Christmas Events for Kids in Bellevue (2026)

Christmas Events for Kids
Written by Kelsey Cecil

Updated 3 min read

Rally the corgi has sniffed out the Christmas events for kids in Bellevue for 2026. Snowflake Lane brings falling snow and holiday floats down Bellevue Way every night from November 27 to December 24, and Santa helps switch on the barn lights at Kelsey Creek Farm on Saturday, December 5. We check every date on the host’s own website and link straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Washington Christmas events for kids guide.

What Rally found in Bellevue

  • 2 Christmas events for kids in Bellevue
  • Snowflake Lane: nightly at 7 pm, Nov 27 to Dec 24, free
  • Holiday Barn Lighting: Saturday, December 5, 5 to 6:30 pm
  • Santa, carols and sheep in lights at Kelsey Creek Farm
  • Every date checked on the host sites on Nov 11

Free Christmas events for kids in Bellevue

Barn lighting with SantaFree

Holiday Barn Lighting at Kelsey Creek Farm

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Kelsey Creek Farm staff kick off the season with holiday carols, sheep dressed up in lights, a visit from Santa and a countdown to switching on the barn lights.

Kids can make crafts, meet the farm animals and take the once-a-year chance to step inside the barn and watch the animals eat their dinner.

Parent tip: On-site parking is limited, so use the overflow street parking near International School on 128th Ave SE and bring a flashlight for the walk back.

Host
City of Bellevue Parks and Community Services (opens in a new tab)
Address
Kelsey Creek Farm, 410 130th Pl SE, Bellevue, WA 98005 (opens in maps)
Confirmed
On the host’s page, checked
See dates and detailsfrom City of Bellevue Parks and Community Services (opens in a new tab)

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Rally’s Christmas research

Rally the corgi has 1 more Bellevue event researched for you.

  • New events every week We research new events daily and send you one email a week with the new ones we find in Bellevue.
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Nightly holiday paradeFree

Snowflake Lane Nightly Holiday Parade

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Every night at 7 pm, falling snow, dazzling lights, toy drummers, dancers and holiday floats roll down Bellevue Way between Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square.

The parade is free and Kemper Development Company opens the free garages at The Bellevue Collection, so families can park and pick a curbside spot along the route.

Parent tip: Claim a spot along Bellevue Way by about 6:40 pm, especially on weekends, and look up when the snow starts falling.

Host
The Bellevue Collection (Kemper Development Company) (opens in a new tab)
Address
The Bellevue Collection, Bellevue Way NE between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets, Bellevue, WA 98004 (opens in maps)
Confirmed
On the host’s page, checked
See dates and detailsfrom The Bellevue Collection (Kemper Development Company) (opens in a new tab)

New Bellevue events every week

Rally researches Christmas events in Bellevue daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Bellevue.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)

We check every event above on the host’s own page for the date, time and cost, plus the things parents ask about, like sign-ups and ages. Looking for a Santa train instead? Those are on our Washington Christmas train rides page.

See every event on a December calendar

Plan your December

When each Bellevue Christmas event for kids happens

Pair the two on December 5: watch the barns light up at Kelsey Creek Farm at 5 pm, then drive ten minutes downtown for the 7 pm Snowflake Lane parade.

Looking further afield? Our Washington Christmas events for kids guide lists every confirmed event in the state, and we have city guides for Seattle, Lynnwood, Monroe and Everett. The national search sorts every event by distance from your town.

A story for the drive home

A morning with Santa or an evening of holiday stories tends to end the same way: tired kids, a long drive and one more book before bed. Our picture book follows Rally the corgi on his first train ride to see his grand-paw-rents, and every page is painted by hand. If your family is spending December missing someone, it was written for that too. For the car, print our free corgi and train coloring pages.

Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

A bedtime story after seeing SantaRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first ride on a California train, hand-painted in watercolor. $16.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

The story of Christmas in Bellevue

Every night from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, snow falls on Bellevue Way at 7 pm, even when the Pacific Northwest sky is only drizzling. Snowflake Lane started as a small sidewalk show in 2005, and today more than 50 snow machines and hundreds of young performers draw an estimated 400,000 people a season.

A 2005 sidewalk show inspired by Saks Fifth Avenue's 700,000 Christmas lights

Snowflake Lane was the idea of Kemper Freeman, founder of The Bellevue Collection. He had seen the great holiday streets of other cities, Chicago's Magnificent Mile and New York's Fifth Avenue, where the 10-story Saks Fifth Avenue building is draped in 700,000 LED lights, and he felt downtown Bellevue needed a free Christmas event that families could look forward to every year. It began in 2005 as a small sidewalk performance.

It grew every season. By 2023 the parade drew nearly 400,000 guests over 31 nights. That year's show used more than 55 snow machines and at least 940 gallons of snow, 16 holiday floats, more than 100 Jingle Belle umbrellas and about 1,300 custom blinking lights sewn into the costumes, and the cast handed out about 80,000 pieces of candy. The Huffington Post once named Bellevue the Most Festive Town in America.

Snowflake Lane's 21st season in 2025: 250 performers and snow every night from November 28

In 2025, Snowflake Lane returned for its 21st season, running nightly at 7 pm from November 28 through December 24 on Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets. A cast of more than 250 performers, toy drummers, dancers and snow princesses among them, marched under falling snow from more than 50 snow machines, and organizers estimate about 400,000 people come each year.

The 2025 season also brought Santa photos at the Snowflake Lane Factory in Bellevue Square's Center Court, a Wintergarden tree lighting with Santa at Bellevue Place on November 28, school choirs and orchestras in Center Court in early December, and a 20-foot digital display called Season of Celebrations about winter holidays around the world. In 2026 the Snowflake Lane Nightly Holiday Parade runs from November 27 to December 24.

A 1997 ice rink in a drained pond and a garden of half a million lights

Bellevue's other big holiday traditions are older than the parade. The Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink was first created in 1997 and has nearly doubled, from 5,000 square feet to more than 9,000. Each winter crews drain a reflecting pond beside a 240-foot-wide waterfall in Downtown Park, build a three-foot platform, lay about 27 miles of tubing and pump nearly 1,000 gallons of chilled propylene glycol through it to freeze the ice. Parents who skated there as children now bring their own kids.

Across town, Garden d'Lights turns the Bellevue Botanical Garden into more than half a million lights shaped like plants, flowers, birds, animals and waterfalls. It celebrates its 32nd year in 2026, from November 28 to January 3, and kids 10 and under always get in free. At Kelsey Creek Farm, the Holiday Barn Lighting starts with carols, Santa and sheep dressed up in lights.

Santa in a chapel car at Snoqualmie and carols at the Issaquah depot

Bellevue's Christmas trains are a short drive east into the foothills. At the Northwest Railway Museum, the North Pole Limited leaves North Bend on Saturdays and Sundays from November 28 to December 20, 2026, for a two-hour holiday trip with cookies, hot chocolate and crafts. Santa greets children inside Chapel Car 5, the Messenger of Peace, a restored chapel car in the museum's Train Shed, and every child gets a gift from Santa.

On Friday evenings, December 4, 11 and 18, 2026, the shorter Yuletide Express carries Santa from the 1890 Snoqualmie Depot to the top of Snoqualmie Falls. Closer to Bellevue, the Issaquah History Museums hold Caroling at the Depot on Thursday, December 3, 2026, at 6 pm, at the historic Issaquah Depot where a 1925 Lisbon streetcar runs in warmer months.

  • Northwest Railway Museum: The 1890 Snoqualmie Depot and home of the North Pole Limited and Yuletide Express, where Santa meets kids in Chapel Car 5.
  • Issaquah Valley Trolley: The historic Issaquah Depot, with a 1925 streetcar from Lisbon and Caroling at the Depot on December 3, 2026.

Traditions today

  • Snowflake Lane: A free nightly parade with falling snow, toy drummers, floats and Santa on Bellevue Way, held every season since 2005.
  • Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink: An open-air holiday rink built each winter in a drained reflecting pond in Downtown Park, a tradition since 1997.
  • Garden d'Lights: More than half a million lights in the shapes of plants and animals at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, in its 32nd year in 2026.
  • Holiday Barn Lighting at Kelsey Creek Farm: Carols, Santa, sheep in lights and a countdown to switching on the barn lights, plus a once-a-year look at the animals eating dinner.
  • Gingerbread workshops: KidsQuest Children's Museum has run holiday gingerbread house workshops at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue for kids and families.

A fact for kids

Snowflake Lane makes it snow in Bellevue every night in December. In 2023 its snow machines blew at least 940 gallons of pretend snow over the parade.

Questions about Christmas in Bellevue

When did Snowflake Lane start in Bellevue?

Snowflake Lane began in 2005 as a small sidewalk performance in downtown Bellevue. Kemper Freeman, founder of The Bellevue Collection, wanted a free Christmas event that families would look forward to every year. It has grown each season into a nightly holiday parade with floats, falling snow and Santa, and 2026 is its 22nd season.

Who created Snowflake Lane?

Kemper Freeman, founder of The Bellevue Collection, created Snowflake Lane. He was inspired by famous holiday streets such as Chicago's Magnificent Mile and New York's Fifth Avenue, where the Saks building wears 700,000 LED lights at Christmas. The parade is presented by The Bellevue Collection and the Kemper Freeman family, with performers from Greg Thompson Productions.

How many people go to Snowflake Lane each Christmas?

Organizers estimate about 400,000 people attend Snowflake Lane each holiday season. In 2023 the parade drew nearly 400,000 guests over 31 nights. Crowds are biggest on weekends and in the last weeks before Christmas, so families with small children often arrive early to claim a sidewalk spot along Bellevue Way.

How do they make it snow at Snowflake Lane?

Snowflake Lane uses snow machines placed along Bellevue Way to make it snow during the 7 pm holiday parade. The 2025 season used more than 50 machines, and in 2023 more than 55 machines blew at least 940 gallons of snow over the crowd. It falls every night of the season, whatever the real weather is doing.

Who performs in the Snowflake Lane parade?

Most performers are students from around the region who audition, rehearse and perform all Christmas season. The 2025 cast had more than 250 performers, including toy drummers, dancers and snow princesses, and past casts have included Jinglettes, ribbon dancers, color guards, stilt-walking toy soldiers and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Costuming the cast takes about two months.

Where is the best place to watch Snowflake Lane?

The holiday parade runs on Bellevue Way NE between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets, passing under the skybridge between Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square. Viewing areas are on Lincoln Square and both sides of Bellevue Way. Organizers advise arriving early and leaving strollers and wagons at home because of the crowds, and bringing a thermos of cocoa.

What was new at Snowflake Lane in 2025?

The 21st season in 2025 ran nightly from November 28 to December 24 with more than 250 performers. Bellevue Square added Santa photos at the Snowflake Lane Factory in Center Court, a 20-foot digital display called Season of Celebrations about winter holidays worldwide, and a Wintergarden tree lighting with Santa at Bellevue Place on November 28.

Where can kids see Santa at Bellevue Square?

During the 2025 Christmas season, Santa posed for photos at the Snowflake Lane Factory in Bellevue Square's Center Court from November 28 to December 24. Santa and Mrs. Claus also appear in the nightly Snowflake Lane parade outside on Bellevue Way. Check The Bellevue Collection's site for 2026 Santa photo hours and booking.

How much candy is handed out at Snowflake Lane?

About 80,000 pieces of candy were handed out to parade-goers during the 2023 Snowflake Lane season, according to Visit Bellevue, and the Bellevue Downtown Association gives a similar figure. Performers pass it out along Bellevue Way during the nightly holiday parade, so children near the curb usually go home with a treat.

When did the Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink open?

The Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink was first created in 1997 and has become one of the city's favorite holiday traditions. It has nearly doubled in size, from 5,000 square feet to more than 9,000, and sits under an all-weather tent. For 2026 it is open from November 13 to January 18, 2027, at Bellevue Downtown Park.

How is the Bellevue holiday ice rink built?

Each holiday season crews build the rink in a drained reflecting pond beside a 240-foot-wide waterfall in Downtown Park. They raise a three-foot platform, add foam and plastic sheeting, lay about 27 miles of tubing and use a chiller to pump nearly 1,000 gallons of propylene glycol through it. Putting the pond back takes about two weeks.

How long has Garden d'Lights been in Bellevue?

Garden d'Lights celebrates its 32nd year in 2026, which takes the holiday light show at the Bellevue Botanical Garden back to the mid-1990s. More than half a million lights form plants, flowers, birds, animals and cascading waterfalls among the garden's real plants. Most visitors spend 30 to 45 minutes walking through.

When is Garden d'Lights 2026 and how much are tickets?

Garden d'Lights runs nightly from Saturday, November 28, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, closed Christmas Day, at 12001 Main Street. Tickets are $10 for ages 11 and older, $5 on special early-season weeknights, and kids 10 and under are always free. Tickets are timed and must be bought online.

Is there a sensory-friendly Christmas lights night in Bellevue?

Yes. Garden d'Lights holds a Sensory Friendly Night on Tuesday, December 8, 2026. All the lights are on, but there is no live music and attendance is capped at half capacity, 200 guests per half-hour, for a calmer visit. Tickets are still required, and the garden's paved paths near the Shorts House offer easier viewing.

What happens at the Kelsey Creek Farm Holiday Barn Lighting?

The City of Bellevue's Holiday Barn Lighting begins with Christmas carols, sheep dressed up in lights, a visit from Santa and a countdown to turning on the barn lights. Kids make crafts, meet the farm animals and get the once-a-year chance to go inside the barn and watch the animals eat dinner. In 2026 it is December 5.

Is there a Santa train near Bellevue, Washington?

Yes. The Northwest Railway Museum runs the North Pole Limited from North Bend on Saturdays and Sundays, November 28 to December 20, 2026. The two-hour Christmas trip includes cookies, hot chocolate, crafts and a visit with Santa in Chapel Car 5, and every child gets a gift. Tickets are needed for everyone age 2 and up.

What is the Yuletide Express at Snoqualmie?

The Yuletide Express is the Northwest Railway Museum's shorter Christmas train. It runs Friday evenings, December 4, 11 and 18, 2026, from the 1890 Snoqualmie Depot to the top of Snoqualmie Falls with Santa aboard, and every child gets a gift from Santa. Tickets should be bought in advance, as the museum recommends.

Where does Santa sit on the North Pole Limited train?

On the North Pole Limited Christmas train, Santa greets children inside Chapel Car 5, the Messenger of Peace, a restored railroad chapel car that sits in the Northwest Railway Museum's Train Shed in Snoqualmie. Families ride from North Bend to the museum's campus, visit Santa in the car, and have cookies, cocoa and crafts before heading back.

Is there Christmas caroling at the Issaquah Depot?

Yes. The Issaquah History Museums list Caroling at the Depot on Thursday, December 3, 2026, at 6 pm, at the historic Issaquah Depot, a short trip east of Bellevue. The depot is also home to the Issaquah Valley Trolley, a 1925 streetcar built for Lisbon, Portugal, though trolley rides run in the warmer months.

Where can kids make gingerbread houses in Bellevue at Christmas?

KidsQuest Children's Museum has hosted holiday Gingerbread Workshops at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, with Classic and Ballerina workshops for children and pick-up kits that come with a house, a case of candy and a tablecloth. In 2024 they ran November 29 and 30. Check KidsQuest's site for the 2026 dates.

Why is Bellevue called the Most Festive Town in America?

The Huffington Post once named Bellevue the Most Festive Town in America, and Visit Bellevue credits Snowflake Lane for much of that reputation. Between the nightly snow parade, the downtown ice rink, Garden d'Lights at the botanical garden and the barn lighting at Kelsey Creek Farm, the city packs a lot of Christmas into a few blocks.

Sources

  1. Snowflake Lane returns Nov. 28 for its 21st year, Downtown Bellevue Network
  2. 20 Years of Snowflake Lane, Bellevue Downtown Association
  3. Get a Peek Behind the Scenes of Bellevue's Season of Cheer, Visit Bellevue
  4. Garden d'Lights, Bellevue Botanical Garden Society
  5. Holiday Barn Lighting, City of Bellevue
  6. Northwest Railway Museum, Rally Takes the Train

Keep the Christmas magic going: track Rally the corgi on Christmas Eve, print free Christmas coloring pages, learn how to say Merry Christmas in 100+ languages, find train museums to visit with kids, or browse Christmas events in every Washington city.

Bellevue Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask

What are the best Christmas events for kids in Bellevue this year?

Rally Takes the Train has confirmed 2 Christmas events for kids in Bellevue for 2026: the Snowflake Lane nightly parade from November 27 to December 24 and the Holiday Barn Lighting at Kelsey Creek Farm on December 5.

When is Snowflake Lane in 2026?

Snowflake Lane runs every night at 7 pm from Friday, November 27 through Christmas Eve, December 24, on Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets.

Is Snowflake Lane free?

Yes. The parade is free to watch and the garages at The Bellevue Collection offer free parking.

When is the Kelsey Creek Farm Holiday Barn Lighting?

Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 5 to 6:30 pm at Kelsey Creek Farm, 410 130th Pl SE. Admission and parking are free, and Santa visits.

Who do I contact about Bellevue holiday events?

For the barn lighting, Kelsey Creek Farm at kelseycreekfarm@bellevuewa.gov. For Snowflake Lane, the Kemper Development Company contact listed on the city calendar, jennifer.Leavitt@kemperdc.com.

Are there Christmas train rides for kids in Washington?

Yes. Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Washington Christmas train rides page.

How do you confirm these events?

We list an event only after we find this season’s date on the host’s own website or an official city or tourism calendar. We last checked Bellevue on November 11, 2026. Rally is also contacting each organizer to confirm details like parking, restrooms and bad-weather plans.

Event names belong to their hosts. Rally Takes the Train is a family picture book and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any host listed here. Confirm dates, times and prices on each host’s own site before you go.

Kelsey Cecil
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