Rally the corgi has sniffed out the Christmas events for kids in Marana for 2026, and both of them star a 45-foot tree. The free Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting fills the Marana Municipal Complex on Saturday, December 5, with Santa, Mrs. Claus and free Holiday Train rides. From December 6 to 27 the same tree plays a synchronized music and light show every half hour, every night. We check every date on the host’s own website and link straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Arizona Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in Marana
- 2 Christmas events for kids in Marana
- Both are free
- Holiday Festival: Saturday, December 5, 2 to 9 pm, with free train rides and Santa photos
- Nightly light show: December 6 to 27, every 30 minutes from 6 to 9 pm
- Every date checked on the Town of Marana’s site on Nov 11
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Free Christmas events for kids in Marana
Tree lightingFree
Marana Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 2 to 9 pm (tree lighting 6 pm, encore 8:30 pm)
- Where: Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex, 11555 W Civic Center Dr, Marana, AZ 85653 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
Marana’s Holiday Festival lights up what the town calls the largest municipal Christmas tree in Arizona: 45 feet tall with 100,000 color-changing lights. The tree light show runs at 6 pm, with an encore at 8:30 pm for anyone who missed it.
Kids get free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, a letters to Santa station, free bouncy castles and unlimited free rides on the Holiday Train at the Marana Train Depot. Grown-ups can shop the Mistletoe Market, catch performances on two stages and choose from more than 30 food trucks.
Parent tip: Use the free shuttle from Marana Middle School instead of hunting for parking, and bring a canned food donation for the Marana Food Bank stations at the entrances.
- Host
- Town of Marana Parks and Recreation (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex, 11555 W Civic Center Dr, Marana, AZ 85653 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Marana events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Marana daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Marana.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 1 more Marana 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 Marana.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Marana 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 Lights
- 1 Santa
- 1 Crafts
- 2 Free
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Marana every week.
Holiday lightsFree
Marana's Nightly Christmas Tree Musical Light Show
- When: Nightly, December 6 to 27, 2026, shows every 30 minutes from 6 to 9 pm
- Where: Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex Plaza, 11555 W Civic Center Dr, Marana, AZ 85653 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
After the festival, Marana’s 45-foot tree keeps putting on a show every night through December 27. More than 200,000 lights dance in sync to a 13 to 15 minute holiday music show, starting every half hour from 6 to 9 pm.
Each show plays three to five songs picked at random, so no two visits are quite the same. You can watch from the plaza where Marana Main Street meets Civic Center Drive, or stay warm in the car and tune your FM radio to the station on the signs.
Parent tip: With pajama-clad kids, watch from the car: pull in, tune the radio to the posted station and enjoy a full show without unbuckling anyone.
- Host
- Town of Marana (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex Plaza, 11555 W Civic Center Dr, Marana, AZ 85653 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Marana events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Marana daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Marana.
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 Arizona Christmas train rides page.
See every event on a December calendar
Plan your December
When each Marana Christmas event for kids happens
The Holiday Festival is the first Saturday in December, December 5. The nightly light show starts the next evening and runs through December 27, so you can come back for a quiet weeknight show after the big festival.
- Marana Holiday Festival and Tree LightingMarana · Dec 5
- Marana's Nightly Christmas Tree Musical Light ShowMarana · Dec 6 to Dec 27
Looking further afield? Our Arizona Christmas events for kids guide lists every confirmed event in the state, and we have city guides for Tucson, Sahuarita, Gilbert and Chandler. 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 Arizona city.
Marana Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What are the best Christmas events for kids in Marana this year?
Rally Takes the Train has confirmed 2 Christmas events for kids in Marana for 2026: the Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting on Saturday, December 5, and the Nightly Christmas Tree Musical Light Show from December 6 to 27. Both are free.
When is the Marana tree lighting in 2026?
Saturday, December 5, 2026, at the Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex. The festival runs 2 to 9 pm, with the tree light show at 6 pm and an encore at 8:30 pm.
Is there a train at the Marana Holiday Festival?
Yes. Families get unlimited free rides on the Holiday Train at the Marana Train Depot in Santa’s Courtyard.
When is the Marana nightly light show?
Every night from December 6 to 27, 2026, with shows every 30 minutes from 6 to 9 pm at the Marana Municipal Complex plaza. It is free.
Where can kids meet Santa in Marana?
At the Holiday Festival on December 5, where photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus are free.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids in Arizona?
Yes. Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Arizona 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 Marana 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.