Rally the corgi has sniffed out the Christmas events for kids in Cookeville, Tennessee for 2026. The Cookeville Depot Museum hosts its Christmas Open House with Santa and model trains on Saturday, December 5, and the city lights the Dogwood Park tree on Sunday, December 6. We check every date on the host’s own website and link straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Tennessee Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in Cookeville
- 2 Christmas events for kids in Cookeville
- Depot Christmas Open House: Saturday, December 5, 10 am to 3 pm, free
- Dogwood Park Tree Lighting: Sunday, December 6, 6 to 7:30 pm, free
- Light show repeats nightly on the hour, 5 to 9 pm
- Every date checked on the City of Cookeville calendar on Nov 11
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Free Christmas events for kids in Cookeville
Depot open houseFree
Cookeville Depot Christmas Open House
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 10 am to 3 pm
- Where: Cookeville Depot Museum, 116 West Broad St., Cookeville, TN 38501 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
The 1909 Cookeville Depot Museum throws its annual Christmas Open House with caroling, games, model trains and other holiday fun, and Santa drops in too.
Train-loving kids can study the HO-scale model of 1955 WestSide Cookeville inside, then head outside where a 1913 Baldwin steam engine and two cabooses sit on the grounds.
Parent tip: The museum limits how many visitors are inside at once, so arrive early or plan on a short wait outside by the steam engine.
- Host
- Cookeville Depot Museum (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Cookeville Depot Museum, 116 West Broad St., Cookeville, TN 38501 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Cookeville events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Cookeville daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Cookeville.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 1 more Cookeville 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 Cookeville.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Cookeville before they fill up.
- Unlock the filters Find Santa visits, free events and weekend plans in one tap.
- Rally’s Christmas Eve Express and a free advent calendar Get early access to Rally the corgi’s Christmas Eve tracker, plus a free digital advent calendar to count down to Christmas.
- One-tap add to calendar Save any event to your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar so you never miss it.
Coming up on this page
- 1 Santa
- 1 Lights
- 1 Shows
- 2 Free
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Cookeville every week.
Tree lightingFree
Dogwood Park Christmas Tree Lighting
- When: Sunday, December 6, 2026, 6 to 7:30 pm. The light show then repeats nightly on the hour from 5 to 9 pm through the season
- Where: Dogwood Park, 30 E Broad Street, Cookeville, TN 38501 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
Cookeville lights the nearly 40-foot Christmas tree in Dogwood Park with a holiday concert, and a 15-minute light show synchronized to music follows right after.
Holiday displays fill the park, and the light show keeps running at the top of every hour from 5 to 9 pm for the rest of the season, so families who miss opening night can still catch it.
Parent tip: Pair it with the Depot Open House the day before, since Dogwood Park and the Depot Museum are both on Broad Street downtown.
- Host
- City of Cookeville Leisure Services (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Dogwood Park, 30 E Broad Street, Cookeville, TN 38501 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Cookeville events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Cookeville daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Cookeville.
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 Tennessee Christmas train rides page.
See every event on a December calendar
Plan your December
When each Cookeville Christmas event for kids happens
Make it a downtown weekend: model trains and Santa at the Depot on Saturday, then back to Broad Street on Sunday evening for the Dogwood Park tree lighting.
- Cookeville Depot Christmas Open HouseCookeville · Dec 5
- Dogwood Park Christmas Tree LightingCookeville · Dec 6
Looking further afield? Our Tennessee Christmas events for kids guide lists every confirmed event in the state, and we have city guides for Murfreesboro, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville. 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.
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 AmazonKeep 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 Tennessee city.
Cookeville Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What are the best Christmas events for kids in Cookeville, Tennessee this year?
Rally Takes the Train has confirmed 2 Christmas events for kids in Cookeville for 2026: the Cookeville Depot Christmas Open House on December 5 and the Dogwood Park Christmas Tree Lighting on December 6.
When is the Cookeville Depot Christmas Open House in 2026?
Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 10 am to 3 pm at the Cookeville Depot Museum, 116 West Broad Street. It is free and Santa visits.
Are there trains at the Depot Open House?
Yes. Model trains are part of the open house, and the museum grounds hold a 1913 Baldwin steam engine and two historic cabooses.
When is the Cookeville tree lighting?
Sunday, December 6, 2026, from 6 to 7:30 pm at Dogwood Park. A 15-minute light show follows and then runs nightly at the top of each hour from 5 to 9 pm.
Who do I contact about Cookeville holiday events?
The Cookeville Depot Museum at depot@cookeville-tn.gov or 931-528-8570, and City of Cookeville Leisure Services at RBennett@Cookeville-TN.gov for Dogwood Park.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids in Tennessee?
Yes. Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Tennessee 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 Cookeville 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.