Suncadia's Winterfest Moves to the Village, and Onto Saturdays

Last year, Suncadia's holiday season started on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The tree went up at Dawson Park, the Holiday Bazaar filled the Conference Center, and Santa took photos on both Saturdays and Sundays through December 21. This year the Winterfest 2026 schedule moves nearly all of it to Suncadia Social, which opened over Summer Solstice weekend. The schedule also packs it into Saturday evenings. The tree lighting, the Christmas Market, the carolers and Santa all happen on the same four Saturdays. The snow activities at the far end of the resort cut back to a thin schedule on the weekdays between them.

If you own here and plan December around the resort calendar, that is the change that matters. The season now has a weekly rhythm, and it starts at about 4:30 on Saturday afternoon.

What Moved, and Which Day It Landed On

The headline events changed location and also changed their day of the week.

After Thanksgiving weekend, Santa's visits and the Christmas Market both run on Saturdays only, and the tree lighting becomes a weekly Saturday event. It runs from 5:00 to 6:00 PM on December 5, 12 and 19, with pop-up activities that change each week.

The new layout also gives the evening a walking route. The Dickens Carolers have sung around Puget Sound since 1978. On November 28 and December 5, 12 and 19 they start at The Lodge at 4:30 PM and walk to Suncadia Social, where they finish at the tree lighting. Letters to Santa stays behind at the Christmas mailbox in The Lodge Great Room.

Snow Activities Run on Two Schedules

The tubing hill is at Prospector Driving Range. This season the Winter Shop, which carries snowshoes and cross-country skis, is at The Inn at Suncadia and opens daily from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM during Winterfest. The guided Snowshoe and Brew Tour is for ages 21 and up and runs Wednesday through Sunday. It leaves from The Inn, passes the river and ends with a brew at Nelson Farm.

The tubing hill, Nelson Farm and the Cedar + Sasquatch kids' program run on two schedules. The full one covers Thanksgiving weekend, November 27–28, and the holiday break, December 19 through January 2. The "regular season" schedule covers the three weeks in between, November 29 through December 18.

Nelson Farm's axe throwing, archery and gel blaster lanes are already on Saturdays only, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, in November, through Thanksgiving. So an early November visit is already on the slower schedule.

The Three Weeks That Belong to Saturday

From Sunday, November 29 through Friday, December 18, the resort runs on a short weekly cycle. The middle of the week is the quietest. The Source is closed Monday through Thursday. Tubing ends at noon. Nelson Farm and the Cedar + Sasquatch kids' program wait for the weekend. A weekday afternoon in early December still has the free things. Suncadia's groomed cross-country and snowshoe trails are open to the public at no charge, and the Nordic page points to the Winter Activity Guide for current hours. The TruGolf simulator and arcade games at The Inn run year-round during Golf Shop hours, with check-in at Prospector Golf Shop.

That cycle has only two Saturdays, December 5 and December 12. Each one runs from morning to evening at both ends of the resort. Tubing runs until 4:00 PM, and Nelson Farm is open 10 to 4. The market opens at noon, Santa photos start at 11:30, and carolers and the tree lighting close out the afternoon. There are also $10 holiday craft kits at The Inn from 1:00 to 3:00 PM on December 4–6 and 11–13, so Friday and Sunday get some activity too.

If you host guests in early December, a Saturday arrival gets them the most. A Tuesday arrival gets them quiet trails and a closed dining room at The Source.

December 19, Hour by Hour

The third Saturday is the day the two schedules meet. December 19 is the last Saturday of the weekly events and the first day of the holiday break, and it carries the only drone show on the calendar. Here is that one day as the schedule lists it:

1. 8:00 AM: Tubing opens at Prospector Driving Range on full holiday hours, until 4:00 PM. The Suncadia Street Eats food truck is open whenever the hill is.
2. 10:00 AM: Journey to the North Pole begins at Suncadia Social, with Santa and Mrs. Claus, crafts and activities from Social's shops until 1:00 PM. Nelson Farm opens at 10 as well.
3. 11:30 AM: Free Santa photos start at Santa's Workshop and run until 4:30 PM. Santa photos are open to resort guests, owners and the community.
4. Noon: The Christmas Market opens for its last day, with rotating makers and artisans, until 6:00 PM. Cedar + Sasquatch runs from noon to 3:00 PM.
5. 4:30 PM: The Dickens Carolers leave The Lodge for Suncadia Social.
6. 5:00 PM: The final weekly tree lighting and the Holiday Drone Show both start at Suncadia Social. The drone show is free to enter, though some activities around it may be ticketed. It is sponsored by the Suncadia Fund for Community Enhancement, Discover Cle Elum and Central Washington Outdoors. The first Story Time session also starts at 5.
7. 7:00 PM: The second Story Time session begins.

The Source moved to daily breakfast, lunch and dinner the day before, and it stays on that schedule through January 2. For families who split the day, Woodland Wonders Trail starts at Suncadia Social. It is a free, self-guided forest walk with markers, carvings and clues, and you pick up the trail map at the Concierge Desk in The Lodge.

The Long Weekend Before It All Begins

Thanksgiving week works differently because every venue is on full hours at once. The Source opens daily from November 25. On Thanksgiving Day, the Suncadia Turkey Trot 5K starts the morning on the resort's trails. Registration includes a commemorative sweater and hot cocoa, plus a beer or cocktail for runners 21 and over. Suncadia's Thanksgiving buffet runs from noon to 7:00 PM on November 26, with last seating at 6:30. It costs $74 for adults and $33 for children ages 4 to 12, and children 3 and under eat free.

The Friday has an option in Roslyn. The Merry Mitten Mingle runs from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on November 27 in historic downtown Roslyn. It is a family holiday walk through the downtown shops, and you take home a small reward at the end. Details are on the Roslyn Downtown Association's event page. Back at Suncadia Social, the Christmas Market is open that Friday from noon to 6:00 PM, and the tree lighting now waits for Saturday, November 28.

One fixture from last winter is missing from this year's lineup. The Pavilion Glice rink opened November 15 last season. It ran Thursday through Monday evenings until December 11, then daily from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM through January 3, with free community skate nights on Tuesdays in exchange for a food donation. The rink is not listed on the 2026 Winterfest schedule. If skating is part of your family's December, ask Suncadia directly before you plan around it.

If you're deciding which December weekend to come up, or whether a home near Suncadia Social or near The Inn and Prospector suits the way you spend the holidays, The Graham Group is glad to talk it through. Tony and Colette have watched the resort's calendar shift for years and can tell you what this season's new layout means for the parts of Suncadia you use. Contact us.