Prescott's Courthouse Lights Are Already Up. Here's Everything That Happens Before They Turn On.

Why have the trees on the Courthouse Plaza had Christmas lights in them since before Halloween?

The answer is on the Yavapai County calendar, and it changes how the next six weeks downtown make sense. The plaza's holiday season is put together on a schedule, with each piece set for a specific date, and the lighting on December 5 is the final step. If you know the order, you can tell the parades apart, guess which Saturdays will be crowded, and see what the square looks like at each stage.

The strands went in the week of October 18

The Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza events calendar blocks off October 18 through 23 for "Courthouse Holiday Lights Installation," listed under the Prescott Chamber of Commerce. That's why the plaza trees have been wired for more than a week now, with nothing turned on.

The same calendar shows how much ordinary use the plaza gets while the lights sit dark. Its October entries include private weddings and political rallies booked on the lawn, and more weddings are scheduled into November. The Chamber does its installation around a square that stays booked.

The first big public event to use the plaza after the lights went up was Yavapai CASA for Kids Foundation's 12th Annual Costumes for Kids 5K & Halloween Fest on Saturday, October 24. It ran from 9 a.m. to noon on Courthouse Square, with the 5K starting at 10 a.m. and a one-mile fun run after it, Signals AZ reported. So the race went on under holiday lights that were already strung but not lit.

Halloween week runs under the unlit lights

The plaza's Halloween schedule continues into this week. The county calendar has the Lincoln School Halloween Parade on the plaza Friday, October 30, starting at 9 a.m.

A block and a half west, the newest place on Granite Street has its own Halloween night on the calendar. The Betsy, a wine bar and members' club at 211 N. Granite Street, held its grand opening under new ownership on October 17. The Prescott Times called it "A Toast to 100 Years: The Betsy's Opening Chapter," a wine festival for the building's 100th birthday. The Prescott Times reported that the building went without a name for a century until the new owners named it. Owner Maddie Stephens told the paper, "A hundred years without a name. We moved in and called her Betsy."

The Betsy's events page lists a Halloween event on Friday, October 30, with the time still to be announced. Members' hours are Tuesday through Friday, 4 to 8 p.m., and the public can come in Saturdays from 4 to 8 p.m., according to the bar's site. The same calendar shows it closed all day on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

November 11 does double duty

Once Halloween is over, the installation moves from the trees to the courthouse building. The county calendar has "Bandstand Glass and Curtains Installation" on November 5, then "Courthouse Building Decorations Installed" on November 11.

November 11 is also Veterans Day, and the City of Prescott holds its parade downtown that same Wednesday. Pre-parade activities start at 10:30 a.m. and the parade at 11 a.m. The 2026 theme is "Remember the Past, Serve the Present, Inspire the Future," according to the City of Prescott special events page. The city's call for participants puts the opening ceremony at Cortez and Union. Entries line up in staging by 9:30 a.m. and the parade circles its route once. Lineup order goes out by email to entrants the week of October 26.

So a midweek holiday morning on the plaza gets both a veterans' parade on the streets around it and Chamber crews dressing the courthouse. If you're heading downtown that day, expect some of the decorations to be going up while you're there.

Two parades, two organizers, one week apart

Most of the confusion comes in here. Prescott has two holiday parades on consecutive Saturdays, run by different organizations at different times of day.

The Prescott Downtown Partnership, the downtown merchants' association formed in 1999, runs the evening parade. Its page promises Christmas music and reindeer races for kids, with entries parked around the field once the parade ends. The Experience Prescott listing puts the parade on Cortez Street at 6 p.m. and the bonfire from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Watch the timing on November 28. The parade is called the Holiday Light Parade, but the courthouse lights stay off that night. The floats bring their own lights. The plaza's lights go on a week later.

The daytime parade belongs to the Chamber. The Chamber's Christmas Parade page calls the 2026 edition the 44th annual, presented by Findlay Auto Group. This year's theme is "Lights, Camera, Action!" and entrants are encouraged to build floats around movies filmed in or around Prescott. The Chamber expects more than 100 entries. The same page links a parade maps and closures PDF for street-level detail.

December 1 is the test run

With the decorations up and both parades scheduled, the county calendar sets aside December 1 for "Testing of the Lights." Two days later, December 3, the Chamber holds its Grand Marshal Gala Preview Night. If you walk past the courthouse after dark on December 1 and see the trees lit, that's the test. The official switch-on is still four days out.

December 5, hour by hour

Everything up to this point builds to one long Saturday. Here's how the Chamber lays out the day:

1. 12 p.m. Free shuttle service starts. Park at the Prescott High School lot and ride to the front of the Parking Garage on Granite Street. Buses run until 8 p.m.
2. 1 p.m. The 44th Annual Christmas Parade begins.
3. After the parade. Santa is on the Yavapai County Timeline on the north side of the courthouse until 5 p.m., and high school bands play holiday music on Gurley Street.
4. 5 p.m. The Prescott High School Chamber Singers perform on the courthouse's north steps. The Chamber's lighting page also lists Ponderosa Grove on the bill.
5. 6 p.m. The 72nd Annual Courthouse Lighting & Fireworks.

The Chamber's page puts the shuttle pickup at Prescott High School. Another event listing mentions Yavapai College as a starting point, so check the Chamber's page the week of the parade before you pick a lot.

The lighting is the 72nd and the parade is the 44th, so the switch-on is roughly 28 years older than the parade that now leads into it.

The lights stay on into January

Once the switch is flipped, the Chamber's Arizona's Christmas City schedule and the county calendar keep events going around the lit plaza:

• December 11. The 38th Annual Acker Night. The opening ceremony is at 5 p.m. and the event runs 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., per the Acker Night site. Participating downtown businesses open their doors to musicians, and donations go to music education and youth performing arts.
• December 17. Lincoln School Courthouse Caroling, noon to 1:30 p.m.
• December 31. The 16th Annual Whiskey Row New Year's Eve Boot Drop, from 7 p.m. to midnight.
• January 9. Blue Light Night. Last year, Signals AZ reported that the plaza trees turned blue for National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, with a short program by local agencies on the north steps. The Chamber's 2026 date is on the county calendar; details for this year haven't been posted yet.
• January 17. Last Night of Lights. Crews take the decorations down January 18.

From the first strand on October 18 to removal on January 18 is three months, and the lights are actually on for about six weeks of it.

You can also pay for part of the display. The Chamber's Adopt-a-Tree program charges $500 for one plaza tree, which comes with a 12-by-12-inch keepsake plaque and a listing on the website. A $100 Elves Club level gets recognition and a supporter sticker. The Chamber is also making a wood-engraved 2026 courthouse ornament, limited to 1,000 pieces. The Chamber says sponsorships keep the Arizona's Christmas City events free to attend.

If you have family visiting for one of these Saturdays, or you're wondering how a place within walking distance of the plaza would do on lighting weekend as a second home or rental, Martin de Bókay can go through which downtown streets and properties fit that plan. Schedule your Sedona investment consult and we'll start with Prescott's calendar.