can ride sheep, try roping dummies, run beginner poles and barrels, and meet a rodeo bullfighter, with all riding gear provided. It costs $50 per child, refunds aren't offered, lunch is included, and online registration is required. A parent or legal guardian has to stay on site for the whole event.

Of these, Nov. 11 is the closest match to Dec. 12, a daytime event at the Crestview Drive side of the grounds. The Barn hosts Día de los Muertos tonight and Breakfast with Santa next month.

At Diana Renee Homes, we're always keeping an eye on the Sixth Street calendar, and this year's festival schedule is one Norco families will want to plan for early. For more holiday events, local spots and community updates around Corona and its neighbors, visit ExploreCorona.com, your insider's guide to everything going on this season.