How much of Brown County's holiday season fits into one weekend? Nearly all of it. In 2025, the Christkindl Market, Stuff a Stocking, the Uplands Winter Wine Market, the Hog Wild Christmas Bazaar and the Salvation Army Light Parade all landed on Dec. 6 and 7. The Brown County Democrat warned of "significant parking and traffic impacts" in downtown Nashville that weekend.
The same group returns on Dec. 4 to 6, 2026, with one change to the calendar. The Christkindl Market now opens on Friday afternoon, the Brown County Playhouse opens its holiday musical that same night, and a fire station a few miles away holds its own Santa evening. Saturday is still the busiest day. This year, though, part of the weekend happens before Saturday.
Friday, Dec. 4: The New Day
The Brown County Christkindl Market is listed for Coachlight Square, 211 S. Van Buren St., with a Friday window from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last year the market ran Saturday and Sunday only. Those three Friday hours are the only time this year when the market is open and the parade isn't lining up a few blocks away.
Two more events fill out Friday evening:
- Winter Wonderland at Jackson Township Fire Department #5, 6 to 8 p.m., with Santa and Mrs. Claus. It's free.
- "White Christmas" opens at the Brown County Playhouse, 70 S. Van Buren St., at 7:30 p.m. Last December's holiday title was "It's a Wonderful Life."
This is the market's sixth year. Longtime organizer Lisa Hall told WISH-TV in July that the market is growing.
"The market sits between our visitor center and retail shops, and we're now spilling onto Washington Street because we're growing."
In the same WISH-TV report, Hall said she expected about 35 to 40 vendors. She also described three additions. Columbus Kids Commons, the children's museum in Bartholomew County, will run a family zone for the first time. The 19th Hole golf course is sponsoring a stein competition with men's and women's categories. And the annual commemorative mug has a deer theme, hand-made by local potter Holly Salo.
Saturday, Dec. 5: Santa Breakfast to Curtain Call
Friday matters because of what Saturday holds. Here's the day in order, from the first event to the last curtain:
- 8 to 11 a.m.: Breakfast with Santa at Abe Martin Lodge.
- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The Hog Wild Christmas Bazaar at the Brown County 4-H Fairgrounds on Memorial Drive, with more than 60 vendors plus food and drink trucks.
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.: The Christkindl Market's longest day at Coachlight Square.
- 10:30 a.m.: Will-call opens for Stuff a Stocking at the Howard F. Hughes Community Building, 209 Van Buren Street North. Pickup must happen by 2 p.m.
- Noon to 5 p.m.: The Indiana Uplands Winter Wine Market at Brown County Art Gallery, One Artist Drive.
- 6:30 p.m.: The Salvation Army Light Parade.
- 7:30 p.m.: "White Christmas" at the Playhouse.
Two of these sell a limited number of spots and work differently from a walk-up market.
Stuff a Stocking is in its 12th year under the Brown County Community Foundation. Children follow a map to more than 25 merchant stops around Nashville and collect items for their stockings. Tickets are $30, and the foundation is selling only 250. With a 2 p.m. pickup deadline, this is a morning-to-midday event, so it overlaps with the market and the bazaar rather than the parade.
The Winter Wine Market costs $35, fees and tax included. According to the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, that covers tastings from all nine member wineries, a souvenir glass and a six-bottle tote. The nine are Best Winery, Brown County Winery, Butler Winery, French Lick Winery, Huber Winery, Oliver Winery, Owen Valley Winery, Turtle Run Winery and Winzerwald Winery. Brown County Winery is the only one with Brown County in its name, so for anyone who tours the trail, this afternoon brings the other eight into Nashville.
The Evening Runs on Van Buren Street
The Salvation Army's 2026 listing gives an event window of 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and this route:
- From Old School House Road to Main Street
- Left onto Van Buren to Mound Street
- Left toward Jefferson, then Washington Street
- Back onto Van Buren
- Out via Main Street toward Old School House Road and the high school parking lot
The Christkindl Market at 211 S. Van Buren and the Playhouse at 70 S. Van Buren both sit on the street the parade uses twice. The market closes at 6 p.m., half an hour before the first float. "White Christmas" starts at 7:30 p.m., while the parade's listed window still has an hour left.
Last year's plan, published by the Brown County Democrat on Dec. 5, 2025, worked like this:
- No parking on the whole parade route from Friday at 10 p.m. until the parade ended
- Side streets began closing at 5 p.m. Saturday
- Van Buren closed shortly before 6 p.m.
- Police directed traffic through detours during the parade
- For the market, no parking on E. Washington Street and no eastbound traffic from Friday through Monday
Those rules applied to the 2025 weekend. With the market spreading onto Washington Street again and the parade taking a similar loop, the Democrat's 2026 weekend alert is the one to watch for. Last year the paper also asked visitors to arrive early and use the general parking areas because street parking would be "severely limited."
If the 2025 timing carries over, the new Friday matters for another reason too. Last year the parade-route parking ban didn't start until 10 p.m. Friday, and this year the market's Friday hours end at 6 p.m.
Anyone who wants to be in the parade has until Nov. 28 to preregister with a completed registration form and signed waiver. The Salvation Army asks entrants to bring a new family game, hats and gloves, or books, and suggests a $25 donation.
Sunday, Dec. 6, and the Weeks That Follow
Sunday is calmer. The Christkindl Market is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., its last day. The Playhouse has a 2:30 p.m. matinee.
After that weekend, the season continues indoors. "White Christmas" plays two more weekends, Dec. 11 to 13 and Dec. 18 to 20, at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. The Brown County Music Center has three holiday-season dates:
- Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m.: Will Holiday's Grand Ol' Christmas Show
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.: Mark O'Connor's "An Appalachian Christmas"
- Tuesday, Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m.: Chris Isaak, playing holiday favorites
Before December, Brown County State Park has a guided Full Moon Hike on Wednesday, Nov. 25, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. It starts at the Lake Ogle parking lot.
WISH-TV described the market as a reason for visitors to return to Nashville after the fall leaves are gone, and Hall told the station, "It has worked out really well for our county." The Music Center and Playhouse dates spread the season over the rest of December. The market, the stockings, the wine, the bazaar and the parade are all on the first weekend.
The Nolting Team works in Brown County year-round, through busy weekends like this one and the quiet stretches between them. If you're thinking about what your Brown County home is worth, whether it's near the parade route or out past the fairgrounds, The Nolting Team can give you a local estimate, without the sales pitch. Get Your Home Value whenever it suits you, even if that's after the parade.
