On the west side of Hurontario Street, across from Town Hall, there is a lot with asphalt over an old concrete pad, a path in from the sidewalk, and benches, planters and bike racks taken from the Collingwood Downtown BIA's own inventory. Starting Nov. 28, Santa will sit there in his sleigh four Saturdays in a row.
That lot is 84 Hurontario Street. This year's downtown holiday calendar keeps returning to it, and the times are what tie the season together. Santa's visits there run from noon to 3 p.m. On two of those Saturdays, the Christmas Market on the surrounding sidewalks runs from noon to 3 p.m. as well.
How a vacant lot became the season's address
The Town of Collingwood bought the land on Oct. 28, 2022, for $1.7 million, after the Collingwood Downtown BIA suggested the purchase, according to CollingwoodToday. The BIA took on the interim setup. It cleared broken rubble, paved over the concrete pad, removed trip hazards, added the entrance path from Hurontario and had the seating in place for Canada Day 2023.
Its future then went into the downtown visioning exercise completed in late 2024. Council endorsed that plan in January 2025, and it recommended keeping the site as public space permanently.
So the "parkette" on the Town's Santa page is still mostly the interim version: a paved pad, BIA benches and a central spot on the main street. That is where the town placed its holiday Saturdays.
November 21 opens the season after dark
The Downtown Collingwood Christmas Season Launch is on Saturday, Nov. 21. The Santa Claus Parade starts at 5 p.m. The BIA's event page says the evening start is deliberate: it is meant "to capture all the magic of our downtown holiday lights." The rest of the day fills the street with merchant open houses, carolers, strolling entertainers and the traditional lighting of the town Christmas tree.
This year's theme is Vintage Christmas. CollingwoodToday reported that the BIA picked it from dozens of submissions. Float builders are encouraged to draw on Victorian-era traditions, classic Canadian holiday scenes, old-fashioned toy shops and handmade toys, traditional Christmas baking, antique ornaments and tinsel, and Christmases of the 1920s, 1950s and 1960s. Community groups and non-profits can enter a float for free, and commercial entries cost $100.
The parade puts Santa on Hurontario Street. One week later, he settles in at 84 Hurontario.
Four Saturdays, one three-hour window
The Town lists Santa's sleigh visits at the 84 Hurontario Street Parkette on four Saturdays, with treats for kids. Every visit runs from noon to 3 p.m.
The Collingwood Christmas Market runs on two Fridays and two Saturdays in December. Friday evenings run from 5 to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. The BIA's market page says Farmers' Market vendors and others will line the Hurontario sidewalks on market evenings, alongside holiday lights, selfie stations and the CWOOD sign at Town Hall lit red and green.
Here are both schedules together, with the other confirmed downtown dates for the season:
| Date | At 84 Hurontario | On Hurontario Street | Elsewhere downtown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Season launch; parade at 5 p.m.; tree lighting | ||
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Santa, noon to 3 p.m. | Holiday Book Sale, 55 Ste Marie St., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | Holiday Book Sale, 1 to 4 p.m. | ||
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Santa, noon to 3 p.m. | ||
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Christmas Market, 5 to 8 p.m. | ||
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Santa, noon to 3 p.m. | Christmas Market, noon to 3 p.m. | |
| Fri., Dec. 18 | Christmas Market, 5 to 8 p.m. | John McDermott's A Family Christmas, 200 Maple St., 7 p.m. | |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Santa, noon to 3 p.m. | Christmas Market, noon to 3 p.m. |
On Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, the sleigh and the market run on exactly the same clock. Those afternoons are the fullest the downtown calendar gets this season. A family can have the kids' visit at the lot and the gift shopping on the sidewalks within one three-hour block, without leaving Hurontario Street.
Nov. 28 overlaps differently. Santa's first parkette visit falls on the same Saturday as the Friends of the Collingwood Public Library Holiday Book Sale at the library, 55 Ste Marie St. The book sale opens at 10 a.m., two hours before the sleigh, and stays open two hours after it. The library runs a shorter second session on Sunday, Nov. 29, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Dec. 5 is the quiet Saturday. Santa is at the parkette from noon to 3 p.m., and no market or other listed downtown event shares the day.
Friday, Dec. 18 stacks the evening
The busiest evening of the season has no Santa at all. On Friday, Dec. 18, the Christmas Market runs on Hurontario from 5 to 8 p.m. At 7 p.m., John McDermott's A Family Christmas begins at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Maple Street.
The two overlap. Concertgoers who want the market have the two hours between 5 and 7 p.m. to shop. The market keeps going for an hour after the concert starts. The same Friday market on Dec. 11 has no concert competing with it.
Where the theme already lives year-round
The parade theme asks float builders for traditional Christmas baking and handmade things. One block off the main street, a bakery has run on that idea since January.
Bakery By The Bay opened at 116 School House Lane in January 2026, according to the BIA's Meet Your Neighbour profile. Owners Stacey and Steve Bowden started with a storefront in Stayner in 2020. Many of their recipes come from Stacey's great-grandmother, and her family's roots in the area go back generations to the shipyards. The profile says the cinnamon buns "kind of put us on the map," and the butter tarts, date squares and pies are all made by hand. The shop has a deliberately vintage, lived-in feel, with plans to keep adding antiques and family pictures.
On Hurontario itself, Boon Bakery at 191 Hurontario St., Unit 3, is fully gluten-free and dairy-free. That matters on a day of street treats and holiday baking. The BIA's profile describes a line that often wraps around the shop or out the door.
For a sit-down meal between the parkette and the market, The Curly Willow Eatery at 141 Pine Street sits on the side of downtown that the proposed park crossing would connect to. The BIA profiled it in April as a business operating for nearly a decade.
What the lot is meant to become
The sleigh is parked on a site that already has a plan. On Sept. 14, 2026, councillors saw a proposed design for 84 Hurontario by Envision-Tatham, presented as part of an update on the downtown master plan. It had first been shown to the public at the Collingwood Farmers Market at the end of August. The concept includes a rubber play structure on the Hurontario Street side, a performance stage, benches and bleacher seating, and a grove of trees. A crosswalk with pedestrian lighting would connect the park to the Pine Street parking lot.
CollingwoodToday quoted Coun. Rob Ring's response at that meeting: "I like it all, but there isn't enough shade."
Town staff said the preliminary concept will be refined based on feedback before construction drawings are prepared. Construction estimates are scheduled for this fall. Tendering and construction would start only after the BIA gets approval through the Town's 2027 budget process. The Town's project page also notes that design details may change.
This season, the lot is still the BIA's interim setup: a cleaned-up pad across from Town Hall, with benches from the BIA's own inventory. Santa's sleigh arrives there at noon on Nov. 28.
A permanent park at 84 Hurontario, with a lit crossing to the Pine Street lot, would change the blocks around it. If you own in Collingwood and want to talk through what the town's downtown plans could mean for your property, Coxworth & Associates would be glad to walk you through it. Request a Complimentary Valuation & Marketing Plan, and we'll start with the street you live on.
