Rally the corgi has sniffed out the Christmas events for kids in Ottumwa, Iowa for 2026. Ottumwa WinterFest fills the Southeast Iowa JBS Sports Center with skating, Santa’s Workshop and carriage rides from December 7 to 13, and the Iowa Heartland History Connection hosts Cocoa and Cookies with Santa on Friday, December 11. We check every date on the host’s own website or the official Meet Ottumwa calendar and link straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Iowa Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in Ottumwa
- 2 Christmas events for kids in Ottumwa
- Ottumwa WinterFest: December 7 to 13, Southeast Iowa JBS Sports Center
- Ice rink, Santa’s Workshop, vendor market and weekend carriage rides
- Cocoa and Cookies with Santa: Friday, December 11, 5 to 7 pm
- Every date checked on GOPIP and Meet Ottumwa on Nov 11
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Rally the corgi has 1 more Ottumwa event researched for you.
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Ticketed and paid Christmas events for kids in Ottumwa
Admission, tickets or a fee apply. Where a host has not posted a price yet, the listing says so.
Event hosts: free events are listed first. The #1 spot puts your event at the top of this page.Inquire about the #1 spotAdd your event for free
Week-long holiday festival
Ottumwa WinterFest
- When: Monday, December 7 to Sunday, December 13, 2026: weeknights 5:30 to 8:30 pm, Friday 2 to 11 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 9 pm
- Where: Southeast Iowa JBS Sports Center, 103 Church St, Ottumwa, IA 52501 (opens in maps)
- Cost: See Greater Ottumwa Partners in Progress for skating and activity pricing
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
Ottumwa’s newest holiday tradition takes over the Southeast Iowa JBS Sports Center for a full week, built around an indoor ice rink, a festive photo booth and hands-on kids’ activities in Santa’s Workshop.
The weekend adds a holiday vendor market with local artisans on December 12 and 13, and carriage rides loop past the light displays around the building on Saturday and Sunday evenings from 5 to 8:30 pm.
Parent tip: Come on the weekend if the carriage rides are the big draw, or pick a quieter weeknight evening for skating.
- Host
- Greater Ottumwa Partners in Progress (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Southeast Iowa JBS Sports Center, 103 Church St, Ottumwa, IA 52501 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Ottumwa events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Ottumwa daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Ottumwa.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 1 more Ottumwa 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 Ottumwa.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Ottumwa 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 Santa
- 1 Lights
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Ottumwa every week.
Santa photos
Cocoa and Cookies with Santa
- When: Friday, December 11, 2026, 5 to 7 pm
- Where: Iowa Heartland History Connection, 1 Museum Dr, Ottumwa, IA 52501 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free-will donations to the museum
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
The Iowa Heartland History Connection opens its museum on a Friday evening for photos with Santa, hot cocoa and holiday treats.
There is no ticket, just free-will donations that support the museum, so it is an easy and low-cost Santa visit for the whole family.
Parent tip: Bring a few dollars for the donation box, and leave time to look at the museum’s Wapello County exhibits after the Santa photos.
- Host
- Iowa Heartland History Connection (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Iowa Heartland History Connection, 1 Museum Dr, Ottumwa, IA 52501 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Ottumwa events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Ottumwa daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Ottumwa.
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 Iowa Christmas train rides page.
See every event on a December calendar
Plan your December
When each Ottumwa Christmas event for kids happens
Pick a WinterFest night for skating, then on Friday, December 11 pop over to the history museum for Santa photos and cocoa before heading back for the late WinterFest hours.
- Ottumwa WinterFestOttumwa · Dec 7 to Dec 13
- Cocoa and Cookies with SantaOttumwa · Dec 11
Looking further afield? Our Iowa Christmas events for kids guide lists every confirmed event in the state, and we have city guides for Amana, Iowa City, Altoona and Des Moines. 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 Iowa city.
Ottumwa Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What are the best Christmas events for kids in Ottumwa this year?
Rally Takes the Train has confirmed 2 Christmas events for kids in Ottumwa for 2026: Ottumwa WinterFest from December 7 to 13 and Cocoa and Cookies with Santa on December 11.
When is Ottumwa WinterFest in 2026?
Monday, December 7 to Sunday, December 13, 2026 at the Southeast Iowa JBS Sports Center, 103 Church St. It runs 5:30 to 8:30 pm Monday to Thursday, 2 to 11 pm Friday and 10 am to 9 pm on the weekend.
Are there carriage rides at WinterFest?
Yes, on Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13 from 5 to 8:30 pm, past the holiday light displays around the sports center.
Where is Cocoa and Cookies with Santa?
At the Iowa Heartland History Connection, 1 Museum Dr, on Friday, December 11, 2026, from 5 to 7 pm. Admission is by free-will donation.
Who do I contact about Ottumwa holiday events?
Greater Ottumwa Partners in Progress at emma@ottumwaiowa.com for WinterFest, and the Iowa Heartland History Connection at admissions@iaheartland.org for Cocoa and Cookies with Santa.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids in Iowa?
Yes. Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Iowa 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 Ottumwa 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.