On what day of the week does Huntington Village's holiday season actually happen? This year there are three answers, and each belongs to a different organizer. The Saturday parade belongs to the Town and two fire departments. Wall Street belongs to the Huntington Village BID's market, and only on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. Every other Saturday goes to the Paramount, the restaurants on Main Street and New York Avenue, and whatever else is on your family's calendar.
Once you see that rhythm, the five weeks from the parade to January 3 are easy to plan. It starts a week from Saturday.
Saturday, November 28, Belongs to the Fire Departments
The Town of Huntington announced the 2026 Holiday Parade on October 14, saying that on November 28 "Huntington Village will transform for the holiday season, beginning with the annual holiday parade." This year's parade celebrates the 250th anniversary of American independence. The Huntington Matters event page lists it as the America 250 Holiday Parade. Last year's parade had a nautical theme, according to Huntington Now's 2025 preview.
According to the Huntington Matters event listing, the parade steps off at 5:30 PM on Saturday, November 28. It starts at Home Depot on New York Avenue and ends at Main Street and West Neck Road. The Huntington Fire Department, the Huntington Manor Fire Department and the Town of Huntington present it.
Last season the tree lighting came right after the parade, at 6:30 PM. For this year's lighting, Santa visits and light-show times, the Huntington Holiday Spectacular posts updates on Instagram at @huntingtonholidayspectacular.
The parade is the only Saturday all season with a Town-run event in the village. Everything after it runs on a different schedule.
Wall Street Runs on Fridays and Sundays
The market opens the next day. The Spectacular Holiday Markets, now in their sixth year, fill Wall Street with holiday huts next to what the organizers call "the largest Christmas Tree on Long Island." The market's 2026 listing gives the hours as Fridays 5 to 9 PM and Sundays noon to 5 PM, rain or shine, with a longer noon-to-7 PM day on New Year's Day. Northwell Health, Huntington Hospital and the Huntington Village BID sponsor it, and Colored Colors curates the vendors.
The street itself was cleared at Town Hall. At its September 15 meeting, the Huntington Town Board passed Resolution 2026-491, which authorizes the Huntington Village Business Improvement District Association to use Wall Street for the holiday spectacular.
The full run has 10 market days:
| Date | Day | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| November 29 | Sunday | 12–5 PM |
| December 4 | Friday | 5–9 PM |
| December 6 | Sunday | 12–5 PM |
| December 11 | Friday | 5–9 PM |
| December 13 | Sunday | 12–5 PM |
| December 18 | Friday | 5–9 PM |
| December 20 | Sunday | 12–5 PM |
| December 27 | Sunday | 12–5 PM |
| January 1 | Friday | 12–7 PM |
| January 3 | Sunday | 12–5 PM |
None of the 10 dates is a Saturday. Friday markets are evening events, starting at 5 and running into the dark, when the tree is lit. Sunday markets are afternoon events that end at 5, about when the light goes. They make for two different outings, even though the huts are the same.
The Two Fridays the Market Skips
Two Fridays you might expect are missing from the table.
The first is November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. The market doesn't open on that Friday. It opens two days later, on Sunday the 29th, the day after the parade. If you have relatives in town over the long weekend, Saturday night's parade is the village event, and Sunday afternoon is the first chance to walk the huts.
The second is December 25. Christmas falls on a Friday this year, and the market skips it. The last pre-Christmas date is Sunday, December 20, so that's the final market day for gift shopping before the holiday.
New Year's Day also falls on a Friday. Instead of the usual 5 PM start, the market runs from noon to 7 PM that day, its longest day of the season. The season ends two days later, on Sunday, January 3.
Wall Street is closed to traffic while the Spectacular is running. The organizers point visitors to the free municipal lots on New Street and Gerard Street and to metered parking on Main Street and New York Avenue. Accessible parking is in the municipal lots.
Saturdays Go to the Paramount
With no market on Saturdays, other venues fill those days. The clearest example is December 12, the second Saturday of the season. The Paramount's show calendar lists Laurie Berkner: A Live Holiday Concert at 11 AM that day.
A late-morning children's concert on a no-market Saturday fits neatly into the weekend. December 11, the night before, is a Friday market evening, and December 13, the day after, is a Sunday market afternoon. A family could do the Friday market, the Berkner concert on Saturday and a quiet Sunday without any of the three competing for the same hours.
Sunday Matinees Line Up With the Market
The Cinema Arts Centre's December calendar fits the Sunday schedule closely. Two of its holiday screenings start at noon on Sundays, the same hour the huts open:
- Sunday, December 20, 12:00 PM: The Nightmare Before Christmas. That's also the last market day before Christmas.
- Thursday, December 24, 7:30 PM: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, on Christmas Eve. No market runs that night, so the screening has the evening to itself.
- Sunday, December 27, 12:00 PM: The Muppet Christmas Carol. It falls on the first market day after Christmas.
On both of those Sundays you can see the movie first and still reach Wall Street with most of the afternoon left before the 5 PM close.
Dinner at Two Places That Weren't Open Last Season
Two restaurants opened this year and will be serving the village through this holiday season for the first time.
Luca Steak, 417 New York Ave. Long Island Wave reported that Luca Steak opened Friday, August 21 at the address where Red served Huntington for a quarter century. It's the second restaurant from the team behind Luca in Stony Brook. Hoodline listed its hours as Tuesday through Friday 5 to 10 PM, Saturday 4 to 10 PM and Sunday 4 to 9 PM.
Oku, 255 Main St. According to Long Island Wave, Oku is a modern Japanese restaurant from chef and owner Jeff Lee, in the heart of the village's restaurant row. Lee trained at Nobu and Sushi Samba in Manhattan, then spent more than a decade running kitchens at two of Dubai's best-known five-star hotels. The same report gave its hours as Tuesday through Thursday 5 to 9:30 PM, Friday 5 to 10:30 PM, Saturday noon to 10:30 PM and Sunday noon to 9:30 PM.
Here's how those hours line up with the season's three kinds of days:
- Parade Saturday, November 28: Oku opens at noon and Luca Steak at 4 PM. Both are serving before the 5:30 PM step-off and well after it.
- Friday market nights: Both open at 5 PM, the same hour the huts open. Luca Steak serves until 10 and Oku until 10:30, so dinner can come after the market closes at 9.
- Sunday market afternoons: Luca Steak opens at 4 PM, an hour before the huts close. Oku opens at noon, so lunch before the Wall Street walk works too.
Neither restaurant listed Monday hours when it opened, so the five-week plan works best from Tuesday through Sunday.
If the holiday weekends in the village have you thinking about what's next for your own home, whether that's a little more room for visiting family or a place closer to Main Street, Kate Works knows Huntington's streets in December as well as she knows them at closing time. Start your Long Island home search with someone who can walk you from the parade route to the right front door.
