Hamilton's 2026 holiday calendar is organized around the Daly Mansion at 251 Eastside Hwy. The Festival of Trees opens there on Friday, November 20, and closes with an auction on Monday, November 30.
Almost everything else on Hamilton's November calendar falls inside those eleven days or right next to them. That includes the Hamilton Players' youth musical, a Bitterroot Performing Arts Council concert, a two-day market at the fairgrounds and the downtown Christmas Stroll. Planning the month is mostly a matter of knowing which mansion day sits beside which other event.
Six Event Days Across an Eleven-Day Run
The Daly Mansion calendar lists six Festival of Trees dates between November 20 and November 30. Each one is a different kind of visit. Four are free afternoons. Two are ticketed evenings, and they open and close the run.
| Date | Event | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 20 | Toasting in the Trees | 6–8 p.m. | $40 |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Tree viewing | Noon–4 p.m. | Free; optional $10 self-guided mansion tour |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Tree viewing | Noon–4 p.m. | Free; optional $10 self-guided mansion tour |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Community Christmas Party | Noon–4 p.m. | Free |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | Christmas stories with Mrs. Claus | Noon–4 p.m. | Free |
| Mon., Nov. 30 | A Very Merry Auction | Evening, starting 6 p.m. | $75–$125 |
The trees are the reason for all six dates. Local nonprofits enter decorated trees, and this year's call for entries listed room for 25. The festival ends with bidding on those trees at A Very Merry Auction, and the proceeds go to local nonprofits. Toasting in the Trees on November 20 offers first access to the trees, small bites and a cash bar.
The free afternoons are each planned differently. On November 21 and 22 the trees are the whole program, and you can add the mansion's self-guided tour for $10. The November 28 party adds Santa, cookie decorating, treats and the Bitterroot Valley Community Chorus. On November 29 the afternoon is quieter, with Christmas stories from Mrs. Claus, live instrumental music and children's crafts. If you have small children, the Saturday is the busier visit with more going on. Sunday is the calmer one.
The Weekend Before the Trees
The holiday shopping season starts at the mansion the weekend before the trees open to visitors. On Friday and Saturday, November 13 and 14, the Daly Mansion hosts its annual holiday market with more than 40 local makers. It runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, and entry is $5.
Friday the 13th is also opening night for the Hamilton Players production of Cinderella, Youth Edition at the Hamilton Playhouse. The show runs November 13–15 and 20–22. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. A Saturday that starts at the makers market and ends at the Playhouse works on either weekend. The market closes at 4, which leaves plenty of time for dinner before the curtain.
Saturday, November 21, Has Three Good Options
The second Cinderella weekend overlaps the festival's first public tree weekend. On Saturday the 21st, a third event joins them. The Bitterroot Performing Arts Council brings the Lao Tizer Band to the Hamilton Performing Arts Center that night at 7:30. The musical and the concert start at the same time, so that evening means picking one or the other.
The afternoon has no conflicts. Tree viewing at the Daly runs noon to 4 p.m., so you can see the trees and still make either 7:30 curtain. Sunday the 22nd is easier still. The trees are open the same hours, and Cinderella has its last matinee at 2 p.m.
Toasting in the Trees on Friday, November 20, opens the mansion the same night Cinderella starts its second weekend. Both run in the evening, the toast from 6 to 8 and the show from 7:30. Unlike Saturday night, these two overlap only partly. Doing both means arriving at the mansion right at 6 and leaving before the toast ends.
Thanksgiving Saturday, Stop by Stop
All three of Hamilton's holiday venues run on Saturday, November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Their hours overlap but end at different times, so the order you visit them matters.
The fairgrounds opens a day early. Treasure Chest Events' 7th annual Holiday Sip & Shop fills the Event Center at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds on Black Friday, November 27, from 2 to 6 p.m. It runs again on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The organizer added the Black Friday session this year in response to demand. Vendors listed include rustic signs, handmade jewelry, holiday goodies, honey, candles and bath and body goods, along with a "Whoville" display. The Grinch takes pictures Friday from 5 to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.
Here is how Saturday's hours fit together:
- 8 a.m., Ravalli County Fairgrounds. The Sip & Shop opens. It is the earliest start of the day.
- 10 a.m., downtown. The Hamilton Downtown Association's Christmas Stroll and Tree Lighting begins and runs until 8 p.m.
- Noon, Daly Mansion. The free Community Christmas Party opens with the trees, Santa, cookie decorating and the Bitterroot Valley Community Chorus. It ends at 4 p.m.
- 2 to 4 p.m., the fairgrounds again. This is the Grinch photo window, and it ends exactly when the Sip & Shop closes.
- 4 to 8 p.m., downtown. The mansion and the fairgrounds have both closed, and the stroll has four hours left.
The fairgrounds and the mansion both close at 4. Families who want both Santa at the Daly and the Grinch at the fairgrounds will have to choose. The two photo stops share the 2 to 4 p.m. window at two different venues. The downtown stroll doesn't compete with either. It runs ten hours, starts before the mansion opens and goes on well after it closes, so it can come first or last.
On the downtown loop, Ember sits at 131 W Main St. Its chef and owner, Brandon Dearden, is also behind Buttered Bird, a chicken shop in the former Suzette's Organics and Spice of Life space on 2nd Street. It is his third Hamilton restaurant. In late October, the Ravalli Republic reported that the team was "close" to ready.
The Sunday and Monday After
The holiday weekend doesn't end with Saturday's tree lighting. On Sunday, November 29, the mansion holds its Mrs. Claus afternoon from noon to 4. It is the last free day of the festival and the last time to see the trees before they go to auction.
On Monday, November 30, A Very Merry Auction starts at 6 p.m. Tickets run $75 to $125, and the evening ends with bidding on the decorated trees. The festival opened on a Friday night, and it closes on a Monday after Thanksgiving week, when most of the rest of the town's calendar has slowed down.
The next day, Tuesday, December 1, the Hamilton Players hold a Giving Tuesday Holiday Open House from noon to 6 p.m. The two fundraisers fall on consecutive days. The mansion raises money for the nonprofits that decorated its trees, and the theater company raises money for itself.
December Moves to the Museum
After the auction, the season's next stop is the Ravalli County Museum. Its Victorian Christmas is Thursday, December 10, at 6:30 p.m., with Victorian-era music, food and decorations. Two days later, on Saturday, December 12, the museum hosts Visit with Santa from 10 a.m. to noon.
The museum's Santa morning comes two weeks after the Daly party. The museum's is a two-hour morning session, compared with the mansion's four-hour afternoon. For a family that missed Thanksgiving Saturday, or one that would rather skip the crowds that day, the museum morning is the second chance.
Blayne Larson is a fifth-generation Montanan. If a season of Hamilton evenings has you wondering what a place nearer the Eastside Highway or closer to Main Street might look like for your family, Stockman's Land is glad to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation.
