At Lake Nona Town Center this December, the night of the week you pick matters as much as the weekend. The 2026 calendar for Oh, What Fun! gives Friday, Saturday and Sunday each a different kind of night. It also moves parade night into Crescent Park, where the evening starts as a neighborhood block party before the floats reach Town Center.
The festival runs December 4 through December 20, 2026, one day earlier at each end than last year's run of December 5 through 21. Oh, What Fun! is presented by AdventHealth and centered on Lake Nona Town Center at 6955 Lake Nona Boulevard.
Three Weekends, Three Kinds of Evening
Laid out by night, the official 2026 calendar shows the pattern clearly. Unless noted, everything is at Lake Nona Town Center.
| Weekend | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 4–6 | Opening Night, 5–10 p.m., with tree lighting at 6 p.m.; How the Grinch Stole Christmas at Boxi Park | Oh, What Fun! 5K at 7:30 a.m.; A Very Peppermint Christmas, 5–10 p.m. | Sunday Family Fun Day, 5–10 p.m.; Hanukkah celebration, 6–9 p.m. |
| Dec. 11–13 | A Very Peppermint Christmas; Home Alone at Boxi Park | Parade night with the Crescent Park Celebration; A Very Peppermint Christmas | Sunday Family Fun Day, 5–10 p.m. |
| Dec. 18–20 | A Very Peppermint Christmas; Elf at Boxi Park | A Very Peppermint Christmas | Sunday Family Fun Day, 5–10 p.m., on the festival's final day |
Fridays point toward Boxi Park. Saturdays hold the snow show and the parade. Sundays go to local performers and families. Each of the changes below adds weight to one of those nights.
Parade Night Starts as a Block Party
The biggest change falls on Saturday, December 12. Last year's parade began at Laureate Park, and Lake Nona's own 2025 insider's guide recommended Crescent Park, near the start of the route, as the best place to watch it. This year Crescent Park is a destination in its own right.
Here is the evening as the 2026 listings describe it:
- Afternoon at Crescent Park. The parade listing invites people to celebrate at Crescent Park from 4 to 7 p.m.
- The parade moves toward Town Center. The Oh What Fun! Parade is listed for 5 to 7 p.m., with twinkling floats, festive music and Santa. The first floats are expected at Lake Nona Town Center at 6:30 p.m.
- The block party. A separate Crescent Park Celebration runs 6 to 9 p.m. at 8374 Upper Perse Circle. It is billed as a neighborhood block party with live music, and it invites people to decorate their golf carts and drive over.
- Snow in Town Center. A Very Peppermint Christmas also runs at Town Center that night from 5 to 10 p.m.
The afternoon gathering and the evening block party overlap from 6 to 7 p.m. While the floats head to Town Center, Crescent Park keeps celebrating until 9 p.m.
Sundays Got Longer, and There Are More of Them
In 2025, Family Fun Days ran on two Sundays, December 7 and 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. The 2026 calendar has three Sunday Family Fun Days on December 6, 13 and 20, each from 5 to 10 p.m. That adds a third evening and two more hours to each one.
Last year's guide described the lineup as school choirs, dance teams and youth music groups on the Town Center main stage. The 2026 listing promises family activities, holiday entertainment and performances from local groups. With the festival now ending on Sunday the 20th, the last night of Oh, What Fun! is a Family Fun Day.
Hanukkah Moves to the First Weekend
The menorah lighting moved too. Last year's Celebrate Hanukkah was listed for Sunday, December 21, 2025, from 5 to 6 p.m., the festival's final day. This year it is on the first Sunday, December 6, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. The program includes a menorah blessing and lighting, a DJ, a stilt walker, children's performers, face painters, traditional foods and hands-on activities. It overlaps with that evening's Family Fun Day, so the first Sunday is the fullest night of the festival.
Fridays Now Point Toward Boxi Park
Last year's Friday headliner was the Spirit of the Holidays Live Acrobatics Show in Town Center, and A Very Peppermint Christmas ran on Saturdays. The 2026 calendar lists only A Very Peppermint Christmas. It now plays both Friday and Saturday nights, on December 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19, from 5 to 10 p.m., with snow-themed entertainment and live performances.
The new piece of Friday is the Holiday Blockbuster series at Boxi Park, 6877 Tavistock Lakes Boulevard. Each night starts with themed activities at 6 p.m. and the movie at 6:30 p.m.
- December 4: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, on Opening Night
- December 11: Home Alone, with blankets encouraged
- December 18: Elf
These screenings are not in last year's listings. On each Friday a family can watch the tree and the snow in Town Center, then walk to Boxi Park for the movie, all on the same evening.
What Carries Over, With Small Adjustments
The pieces that make the festival recognizable are all back, and several have changed in small ways.
The snow runs on a clock. Last year's guide promised snowfall daily in Peppermint Square. The 2026 Opening Night listing says "Lake Snow-na" snowfall happens every hour, on the hour, so you can plan a photo around it.
Santa's Cottage costs the same, and photos are included. Tickets still start at $35 per person and still require advance reservations. The 2026 listing adds that digital photos are included. Friday visits run 5:45 to 8:45 p.m. and Saturday visits run 1 to 8:45 p.m. Reservations are made through the festival's Santa's Cottage page.
The tree is still 24 feet tall. Opening Night lights the Lake Nona Christmas tree for the first time at 6 p.m. on December 4. The evening also includes a holiday market with rotating vendors, sweet-treat stations and photo walls with oversized ornaments.
The Fa La La La Bar is now outdoors. The Evergreen Tree Trail returns, running from Town Center to the Lake Nona Wave Hotel. Lake Nona partners decorate the trees, and guests vote for their favorite at the end of the trail. In 2025 the Fa La La La Bar was a pop-up in the Wave Hotel lobby. The 2026 listing places it in the hotel's sculpture garden, serving seasonal cocktails and spiked hot chocolate to adults.
The 5K opens the first Saturday. The Oh, What Fun! 5K is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. It follows a route through the Lake Nona community, and every participant receives a medal and a T-shirt.
The Weeks Before December 4
Boxi Park's event schedule fills the gap before the tree lighting. Drinksgiving is listed for November 25, the night before Thanksgiving, and Holiday Harvest Weekend runs November 27 through 29.
Lake Nona West at 5959 Lake Nona Boulevard has more shops nearby for holiday errands this year. Its first stores, Target, Homesense, Barnes & Noble and Total Wine & More, were open by late July. Nordstrom Rack opened at 6015 Lake Nona Boulevard on September 24. Cañonita, a full-service Mexican restaurant from Tavistock Restaurant Collection, has a save-the-date event at Lake Nona West on Thursday, November 5, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Its grand-opening celebration is planned for November 19, according to Life in Orlando.
With the festival a month away, the most useful date to note may be December 12. That is the night the celebration starts in Crescent Park, and the listings invite golf carts in their holiday best.
Holiday guests often ask what Lake Nona is like the rest of the year. If someone you're hosting this December asks the same question, the team at Core4 Group would be glad to answer it with the same care that goes into planning a good festival night. When the timing is right, book a consultation and we'll help you start that conversation.
