Rally the corgi has sniffed out the Christmas events for kids in Joliet for 2026: a tree lighting in the brand-new City Square and a Santa parade that comes to your neighborhood. The City Square tree is lit on Friday, November 27, as Light Up the Holidays begins downtown, and the Santa Send-Off motorcade tours the city on Saturday, December 19. We check every date on the host’s own website and link straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Illinois Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in Joliet
- 2 Christmas events for kids in Joliet
- Both are free
- Tree lighting: Friday, November 27, City Square, downtown
- Santa Send-Off: Saturday, December 19, citywide motorcade
- Every date checked on the City of Joliet’s site on Nov 11
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Free Christmas events for kids in Joliet
Tree lightingFree
Joliet Christmas Tree Lighting at City Square
- When: Friday, November 27, 2026, evening (see the host for times)
- Where: City Square, Downtown Joliet, City Square, Downtown Joliet, Joliet, IL 60432 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
Joliet lights its Christmas tree in the new City Square downtown on the day after Thanksgiving, as part of a full day of holiday festivities in Downtown Joliet.
The lighting is the opening moment of the Light Up the Holidays Festival and Parade, organized by the Joliet City Center Partnership. In past years the evening has started with a high school choir and ended with fireworks, and the tree stays up into January with Santa’s Mailbox for letters.
Parent tip: Bring the kids’ letters to Santa and drop them in Santa’s Mailbox by the tree. Arrive early: the downtown parade after the lighting draws big crowds.
- Host
- City of Joliet (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- City Square, Downtown Joliet, City Square, Downtown Joliet, Joliet, IL 60432 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Joliet events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Joliet daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Joliet.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 1 more Joliet 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 Joliet.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Joliet 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
- 2 Parades
- 1 Santa
- 1 Lights
- 2 Free
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Joliet every week.
ParadeFree
Santa Send-Off
- When: Saturday, December 19, 2026, morning (route and start time on joliet.gov/santa)
- Where: Citywide route through Joliet, Citywide; see joliet.gov/santa, Joliet, IL 60432 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
The Santa Send-Off is Joliet’s goodbye tour for Santa a week before Christmas. Police, fire and public works vehicles escort him through neighborhoods and along major streets so families can wave from their own corner.
The city posts a turn-by-turn route map online so you can pick a spot near home, and it shares live updates on social media as the motorcade moves. In past years the Grinch has ridden along too.
Parent tip: Check the route map on joliet.gov/santa the night before and pick a spot near the start of a long straight stretch, so the kids have time to spot Santa coming.
- Host
- City of Joliet (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Citywide route through Joliet, Citywide; see joliet.gov/santa, Joliet, IL 60432 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Joliet events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Joliet daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Joliet.
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 Illinois Christmas train rides page.
See every event on a December calendar
Plan your December
When each Joliet Christmas event for kids happens
The tree lighting is the day after Thanksgiving, November 27, downtown. The Santa Send-Off follows on Saturday, December 19, on a route through the neighborhoods; check the city’s map for where it passes near you.
- Joliet Christmas Tree Lighting at City SquareJoliet · Nov 27
- Santa Send-OffJoliet · Dec 19
Looking further afield? Our Illinois Christmas events for kids guide lists every confirmed event in the state, and we have city guides for Shorewood, Lemont, Tinley Park and Naperville. 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 Illinois city.
Joliet Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What are the best Christmas events for kids in Joliet this year?
Rally Takes the Train has confirmed 2 Christmas events for kids in Joliet for 2026: the Christmas Tree Lighting at City Square on Friday, November 27, and the Santa Send-Off on Saturday, December 19. Both are free.
When is the Joliet tree lighting in 2026?
Friday, November 27, 2026, in City Square in Downtown Joliet, during the Light Up the Holidays Festival and Parade.
What is the Joliet Santa Send-Off?
A citywide motorcade on Saturday, December 19, 2026, in which Joliet police, fire and public works vehicles escort Santa through the city before he heads back to the North Pole.
How do I find the Santa Send-Off route?
The City of Joliet posts a route map with turn-by-turn directions at joliet.gov/santa and shares live updates on its social media during the motorcade.
Who do I contact about Joliet holiday events?
The City of Joliet communications team at communications@joliet.gov.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids in Illinois?
Yes. Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Illinois 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 Joliet 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.