Castle Rock's Star Lights Up November 21, and Downtown Has a Ride Under the Lights Nearly Every Night After

On Saturday, November 21, around 5:30 p.m., someone on the Main Stage at 4th and Wilcox will flip a switch and the star on top of Castle Rock will light up. Fireworks follow right away if weather and conditions allow. The Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce says the star first shone on the Rock in 1936, and the Chamber started the Starlighting celebration in 1962.

Starting the next evening, downtown runs a weekly holiday schedule. Horse-drawn carriages go out Wednesday through Sunday, and a free trolley loops the lights on Monday and Tuesday. Through late December, there's a lit-up ride downtown nearly every night of the week. Most of the season is free and needs no planning. The few parts with limited spots sell out early, and two of their sale dates come before the star is lit.

The dates that come before the star

These are the limited-spot parts of the season, in order:

1. Registration for the library's Santa visits opened November 10. On Thursday, December 10, the Castle Rock branch of Douglas County Libraries hosts "A Visit with Santa" at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., with holiday stories, activities and snacks. Registration for each session opened at that session's time of day on November 10, through the DCL events listing.
2. Flip the Switch bidding closes today, Thursday, November 12. The Chamber auctions the chance to light the star from the Main Stage. The winner gets recognition from the stage and photos of the moment, and the money goes to the Chamber's Veterans Alliance and Tours for Teachers programs. Bids are taken on the Chamber's Starlighting page.
3. Online carriage ride tickets go on sale Wednesday, November 18, at noon. The first 75 tickets were sold in person on October 29 at the Philip & Jerry Miller Library. The online link goes up at noon on the 18th on the Downtown Castle Rock Facebook and Instagram accounts and on the carriage ride page. The organizers say outright that not everyone who wants a ride will get one.

Starlighting day, hour by hour

Starlighting runs from 2 to 6 p.m. across Historic Wilcox Square and Festival Park. Admission is free. Chamber events are cashless, so bring a card for food and drinks.

The Castle Rock Professional Firefighters are serving their 90th Chili Supper, with beef chili, nachos, hot dogs, drinks and desserts, so it's older than the Chamber's celebration by about a generation. Santa leaves Festival Park at 4:15, before the Biff Gore Band finishes its last set. If photos with Santa are on your list, plan the afternoon around that time. The Chamber also runs four beverage tents for adults, and food trucks and holiday booths from local vendors, nonprofits and sponsors fill in around the square.

Getting downtown when the core streets are closed

The street closures run from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., well beyond the event hours. If you live in or near the core, or have errands downtown that morning, the Chamber lists these closures:

• Perry Street between 5th and 2nd streets
• North Wilcox Street between 5th and 3rd streets
• 4th Street between Jerry and Perry streets
• 3rd Street between Wilcox and Perry streets
• 2nd Street between Wilcox and Perry streets

Free shuttles run from 1 to 8 p.m. from three lots. Each one returns riders to the lot it came from.

• AdventHealth Castle Rock, Alexander Parking Lot, 2350 Meadows Blvd., drops off at 5th and Wilcox (Route 1).
• Douglas County High School, South Building, 2842 Front Street, also drops off at 5th and Wilcox (Route 1).
• Douglas County Fairgrounds, Lot 5, 500 Fairgrounds Drive, drops off between South and Phelps streets, by Eternal Rock Lutheran Church and the Folkestad Fazekas buildings (Route 2).

After the fireworks, look for the shuttle marked with the lot you parked at. If you'd rather drive in, the Encore Parking Garage at Wilcox and Perry and the garage at 3rd and Jerry both take event parking, and the Chamber points to the Town's downtown parking map for current details.

The weekly schedule that starts the next night

Two different rides run on Starlighting's downtown streets once the lights are up, and their days don't overlap.

The carriage rides begin Sunday, November 22, and run through January 3. They go Wednesday through Friday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m. There are no rides on November 26, December 24, December 25 or December 31. Each carriage seats four people, or two adults and three children under 10. Rides usually last about 10 minutes and run between 8 and 15 depending on lights and traffic, on a loop around the core of downtown. They leave from Festival Park by the big tree. The horses come from Kodiak Ranch, and rides go out in rain or snow unless the weather is extreme. The carriage is open-air, so the organizers recommend dressing warmly, with hand warmers, gloves, hats and blankets.

The free winter trolley fills the two nights the carriages don't run. It goes Mondays and Tuesdays from November 23 through December 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and needs no ticket. The Downtown Castle Rock trolley page lays out a figure-eight loop with three stops: the Encore Parking Garage entrance on South Street between Wilcox and Perry, the crosswalk on Third Street, and the Douglas County School District parking lot entrance on 6th Street between Wilcox and Perry. A full loop takes about 12 minutes, so you can get on at any stop without checking a timetable.

Both rides are produced by the Downtown Merchants Association. It partners with the Downtown Development Authority as the Castle Rock Downtown Alliance, and it's a separate group from the Chamber, which runs Starlighting. Starlighting news comes from the Chamber, ride news comes from the Downtown Alliance, and the December park events below come from the Town.

December fills in around the rides

The Town of Castle Rock's holiday calendar adds three events in early December.

• Festival Park Starlight Market, Friday, December 4, 3 to 8 p.m., and Saturday, December 5, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. More than 40 vendors sell crafts, art and specialty items, along with roasted chestnuts, salsa and tamales, around a 40-foot decorated tree at 300 Second St. Friday is also a carriage night, so you can shop the market and take a ride from the same tree on the same evening.
• Reindeer Games, Saturday, December 5, 1 to 4 p.m. The amphitheater at Philip S. Miller Park, 1375 W. Plum Creek Parkway, will have live reindeer, Santa visits, crafts, outdoor games and hot chocolate. It falls during market hours, so that Saturday has two family events across town from each other.
• Storytellers and S'mores, Saturday, December 12, 5 to 7 p.m. Back in Festival Park, Santa and friends read holiday favorites from the giant Storyteller Chair, with marshmallow roasting and hot chocolate. Admission is free.

The library has events on the same calendar. Douglas County Libraries' Forest of Stories exhibit runs at every branch from November 14 through January 3. The Castle Rock branch also hosts a holiday sing-along on Sunday, November 29, from 2 to 2:45 p.m., the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

For a Saturday before Starlighting, the Town calendar lists the Outlets at Castle Rock Tree Lighting Celebration on November 14, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Small changes on the trolley route

A few new things have shown up downtown this fall, within a few blocks of the carriage loop and trolley stops. A new interactive butterfly-wing mural is finished at 4th and Jerry streets, and DougCo Social reported on November 4 that a second one is planned at Life At Home, with at least four planned to start. It's near the 3rd and Jerry garage, so it's an easy photo stop before or after a ride.

Two new businesses have been announced on the same streets. Pilates Addiction is coming to 333 Perry Street, and Graze Craze to 422 Elbert Street, Suite B. Perry Street is on the trolley's route and on the Starlighting closure list, so the 333 Perry address will be in the middle of the season either way.

If family is visiting for Starlighting and asking what a Castle Rock winter is like beyond one Saturday night, I'm glad to help them get to know the town and what living here day to day is like. Abby Barratt is here for those conversations, whether you're hosting this year or thinking about where your own next holiday season will be. Let's Connect.