In Parry Sound on November 28, the Artisan Show Closes an Hour Before the Santa Claus Parade Starts

At 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 28, the last vendors at the Fourteenth Annual One-of-a-Kind Christmas Artisan Show start packing up inside the Charles W. Stockey Centre at 2 Bay Street. At 4 p.m., the Town of Parry Sound's Santa Claus Parade sets off under this year's theme, "Santa's Workshop." Last year the parade finished in the Stockey Centre parking lot.

Read the calendars side by side and a pattern shows up. Parry Sound's holiday season keeps returning to the Stockey Centre at the end of Bay Street. The lights go on in Market Square Park first. Then, on the weekend that matters most, the Stockey's craft show hands off to the downtown parade within an hour. After that, the Stockey stage carries the calendar through December.

The Saturday handoff, hour by hour

The weekend starts Friday afternoon and ends with brass on Sunday, and three of its four pieces happen inside the same building.

The Friday evening session runs until 7 p.m., so it suits anyone shopping after work. The Saturday session closes an hour before the parade starts. Anyone at the show at closing time is already downtown with an hour to spare. The Sunday concert, according to the Stockey Centre's event page, costs $27.95 plus HST for adults, $22.95 plus HST for seniors and $17.95 plus HST for students.

What's on the tables inside the Stockey

The Stockey Centre organizes the show itself, and entry is by donation at the door. The published vendor list includes food alongside handmade goods, so you can cover the gift list and the holiday table in one visit. A sample from the list:

• Food and pantry: Attilio's Fine Foods, Cosmos Smoked Meats, Heather's Fudge, Loretta's Inc bakery, Muskoka Maple, Butter Babes
• Glass, clay and light: Flux Glass Co, Muddy Handshake Pottery, Mud Dog Candles
• Wearables and fibre: Juliana Paige Jewellery, I Bead for Me, Knit Happens, Lorimerlakeloomie
• Art, honey and the dog: Jean Grady Art, For The Bees Farm, Cozy Pup Creations

The fudge, smoked meat and bakery tables are the ones to reach early on Saturday. Once the 3 p.m. close comes, the next stop is the curb.

Where the parade comes down

The Town posts its Santa Claus Parade page with a route map, float registration and a sign-up for volunteers who help with road closures. The Town calls those volunteer spots a front-row view of the parade. Float registration closes Sunday, November 22, at 11:55 p.m.

Last year's route shows why the Stockey keeps turning up in this story. As ParrySound.com reported for the 2025 parade, floats started on Gibson Street, turned onto Isabella Street, then went along Church, Rosetta and James streets and "straight to the end of Bay Street at the Charles W. Stockey Centre parking lot." That was a 4:30 p.m. start on Saturday, November 29, 2025. This year's start is posted for 4 p.m., so the whole thing moves half an hour earlier.

The staging area hasn't moved. The Town's 2026 float application sends entries up one-way Gibson Street from McMurray Street toward Isabella Street. It's drop-off only, with no parking on the left side of Gibson. If you live near Gibson and McMurray, expect float traffic on your street before Santa appears. For this year's full route, check the Town's map before heading out.

The Town also has a bad-weather plan. If severe weather cancels the parade, the rescheduled date is Tuesday, December 1, at 4:30 p.m., on a shorter route through the downtown core. Watch the Town's website and social channels in the days before.

The week before, the lights go on at Market Square Park

The parade weekend has a warm-up the week before. On Thursday, November 19, the Stockey shows End of Oak Street at 7 p.m. as part of its Film at the Stockey series.

On Friday, November 20, the Town holds Light Up the Park at Market Square Park at 6 p.m. The Town describes it as the start of the holiday season and suggests arriving early and dressing warmly. At 7:30 p.m. the same night, the Stockey stage has Classic Troubadours: The Songs of James, Joni, Jackson & Carole. That leaves an hour and a half between the lights coming on and the first song. It's the same pattern as the parade weekend: a free outdoor event downtown, followed by an evening show by the water.

Eating between the show and the parade

That hour between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on November 28 is the natural time for an early meal. The closest option is on Bay Street itself. Chuck's Roadhouse opened this year at 11A Bay St., a waterfront spot with a direct view of the dock where cruise ships come in, according to the Parry Sound North Star's look at how local businesses did this summer. Co-owner Raj Vegas told the North Star the restaurant had been busy on weekdays as well as weekends, which he hadn't expected.

James Street, part of last year's parade route, also added two places this year. The North Star lists Sukhdev and Fizzy's Butter Chicken among the businesses that opened downtown in 2026. Both are on the street floats rolled down in 2025, so a takeout order and a curbside spot can be on the same block.

December runs through the same stage

After the parade, the season doesn't move elsewhere. It stays at the Stockey. The December calendar is the most concentrated run of the year on that stage:

1. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m.: Men of the Deeps, December Coal. Tickets are $61.95 plus HST.
2. Thursday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.: Hotel California
3. Friday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.: The Forever Highwaymen
4. Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.: A Charlie Brown Christmas Music Tribute
5. Thursday, Dec. 17, 7 p.m.: Film at the Stockey: White Christmas

The first three dates fall on consecutive nights in the week after the parade.

One holiday event takes place away from Bay Street. Breakfast with Santa & the Grinch is Saturday, December 5, in Stanley Cup Hall at the Bobby Orr Community Centre. Breakfast runs 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and a free family skate runs 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Parking at that building changed this month. The North Star reported that overnight parking at the Bobby Orr Community Centre is now limited to Thursday through Sunday nights and statutory holidays, so town crews can clear the whole lot on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The same story said the town's winter overnight restriction, 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. from Nov. 1 to April 15, is being reworded to cover all winter operations, including salting and sanding. Marked downtown parking used within its posted time limits is not affected. A morning breakfast and skate won't run into any of this, but anyone who leaves a vehicle at the centre overnight early in the week will.

If you plan only one stretch of this season, make it Saturday, November 28. Pick up fudge and pottery at the Stockey before 3 p.m., eat on Bay Street or James Street, and be at the curb for 4 p.m.

At Coxworth & Associates, we plan around Parry Sound's calendar as closely as the families we work with, from the first lights at Market Square Park to the last show at the Stockey. If a move to the water is in your plans for next season, we would be glad to start with a conversation and a Complimentary Valuation & Marketing Plan.