Delray Beach has posted the 2026 date for its 100-foot Christmas tree. Santa lights it at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., during the Downtown Development Authority's Christmas Tree Lighting and Yuletide Festival, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. that night.

A tree you can walk into

The tree is built to be entered. Once it is lit, visitors can step inside, where animated holiday scenes tell the story of the Village by the Sea, the nickname Delray Beach uses for itself. Next to it, Santa's Holiday Village sets up ice skating, a carousel and mini golf, and Santa receives visitors inside his own house.

The tree and Santa's Village stay open through New Year's Day, so the lighting is the start of a five-week run rather than a one-night show.

Atlantic Avenue closes to cars

For the lighting, Atlantic Avenue closes to traffic from Swinton Avenue east to NE 5th Avenue. The closed blocks fill with food, games, carolers and a silent disco, where dancers wear headphones and pick a channel instead of hearing one sound system.

That stretch runs east from Old School Square through the downtown blocks of the avenue, so the festival takes over the street itself for the evening, not just the square.

Fifty feet in 1993, 100 feet two years later

The tree started smaller. The Downtown Development Authority bought a 50-foot tree in 1993 as part of an effort to bring people back downtown. Two years later the city turned 100, and the tree doubled to 100 feet to match the centennial, one foot for every year of the city's history. It has stood at that height ever since.

The Downtown Development Authority still runs the event. Its listed partners for the tree this year are Grimes Events and Party Tents and International Materials, with Gelato and Co. as the village partner.

Shopping rewards through December

The lighting falls inside a second downtown program. The Shop Small Holiday Rewards Pass, which the Downtown Development Authority lists among its signature events, runs from Nov. 28 through Dec. 31. Details on how the pass works have not yet been posted on the authority's events page.

How to go

The Christmas Tree Lighting and Yuletide Festival is Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, with the tree lit at 7 p.m. Atlantic Avenue is closed to cars from Swinton Avenue to NE 5th Avenue during the event. The tree and Santa's Holiday Village remain open through Jan. 1. Prices for skating, the carousel and mini golf had not been posted as of this writing; check the event page before you go. The Downtown Development Authority can be reached at 561-243-1077.

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