Cherry Creek North's Holiday Season Moves Up Fillmore Street This Year

For the last several years, Cherry Creek North's holiday season has happened on Fillmore Plaza. The market was there, the Giving Machines were there, and every Saturday Night Lights was there. All of it fit between 1st and 2nd Avenues.

The 2026 calendar spreads out. The Holiday Market and the Giving Machines stay on the plaza. Saturday Night Lights moves a block north to 250 Fillmore St. In December a large new restaurant opens at 201 Fillmore, between the two. The season now runs along most of Fillmore Street, and that changes how you'd plan an evening there.

A new name, the same million lights

The Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District is calling this season "A Holiday Less Ordinary." Last year's theme was "Cherry Creek North Pole." The campaign page bills it as a set of free outdoor events running through November and December. More than a million lights go up across the district's 16 blocks. There's also a storefront display program called Windows Less Ordinary, a Holiday Cherry Hunt, and Festive Sips at spots around the district.

Everything starts on Thursday, November 19, with a kickoff that pairs the Million Light Plug-in with the unveiling of the Giving Machines. The old name hasn't fully disappeared. The Giving Machines listing still describes them as sitting in "Cherry Creek North's Winter Wanderland."

The plaza keeps the market and the machines

The south end of Fillmore Street plays the same role it always has. The seventh annual Cherry Creek Holiday Market runs from Thursday, November 19, through Thursday, December 24, on Fillmore Plaza between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Admission is free, and you'll find local makers, live music and the Mistletoe Lounge pop-up bar. Last year, Fetch Concepts produced the market with nearly 50 local makers, designers and creators. The district's 2025 release also noted that the Mistletoe Lounge had been named one of Denver's top holiday bars. Hours shift around Thanksgiving, so check the market's own site before you go that week.

The Giving Machines are vending machines that sell donations to local groups instead of snacks. They stand at the market entrance near 2nd Avenue and Fillmore Street, run 24 hours a day, and stay in place from November 19 through Monday, January 4, 2027. That's eleven days after the market closes. The local organizations taking part include Women's Bean Project, Special Olympics Colorado, Urban Peak and Young Americans Center.

Because the machines never close and outlast the market, you can visit them without the crowds. A weekday morning walk past 2nd and Fillmore in late December or the first days of January works just as well as a Saturday afternoon in early December.

Saturday Night Lights moves a block north

This is the biggest change on the map. The 2026 Saturday Night Lights listing puts the event on Saturday, December 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Civica Plaza, 250 Fillmore St. It's free and open to all ages, with music, dancing and entertainment under the lights.

Last year it ran three Saturdays, December 6, 13 and 20, at 105 Fillmore St., right on the plaza where the market sets up. The 2025 version had a light-up dance floor with a live DJ, a tunnel of lights, free photo booth keepsakes, hot chocolate, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and horse-drawn carriage rides, which were new that year.

The listing names the new venue as Civica Plaza. It shares the 250 Fillmore address with Civica Cherry Creek, a seven-story office and retail building by Seattle-based Schnitzer West and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The Denver Post reported the building was completed in 2018. Mile High CRE described its street-level outdoor lounge as one of the building's amenities.

For you, the change is about logistics. In past years, Saturday Night Lights and the market crowded onto the same plaza. This year, a December 12 visit means walking between two spots a block apart. You can shop the market first and then head north for the music, or the other way around.

The Henry opens halfway between

The stretch between the plaza and Civica gets busier this season. Mile High CRE reported that The Henry is scheduled to open December 16 at 201 Fillmore. It will be the first Colorado location for Fox Restaurant Concepts' all-day restaurant and the brand's 13th location nationwide.

The details matter in a busy season. According to Mile High CRE, The Henry will take up 6,973 square feet on the ground-floor lobby level of 201 Fillmore and will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. A walk-up coffee bar will sell in-house laminated pastries along with coffee and matcha drinks. Lunch and dinner will be served daily, with weekday happy hour and weekend brunch. If it opens on schedule, a coffee window at 8 a.m. on the 200 block of Fillmore gives you somewhere to start a morning market visit. The district hasn't had that on this block before.

Next door, Fox is planning Hank's Neighborhood Bar, its first spin-off bar concept, for early 2027. It covers 4,039 square feet, including 1,465 square feet of patio. Fox already runs Flower Child and North Italia in Cherry Creek.

A second opening lands in the middle of the season. Westword reports that SYC Concepts has scheduled its Cherry Creek North restaurant, Sushi 37, to open November 11, eight days before the lights go on. Westword describes it as a mix of fresh sushi and izakaya dishes with an omakase room upstairs.

The 2026 calendar at a glance

One familiar kickoff has left the district. Last year, KOSI 101.1 held its switch to round-the-clock Christmas music at Moxy Denver on Josephine Street. It was a tradition 23 years running, according to the district's 2025 release. This year the station's Flip the Switch Party takes place Saturday, November 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Golden Hotel in Golden.

Small Business Weekend, and the shops beyond Fillmore

Fillmore Street holds the big events, but the district's holiday shopping covers all 16 blocks. Small Business Weekend runs Friday, November 27, through Monday, November 30, across the whole district. Last year's edition highlighted more than 150 locally owned shops and restaurants. The district counts more than 220 retail and service businesses in total.

A few more changes away from Fillmore are coming in the new year. BusinessDen reports that BoxBox, a bento-box salad concept moving from Colfax, is slated to open at 3003 E. 3rd Ave. in early 2027, in the space Sweet Izzy recently vacated. BusinessDen also reports that Butterdrop Bakeshop is planned for 250 Detroit St., next to Aviano Coffee. BusinessDen has also reported that Cherry Creek Dance plans to leave 2625 E. 3rd Ave. at the end of the year for the Galleria at Cherry Creek, 720 S. Colorado Blvd. in Glendale.

One way to do December 12

December 12 is the one night when the market, the lights and Saturday Night Lights all happen at once. Here's a route that covers Fillmore Street in order.

1. Get to Fillmore Plaza in the late afternoon and shop the Holiday Market between 1st and 2nd Avenues while it's still light.
2. Stop at the Giving Machines near the 2nd Avenue entrance on your way out of the market.
3. Walk north up Fillmore past 201 Fillmore, where The Henry is set to open four days later.
4. Arrive at Civica Plaza, 250 Fillmore St., for Saturday Night Lights, which runs from 5 to 8 p.m.
5. Head back south to the Mistletoe Lounge for a drink before the market closes.

If December 12 doesn't work for you, the Giving Machines are open around the clock until January 4, and the lights stay on across all 16 blocks for the rest of the season.

At The David Bell Group, we know Cherry Creek North block by block. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of the Holiday Market, or a place near where the season comes together on Fillmore, we'd be glad to walk that street with you and talk through what you're looking for.