The Monroe holiday season used to start on one night. This year it starts with a weekend. The Hometown Tree Lighting fills Loranger Square on Friday, Nov. 20. The next evening, the Rotary Club of Monroe lights about 250 decorated trees at Veterans Park on North Custer Road.
Both displays are built the same way. Neither arrives as a finished city installation. Local companies, organizations and families pay for them piece by piece. Each one grows when more of the community buys in, and both are bigger this year than last.
Downtown's lights are added one sponsor at a time
Hometown Holiday Lights began in 2021 in the downtown Central Business District. The City of Monroe runs it with support from the Downtown Development Authority. The setup is a multi-year public/private campaign that adds new lighting elements every year and unveils them at the tree lighting.
The first set was small. The Monroe News reported in 2021 that the opening pieces were a large Santa Claus head, a snowflake, several reindeer, ornaments and an angel, placed in and around Loranger Square. By last year the collection had grown well past that. Ahead of the Nov. 21, 2025 event, the Monroe News previewed an animated sleigh and a locally built Santa House as the year's new attractions.
The money comes from businesses and corporations at set sponsorship levels. The City's program page lists local tiers of $500, $1,000 and $1,500 and corporate tiers of $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000. The 2025 sponsors are a fair list of who keeps downtown lit:
| 2025 tier | Sponsors |
|---|---|
| Reindeer | Michigan Gas Utilities, La-Z-Boy, DTE Foundation |
| North Pole | Directions Credit Union, KC Logistics, First Merchants Bank, ITC Holdings, Monroe County Credit Union, Monroe DDA |
| Sugar Plum | Garan Lucow Miller, DRM Terminal Port Management, Fishbeck Architects, Floral City Images |
Several of those names, including La-Z-Boy, ITC Holdings, KC Logistics, First Merchants and DTE Foundation, also show up on the City's list of 2022 event sponsors. A good share of the display rests on companies that have kept coming back.
This year the lights move from sculptures to the street itself
Earlier years mostly added one standout piece at a time. The City describes 2026 as a new chapter of the program, with "an expanded focus on immersive, streetscape-level enhancements throughout Downtown." The planned additions are fiberglass sculptures, overhead skyline garlands, sledding penguins, and patriotic décor ahead of America 250.
Skyline garlands hang over the street, so they light the walk between the square and the shops along with the square. The goal, in the words of the City's program page:
"Utilizing the inherent charm of our historic landscape, we hope to curate a collection of holiday lighting elements that will bring residents and visitors into our community to stroll, engage, shop, drink and dine."
The patriotic pieces tie into a citywide effort. The City's FY2026–27 budget says it started and led coordinated community planning for Monroe's America 250 commemoration.
Friday, Nov. 20 in Loranger Square
The new pieces are unveiled at the Hometown Tree Lighting, which the City holds every year on the Friday before Thanksgiving. The event runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The tree is lit at 7 p.m. sharp, and the City puts that in bold on its notice.
The 2026 schedule, as the City posted it on Oct. 19:
- 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.: Food trucks
- 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Santa visits and photos, horse and wagon rides, the Barnyard Petting Farm, a live Nativity, children's activities and games, chestnut roasting, and strolling Victorian characters
- 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.: Crafts, Nutcracker dancers and Miss Monroe pageant winners at Dorsch Library
- 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.: Visits with characters
- 7:00 p.m.: Tree lighting
- All evening: Christmas carols and music
The Dorsch Library program ends at 7, the same minute the tree is lit. Families who want the Nutcracker dancers and the countdown should go to the library early, then head to the square before 7. The City's notice links to a 2026 street-closure map for the event.
The Downtown Social District, which covers most of the Central Business District along Front and First streets, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The City's published rules list no separate winter schedule, so a drink from a participating spot can come along on the walk under the new garlands, inside the marked boundaries. Our earlier post on how Monroe's Social District moves through the summer explains how the license works.
Rotary took the sponsorship model to the river
The second opening night is newer. It started in 2025, when the Rotary Club of Monroe and the City put on the first Holiday Tree Walk. In September 2025, the Monroe News reported that Rotary aimed to bring 200 lit, decorated trees to Veterans Park. The City's FY2026–27 budget later recorded the result: 200 Christmas trees at Veterans Park, adopted by community organizations and individuals. The 2025 display ran from a Nov. 22 opening into early January.
The idea came from a neighboring town. The event site thanks the City of Adrian for sharing what it learned running its similar annual event at Comstock Park.
Like the downtown lights, the trees are paid for one at a time. A family or memorial tree costs $155 and a business tree costs $515. Each sponsor's name and dedication goes on a yard sign in front of the tree, and sponsors are invited to decorate their own. The event site describes trees from local businesses, organizations and families, each with its own theme and seasonal message. Rotary says its fundraising supports its service work, both local projects and international outreach.
For its second year, the walk is growing from 200 trees to about 250.
Saturday, Nov. 21 at Veterans Park
The Monroe Holiday Tree Walk opens with a free tree lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21. The trees are lit nightly from dusk to dawn through Jan. 2, 2027. The park stays open until 10 p.m. each night, with later hours for special Saturday events. Veterans Park sits on the River Raisin and the River Raisin Heritage Trail. The event FAQ says park restrooms will be open and pathways will be kept clear for visitors with mobility needs.
The two displays work differently, and that affects how to plan for each:
| Hometown Holiday Lights | Holiday Tree Walk | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening night | Friday, Nov. 20, tree lit at 7 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 21, ceremony at 6 p.m. |
| Where | Loranger Square and downtown streets | Veterans Park, North Custer Road |
| Run by | City of Monroe with the DDA | Rotary Club of Monroe with the City |
| Started | 2021 | 2025 |
| Paid for by | Business and corporate sponsors, $500 to $10,000 tiers | Families, businesses and organizations, $155 or $515 per tree |
| What grows each year | New sculptures and streetscape pieces | Number of trees, from 200 to about 250 |
| Through | The holiday season | Jan. 2, 2027 |
Fitting both into one weekend
The schedules don't overlap, so you can catch both opening nights.
- Friday: Get to downtown by 5:30 p.m. if you want the petting farm and wagon rides before the crowd builds toward 7. Stay after the lighting to walk under the new garlands, and eat at the food trucks, which run until 9.
- Saturday: Arrive at Veterans Park before 6 p.m. for the opening ceremony, then walk the rows of trees and read the yard signs.
- Any night through Jan. 2: The trees stay lit after opening weekend, and the park is open until 10 p.m. A quieter weeknight visit is easy to fit in after a downtown dinner.
Later in the season, the 44th Annual Christmas in Ida Parade of Lights, presented by DTE Energy, is set for Dec. 5 at 7 p.m., according to the Monroe News.
Both displays depend on local businesses and families choosing to buy in, and that's a lot of why we like this part of Monroe County. If you're thinking about a move this winter and want to know what your home is worth before the spring market, The Darby Group can walk you through it over coffee downtown, under the new garlands. Start with a free home valuation, or read more about the area on our Monroe neighborhood page.
