Delco's Holiday Season: Christmas Events, Parades, and Lights Near Boothwyn

Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, and right behind it comes the part of the year Delaware County does best: the holiday season. From the Rose Tree Park Festival of Lights in Media to the Upper Chichester tree lighting at Gibbons Park and the Ridley Park Santa Parade, the towns around Boothwyn fill their calendars with parades, light displays, and family events from late November through early January. Here is a friendly preview of what is coming, so you can mark the calendar early. The community guides on this site fill in the details on each town when you are ready to dig deeper.

The Season Starts Close to Home

For families in Boothwyn and Upper Chichester, the holiday calendar officially begins at the Upper Chichester Township Tree Lighting Ceremony at Gibbons Park, traditionally held the Friday after Thanksgiving at 6 p.m. with musical performances and a visit from Santa. Boothwyn is part of Upper Chichester Township, so this is the hometown event: neighbors gather on the grass by the pavilion, the tree lights up, and the season feels officially underway. The township posts the exact date and any weather changes on upperchi.org as the holiday approaches.

For a closer look at everyday life in the township, the Upper Chichester community guide covers the schools, parks, commuting, and neighborhoods that make this corner of Delco tick.

Parades Down Main Street

A few minutes north, Ridley Park throws its Santa Parade and Holiday Village on East Hinckley Avenue on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 28, 2026, running from 3 to 7 p.m. The parade winds through the borough's downtown, and the holiday village that follows turns the block into a small winter market with Santa photos and family activities. It is an easy outing from Boothwyn, and the Ridley Park community guide gives you a feel for the borough before you go.

Media's Santa Parade and Block Party marches down State Street the weekend after Thanksgiving, one of the county's best-known small-town parades with floats, bands, and Santa bringing up the rear. Over in Lansdowne, the Winter Lights Parade rolls down Lansdowne Avenue in mid-December with light-decorated vehicles and floats, followed by tree and menorah lightings, live music, a food truck, and Santa photos. The Lansdowne community guide is a good starting point if you are thinking of making the borough your home base for the season.

Lights, Trees, and Festival Nights

The centerpiece of the Delco holiday season is the Rose Tree Park Festival of Lights at Rose Tree County Park on North Providence Road in Media, a free walk-through display of dozens of illuminated trees that has drawn visitors for more than 50 years. It opens in early December with a tree lighting ceremony featuring choral music, food trucks, and Santa, then runs nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. through early January. The Delco Holiday Village that sets up alongside it brings local vendors and warm food to the park all season. For more on the park itself and the county's other outdoor spaces, the best parks and outdoor spaces post on this blog has the full rundown.

If you would rather stay in the car, the Jingle Bright Drive-Through Holiday Light Show at the Delaware County Fairgrounds runs Fridays and Saturdays in December, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Night, and New Year's Eve, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. It is a free-will donation show, entered through the fairgrounds' East Gate, and the whole route takes about twenty minutes with the kids bundled in back.

Christmas at Linvilla Orchards

About twenty minutes northwest of Boothwyn, Christmas at Linvilla Orchards in Media turns the farm into Christmasland from around November 20 through December 23, with free admission. The signature experience is the cut-your-own tree hayride out to the Douglas fir fields, and the farm adds Santa visits on weekends, caroling hayrides on Saturday evenings, a market of wreaths, greens, and ornaments, and warm treats like wood-fired pizza, fresh donuts, and s'mores by the fire. A Glice skating rink rounds out the evening. Linvilla also anchors the farmers markets guide on this blog if you want the year-round version of the place.

Plan the Season as a Family

The trick to a relaxed holiday season in Delco is picking two or three events and building the weekends around them: the hometown tree lighting, one parade, one night of lights. The towns around Boothwyn are welcoming and close-knit, with longtime locals and newcomers alike out on the same sidewalks for these events, and that is exactly what makes them worth the trip. If you are hosting family this year, the Thanksgiving planning guide on this blog has the local turkey, pie, and giving-back details to get you through the first holiday of the stretch.

The Bottom Line

Mark the calendar this week: the Upper Chichester tree lighting the Friday after Thanksgiving, the Ridley Park Santa Parade the next day, and the Rose Tree Park Festival of Lights once December rolls in. If the holiday season has you picturing your family in a bigger dining room, an extra guest bedroom, or a home closer to the parade route, this is a great time to talk about it. Andre's step-by-step seller guide on andrerichardson.com walks through the process from the first phone call to the closing table.

I am Andre Richardson, a Realtor with HomeSmart Realty Advisors, licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Whether you are planning a holiday move or just curious what your home is worth in this market, I am happy to talk it through. Reach me at 267-977-0304, or head to the contact page and we will find a time that works. See you at the tree lighting.