Light Up the Lake is on Friday, Nov. 20, 2026. That is one week earlier than its normal date. The City of Wayzata says on its event page that the celebration "will take place the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving." Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, so the usual slot would have been Nov. 27, the day after the holiday. This year the town lighting and the holiday weekend no longer land on the same days.
That one change moves the rest of the season forward too. Wayzata's cold-weather stretch now starts on Lake Street in the middle of November. It runs through a parade, a donation drive and a dinner booking, and then moves out onto the frozen bay in February. Here is the order it comes in.
Panoway Plaza changes jobs
The water at Panoway is off for the season as of Monday, Oct. 26. The city announced on Oct. 20 that the Lake Street Panoway splash pad and the Wayzata Beach splash pad would both close for the season on Monday, Oct. 26.
All summer, the plaza at the foot of Lake Street was the spot where kids ran through the fountains. Over the next four weeks it becomes the stage for the holiday season. The town lighting ceremony takes place at Panoway Plaza on Nov. 20, right after the parade. On the same evening the plaza also hosts Letters to Santa, the Muni refreshments table and the IOCP food drive. With the lighting a week earlier, the plaza has less than a month between its last splash-pad day and its first night under the lights.
Medallion week comes first, Nov. 9 to 13
The lighting itself has a lead-up. The city's fifth annual Medallion Hunt runs the week before Light Up the Lake. Clues will be posted online Nov. 9 through 13 on wayzata.org and wayzatachamber.com, and on social media.
The rules are short:
- Winners must be 12 or under.
- The first child or family to find the medallion wins.
- The prize is lighting up Wayzata on Nov. 20.
Because the event moved, the hunt now starts the second week of November instead of the week before Thanksgiving. Families who have done it in past years should plan for clues to start a week earlier than they would expect. The hunt ends on Friday the 13th, which leaves one weekend before the ceremony.
Nov. 20, minute by minute
The celebration runs from 5 to 7 p.m. on Lake Street. The city's schedule packs most of the timed events into the first hour. It runs in this order:
- 5:00 p.m. The children's candy hunt starts at Depot Park. It is limited to kids ages 5 and under.
- 5:00 to 5:45 p.m. Free glow light wands are handed out on Lake Street, but only before the parade.
- 5:45 p.m. The Wayzata Firefighter's Parade of Lights runs down Lake Street from Broadway to Barry Avenue.
- Right after the parade. Mayor Mullin leads the Town Lighting Ceremony at Panoway Plaza.
Other activities run all evening. There are llama photos at Depot Park. Hot cider, treats and a reindeer food activity for kids are inside the Historic Wayzata Depot. Horse-drawn wagon rides and strolling carolers work their way along Lake Street.
The timing matters if you are bringing small children. Anyone who wants a glow wand has to be on Lake Street before 5:45. The candy hunt for the youngest kids starts right at 5. A family that arrives at 6 will catch the lighting and the wagon rides but will have missed both of those.
What to bring for the drives
The city describes the evening as both a party and a collection drive. IOCP is running a food drive at Panoway Plaza. A Toys for Tots collection is set up at the Wayzata PD parade float. IOCP has posted a specific list of what it needs this year:
- Brand-name boxed cereal, such as Cheerios, Lucky Charms or Frosted Flakes
- Canned tuna
- Toilet paper
- Name-brand hearty soup, such as Progresso, Campbell's or Chunky
- Spaghetti sauce in a plastic jar or container
Note the plastic container on the spaghetti sauce. It is the kind of detail that is easy to miss in a quick trip to the grocery store.
Where dinner fits after 7 p.m.
The official program ends at 7. The nearest table that has recently been rebuilt for drop-in dining is a block off Lake Street on Broadway.
Eloise, at 326 Broadway Ave. S., closed Aug. 31 and reopened Sept. 4 as Bar Eloise, according to the Star Tribune's Restaurant Roll Call. It now has more bar seating, high-top tables and TVs in the bar area. A large share of the indoor dining room is held for walk-ins. A large operable front window opens the room toward Broadway Avenue. The restaurant team explained the change in a statement reported by Wayzata.com:
"They love the food and the spirit of Eloise, but they want a place that feels easier to drop into, more casual, and more connected to the neighborhood."
The new menu draws partly on The Grocer's Table, Lindsay Pohlad's sister restaurant. It adds shareable plates, handhelds and heartier entrées, and it keeps the favorite dishes and desserts from Eloise along with the cocktail program.
Bar Eloise's hours line up with the parade night. It is open 4 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and closed on Mondays. On Nov. 20 that leaves three hours of dinner service after the lighting ends. Because the room now holds most of its seats for walk-ins, a table after the ceremony depends on timing more than on a reservation made weeks ahead.
Bar Eloise also serves brunch on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., which started Sept. 20. That gives Thanksgiving weekend a downtown brunch option on Sunday, Nov. 29.
The bigger patio on Broadway was planned as a summer change. The Wayzata City Council voted 4-0 on July 21 to approve a seasonal sidewalk café permit. It allows about 468 square feet beyond the original 165-square-foot patio, with outdoor seating for about 28 people along Broadway in front of Chico's. The permit covers the 2026 season and goes back to the council for renewal each year. Pohlad told the council that "everyone wants to take advantage of every opportunity they have to sit outside," as Wayzata.com reported. In late November, the walk-in room inside is the part of that change that still applies.
The Lake Street addition still on the way
The other new spot on Lake Street does not have an opening date yet. Parcelle's planned grab-and-go cafe is at 641 Lake St. E. It is an 800-square-foot lakefront takeout concept from chef-restaurateur Kamal Mohamed, according to the Star Tribune. The newspaper's Oct. 5 Restaurant Roll Call still listed it as planned for this year, with no specific date. The plan was first announced with a spring target and later moved to summer. Until it opens, it remains a sign in a window for the parade crowd.
Dec. 1, then Feb. 6: the season moves onto the bay
After the lights are on, the next fixed date is a ticket sale. Golfer tickets for the 2027 Wayzata Chilly Open go on sale Dec. 1, according to the Wayzata West Metro Chamber.
The tournament is on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2027, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Chamber describes four 9-hole courses plowed out on frozen Wayzata Bay, where golfers use golf clubs and hockey sticks to hit and putt tennis balls. The day also includes a Chili Cook-off, a Snowga class, snowkiting and the 19th Hole Tent. The heated 19th Hole tent goes up in the 6Smith parking lot at 294 Grove Ln E.
The season runs from the splash pads closing on Oct. 26, to medallion clues Nov. 9 through 13, to the parade and lighting on Nov. 20, to Chilly Open tickets on Dec. 1, and to the bay itself on Feb. 6. Through mid-November, everything happens in the few blocks between Broadway, Barry Avenue and Panoway Plaza. In February the crowd moves a short walk east to the ice and the tent in the 6Smith lot.
For residents, this year's change is mostly about the calendar. Thanksgiving week is free of the lighting, and the holiday season on Lake Street starts the Friday before.
If evenings like Nov. 20 are why you would want an address within walking distance of Panoway Plaza, or why you would keep the one you have, Isaac Kuehn can help you think about how Wayzata's lake-and-downtown living compares with the urban condos and lofts he knows best. Get your free Minneapolis Condo & Loft Guide and see the options side by side before the bay freezes over.
