Downtown Valparaiso's 2026 holiday calendar is built around the ice at Central Park Plaza. The first open skate on the Central Park Plaza calendar is Friday, November 20, from 3 to 10 p.m. That's the same day as Pink Friday, the downtown holiday shopping and dining event. Eight days later, the tree lighting gives you a cheaper skate if you bring a receipt from a downtown restaurant. A week after that, Holly Days falls on the rink's longest scheduled day of the week. Each date ties back to the rink and to downtown spending.
November 20 puts the first skate on the same day as Pink Friday
Pink Friday runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 20, and is billed as a small business shopping and dining event. Its map pin is 70 Lafayette Street, and the plaza's address is 68 Lafayette. In the middle of that day, the rink opens for its first listed session. Several other events are scheduled for the same evening, so here is how the day stacks up:
- 10 a.m. Pink Friday shopping and dining begins downtown.
- 3 p.m. The first listed open skate starts at Central Park Plaza and runs until 10 p.m.
- 6:30 p.m. Fall Music Fridays begins at The American Factory, Journeyman Distillery's space at 258 South Campbell Street. The series is free, all ages, and runs Fridays through November.
- 7 p.m. Chicago Street Theatre, at 154 West Chicago Street, presents Making Spirits Bright!, an evening of music that supports the arts in the community.
- 9 p.m. Pink Friday ends. The rink stays open another hour.
Pink Friday ends at 9, and the plaza is open until 10, so the rink keeps going for an hour after the shopping event closes.
The weekend splits between Lafayette Street and Division Road
On Saturday, November 21, the rink runs a full day, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. That same weekend, the biggest crowd draw is across town. The Valpo Holidaze Craft & Vendor Show is back at the Porter County Expo Center, 215 East Division Road. It runs Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The organizers list more than 200 vendor booths across three buildings, plus food trucks, a Santa's workshop for kids, and free pictures with Santa. Admission is cash only: $5 general, $3 for seniors and $3 for U.S. veterans.
The two schedules fit together. The show closes at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and the rink has six more hours of open skating after that. You can do the Expo Center in the morning and the plaza in the evening.
Winter Fest ties a cheaper skate to a downtown restaurant receipt
Valpo Parks' Winter Fest & Tree Lighting is Saturday, November 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Central Park Plaza. The program includes musical performances, free photos with Santa, the presentation of the Good Neighbor Award, and the lighting of the plaza's large Christmas tree.
That night, the rink offers discounted admission to anyone who shows a receipt from a downtown restaurant, in support of Small Business Saturday. The discount comes from dinner, not from a code or a ticket. Eat at a downtown restaurant, then bring the receipt to the ice. For questions about the event, the listing gives 219.462.5144.
The rink is closed two days earlier, on Thanksgiving, November 26. So the tree lighting is the first big plaza night after the holiday.
Alpen Haus adds a downtown restaurant to the receipt deal
One downtown restaurant is having its first holiday season this year. Alpen Haus and The Golf Lodge, at 13 Washington Street, celebrated its grand opening in July 2026 and held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, August 4, according to GreatNews.Life. The building is a German restaurant and bierhalle with golf simulators, and GreatNews.Life reports its games also include soccer.
The Times described the place before it opened. The menu includes imported German beer, schnitzel, and a jumbo pretzel big enough for a table of eight. The setting is a 19th-century building decorated with cuckoo clocks, steins and decorative plates. The same report says owners Tatjana Hess and Alec Emmons renovated the 6,000-square-foot building extensively, and it seats about 70 people, bar included.
Hess told GreatNews.Life how the restaurant side began:
"We spoke to the city and pitched them the idea. They said, 'That sounds awesome. We'd love to have a restaurant, too.'"
That quote explains the rest of this calendar. The city wanted another downtown kitchen, and this fall's Winter Fest promotion rewards people for eating at one. The owners had run a simulator business before, and the restaurant is new for them, GreatNews.Life reported. Golf simulators work in December, so Alpen Haus is also an indoor option on cold nights.
Holly Days lands on the rink's longest scheduled day
Holly Days is Saturday, December 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. across downtown Valparaiso. The listing includes live entertainment, ice sculptures, holiday lights, carolers, Santa, Candy Cane Lane, a Holiday Express Train, retail open houses, and a live nativity hosted by Grace Chapel. The organizers also point visitors to holiday offers from downtown retailers and a meal at a downtown restaurant.
The plaza calendar for that week shows how the rink is scheduled around it:
| Day | Date | Open skate |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | December 1 | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Wednesday | December 2 | 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Thursday | December 3 | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Friday | December 4 | 3 to 10 p.m. |
| Saturday | December 5 | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Sunday | December 6 | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Monday | December 7 | 6 to 8 p.m. |
Monday through Thursday sessions are two or three hours, and all of them start at 6 p.m. Friday opens earlier, at 3 p.m. On Holly Days Saturday, the rink is open eleven hours, starting well before the festival and running four hours after it ends. These are the dated listings for that one week, not a fixed weekly schedule, so check the plaza calendar before you go on any other date.
The quieter sessions fill the rest of the season
The rink also has sessions that aren't tied to any festival. A Parent/Tot Skate for children under five runs Tuesday, November 24, from 10 a.m. to noon. The calendar describes it as a low-pressure time to practice the basics with a parent or guardian. Pre-registered youth skating lessons are on the calendar for November and December, on Monday and Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. December's schedule adds a Senior Skate for ages 60 and up, described as a relaxed session for practicing the basics.
The rink is closed on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25. Every open skate, lesson and closure for the season is listed by date on the Central Park Plaza calendar.
If you're thinking about how close you'd like to live to the plaza, or what a home near Lafayette and Washington Streets offers in the winter months, Lesley Sweeney can walk you through it. Schedule your complimentary market consultation, and we'll start with the part of downtown Valparaiso you already know.
