The event will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, at the city-owned parking lot on Delta Avenue and 11th Street in downtown Gladstone.

The evening will include a grand entrance of Santa on a horse and carriage, free trailer rides, a live nativity scene, burning barrels, free cookies and hot chocolate, an expanded tree lighting ceremony and even the event’s first indoor Christmas market.

The indoor Christmas Market will be hosted inside the old fire garage at City Hall across from the tree lighting.

This year’s updated tree lighting will include bells for children to ring and candles with drip protectors for adults.

Gladstone's Old Fashioned Christmas on Friday, Nov. 28, will feature free trailer rides, cookies and hot chocolate, burning barrels, an all-new tree lighting experience and a new indoor Christmas Market. (Photo courtesy of Delta Chamber of Commerce)

Businesses on Delta Avenue are invited to participate by hosting an activity at their storefronts and registering online at https://www.gladstonemi.gov/dda/page/2025-business-vendor-sign.

Vendors on and off Delta Avenue may register to participate in the indoor Christmas Market. Each registered vendor will be provided with one table and chair. Registration is required and reserved for Gladstone businesses and vendors from the full 2025 farmers market season.

Gladstone’s business district also is encouraged to participate in a window decorating contest.

Registration for these activities is due today, Nov. 14, on the DDA website.

Community voting for the contest will take place online throughout the duration of the event, and the top three displays will receive a customized snow globe trophy. That is in addition to “their well-earned bragging rights,” DDA Director Patricia West noted.

Coordinating this year’s event is the DDA’s Gladstone Downtown Ambassador Samantha Gaudino. She has worked for the city for almost a year now and oversees the weekly farmers market in the summer, as well as Gladstone’s Downtown Day on the last Saturday of September.

“With a new coordinator stepping into the role, the DDA is committed to carrying forward the traditional elements that define an ‘Old Fashioned Christmas,’ while also introducing a few new offerings,” West said in a written statement. “Along with a new tree lighting experience, we are excited to host a Christmas Market in City Hall’s old fire garage. This is an opportunity to broaden participation and welcome churches and businesses who aren’t located on Delta Ave to participate.”

While West wrote she has records of the event to 2007, staff has indicated its history goes farther back.

“There is something truly nostalgic and magical about Christmas time in Gladstone. Seeing a community come together in support of one another is a beautiful experience that our DDA is proud to sponsor,” West wrote.

According to West, Old Fashioned Christmas already has 1,200 people interested in attending based on their event post on Facebook.