At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, two crowds head for downtown Hopewell. One lines the sidewalks along 15th Street, City Point Road and Main Street for the Light Up the Night Christmas parade. The other walks through the doors of the Beacon Theatre at 401 N. Main St. for Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Christmas, which starts at 5:15 p.m.
Both events are planned around Main Street, and both rely on the same small group of downtown streets and lots. On Dec. 6, where you park decides how your afternoon goes.
Sunday, Dec. 6, by the clock
This year's parade theme is "A Retro Christmas," and Hopewell Recreation and Parks has blocked out 4 to 6 p.m. for it. Here's how the city's 2026 Light Up the Night listing and the Beacon's show calendar line up:
| Time | Light Up the Night | Beacon Theatre |
|---|---|---|
| 4:00 p.m. | Parade leaves Cavalier Square Shopping Center | Doors open |
| 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. | Parade travels 15th Street, City Point Road and Main Street to Ashford Civic Plaza | Seating, then the show starts at 5:15 |
| Right after the parade | Grand illumination at Ashford Civic Plaza, with a special guest from the North Pole | Show in progress |
| 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. | Downtown Winter Festival: mini train rides on Library Street, a craft activity in the library, a petting zoo in the Cawson Street Lot, vendors and activities on East Broadway | Show in progress |
The city lists "any public sidewalk/parking area" as a place to watch the parade, so there's no set seating area. Skaggs tickets run from $59 for balcony seats to $134 for the orchestra pit, all-in, and the pit is general admission on a first-come basis. If you want a good pit spot, plan to arrive around the same time the first parade units are lining up at Cavalier Square.
The Beacon's parking list and last year's closure list overlap
The Beacon's FAQ tells showgoers there is "plenty of FREE parking all around the Beacon Theatre" and lists four options. Set them next to the city's Dec. 4, 2025 holiday events release, which covered last year's Light Up the Night on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025:
- Small lot at Main Street and Route 10, between the Beacon and First Baptist Church. In 2025, Main Street was closed from City Point Road to Randolph Road from noon to 7 p.m.
- Street parking around downtown. In 2025, street parking was banned on 15th Avenue, E. Cawson Street, E. Broadway and Library Street, and the release warned that vehicles parked in the event area would be towed at the owner's expense.
- Two larger lots by the library at Cawson Street and Library Street. In 2025, Cawson Street was closed from Randolph Road to Hopewell Street, and Library Street was closed from Appomattox Street to East Broadway Avenue, from noon to 10 p.m.
- Lot behind City Hall, across Route 10 from the Beacon. City Hall's address is 300 N. Main St., which puts this lot on the other side of Route 10 from the theater.
The 2025 release also closed the lots at Butterworth Lofts and the Dr. Lebow Office, and it asked drivers to use caution on Randolph Road between City Point Road and North 2nd Avenue because of foot traffic.
Those were last year's rules, set for last year's event. The 2024 parade followed a similar plan with shorter hours. Parade streets were closed from 2 to 6 p.m., festival streets from 1 to 10 p.m., and street parking was banned on Cawson and Library. In both years, Cawson Street, Library Street and Main Street were part of the closures. Those are the same streets that lead to most of the parking on the Beacon's list.
When the city posts the closure list
The city sent out its closure details on Tuesday, Dec. 3 for the 2024 parade and on Thursday, Dec. 4 for the 2025 parade. Both times, that was the week of the event. If the city sticks to that schedule, the 2026 street list will come out a few days before Dec. 6, after many Skaggs ticket holders have already planned how they'll get there. The 2025 release sent people to Hopewell Recreation and Parks' Light Up the Night page and to [email protected] for details.
If you live within walking distance of Main Street, you can skip the parking question entirely on Dec. 6. If you're driving in for the show, the lot behind City Hall, across Route 10, was not among the closures in the 2025 release.
Three downtown businesses with something new this Light Up the Night
The festival footprint matters for more than parking. The blocks closed for the festival are also where several of downtown's 2026 changes happened. All three of these businesses will be part of Light Up the Night in a way they weren't last December.
Good Ship Brewing & Eatery sits at 204 E. Cawson St., on the street the festival took over in 2025. The Progress-Index reported that Hopewell's first brewery held its soft opening on Dec. 31, with Donnie Barber, his wife Mariah and their crew hosting. That opening came a few weeks after the 2025 parade, so Dec. 6 will be its first Light Up the Night. According to the brewery's site, its kitchen menu is built to pair with Good Ship's own beers. Its Toast ordering page lists Sunday hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the festival starts at 6 p.m. Check the brewery's own channels for holiday hours before you plan dinner there.
Blackwell's is going into its first holiday season under new owners. The Progress-Index reported that on July 31, Toni Carr Hathaway sold the restaurant, then called Carr Brothers, to Priscilla Dolloff-Crane and her son Daric Crane. The paper's August photos show an upstairs great room, Virginia license plate decor and karaoke nights.
City Point Ice Cream and Burgers opened in September 2022 and moved this spring into the larger Broadway Motor Company building next door. The Progress-Index singled out the wall of dancing cherries in the new space.
Last year's festival added a few extras around these blocks, all sponsored by the Hopewell Downtown Partnership. There were free photos with Santa inside the Appomattox Regional Library, ornament making with Lamb Arts at 230 E. Broadway, and the Artesian Vendors Market along East Cawson. The 2026 listing names the train rides, the library craft, the petting zoo and the East Broadway vendors so far.
The rest of the Beacon's season falls on other days
On the Beacon's late-fall calendar, Dec. 6 is the only show that shares an afternoon with Light Up the Night. Here's what's left from publish day through the end of December, from the Beacon's schedule:
- Friday, Nov. 20: BOSTYX, The Ultimate Boston Styx Tribute. Doors 6:30 p.m., show 7:30.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: The building runs two events back to back. The Hopewell Kiwanis Wine Tasting Festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. with $30 advance general admission plus a processing fee. Then 10,000 Maniacs open doors at 6:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: Little Ozzy, the night before Thanksgiving.
- Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28: Eyes of the Nile, a tribute to Iron Maiden, followed by The Prince Experience featuring Gabriel Sanchez.
- Thursday, Dec. 3 through Saturday, Dec. 5: Tab Benoit with Bonerama, then Mamma Mania, then THE STRANGER, a Billy Joel tribute featuring Mike Santoro.
- Thursday, Dec. 10: Home Free, Coming Home for the Holidays.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: The Old Dominion Barn Dance presents Doug Church with special guest Ava Piland, with a 2 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 p.m. late show.
- Sunday, Dec. 13: Samantha Fish, Cedric Burnside and Daddy Long Legs on the Shake 'Em on Down Tour. It's a Sunday show exactly one week after the parade, with doors at 6 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 18 and Saturday, Dec. 19: Frank Foster with Dillon Carmichael, then Dreamsicle, a Jimmy Buffett musical journey featuring Will Kimbrough and billed as "A Caribbean Christmas."
- Sunday, Dec. 27 and Tuesday, Dec. 29: Beach Floyd: Dark Side of Oz, then Deadgrass, the last show of the year.
The next show after Deadgrass is Night Moves, The Ultimate Bob Seger Tribute, on Jan. 15, 2027. Most tickets are priced all-in with no added fees. The Kiwanis festival and the Barn Dance shows are the exceptions and list processing fees.
If you're bringing out-of-town guests to City Point over the holidays, General Grant's Headquarters is at 1001 Pecan Avenue. The National Park Service lists the Appomattox Plantation house as normally open Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the grounds open from sunrise to sunset when the house is closed. Its holiday table marks Christmas Day, Dec. 25, as closed.
Our family likes Light Up the Night because it brings so many of our Hopewell neighbors into the same few blocks at once. If you live on or near the parade route and you're curious how your home might show to buyers this winter, Garner Realty LLC is happy to walk your street with you. Get your free home valuation whenever you're ready, and we'll see you downtown on Dec. 6.
