Holidays in the North Myrtle Beach Area 2026: Every Light Show, Parade and Tree Lighting From Little River to Murrells Inlet

The first cold snap usually arrives the week before Thanksgiving, and with it the Grand Strand changes character. The beach umbrellas are long gone, the ocean goes a deeper shade of blue under a lower sun, and one by one the towns along the coast start stringing lights. Barefoot Landing lights its tree over the waterway. The city of North Myrtle Beach throws the switch on two million bulbs at the sports complex. Down the strand, the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk turns into a mile of glowing arches, and up the river in Conway the oak-lined streets fill with lanterns and carolers. By the first week of December, a visitor can drive from Little River to Murrells Inlet and never be more than ten minutes from a parade, a tree lighting or a light show.

That is the pitch the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce made this week in its annual holiday roundup, and it is a fair one. The coast’s holiday season is not one big event but a string of small-town traditions, each with its own flavor, strung along sixty miles of shoreline and river. For a family staying in North Myrtle Beach, most of them are within easy reach, and the quieter ones, the boat parade on the Intracoastal, the candlelit gardens at Brookgreen, the trolley ride through Surfside, are the ones people talk about on the drive home.

Here is the full season, town by town, with the dates the chamber has published and our own notes on how to fit it all into a week at the beach. Dates can shift and some details were not yet announced when we wrote this, so confirm with each organizer before you go.

Holiday Calendar at a Glance

Dates are from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s November 2, 2026, holiday announcement and the City of North Myrtle Beach. Times for several events had not been published when we wrote this, and outdoor events depend on weather, so check with each organizer the week of your visit.

North Myrtle Beach: Lights, Parade and Shag

The season opens at home. On Saturday, November 21, Barefoot Landing lights its Christmas tree over the Intracoastal Waterway with a holiday program, fireworks and Santa, and admission is free. The village’s shops and restaurants fill early that evening, so plan dinner before or after the program; our full guide to Lighting of the Landing has the schedule and parking notes. The same weekend, the city’s Dashing Through the Glow walk and run gives ticket holders a preview of the light show on foot, on both Friday and Saturday evenings.

Two days later, on Monday, November 23, The Great Christmas Light Show opens its drive-through season at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex on Citizens Circle. More than two million lights and five hundred displays line the route, and Santa’s Village at the end offers visits with Santa, a petting zoo and photo spots. The show runs nightly from 5:30 p.m. through December 30, closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and admission is charged per vehicle at the gate, which makes it the easiest outing on the coast for a carload of grandparents and grandchildren. Our guide to The Great Christmas Light Show covers prices and the best nights to go.

Then comes the parade. On Saturday, December 5, at 5:30 p.m., the North Myrtle Beach Christmas Parade steps off at Second Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, runs south to Main Street and turns up toward Highway 17, according to the City of North Myrtle Beach. The route passes within a block of the sand, which means families staying in Ocean Drive can walk to the curb with a thermos of cocoa and walk home afterward. Main Street’s shag clubs, Fat Harold’s among them, keep dancing straight through the season, and the Alabama Theatre at Barefoot Landing stages The South’s Grandest Christmas Show on dates throughout November and December.

Little River: Winterland and the Boat Parade

Ten minutes north of Cherry Grove, the fishing village of Little River does the holidays on the water. On Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, Waterfront Winterland fills the docks at Crab Catchers and Little River Landing with a free community celebration, and the next evening, Saturday, November 28, the Intracoastal Christmas Regatta sends a parade of decorated boats up the waterway from Little River Inlet to Dock Holidays Marina. The regatta is one of the coast’s oldest holiday traditions and one of its least crowded; find a spot on a waterfront restaurant deck before dark and the boats drift past at eye level, strung with lights and blaring carols, with the captains waving from the bridge.

For guests in Cherry Grove, Little River is the closest holiday event of all, and Thanksgiving weekend’s two-night pairing makes an easy tradition: beach walk Friday morning, Winterland Friday night, leftovers Saturday, boat parade Saturday night.

Myrtle Beach: The Boardwalk Glows

Down the strand, Winter Wonderland at The Beach turns roughly a mile of the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, from the SkyWheel to the 2nd Avenue Pier, into a free walk-through light display from November 25 through January 2, according to the chamber. New this year is an America 250 tribute and a Holly Dolly Christmas corridor honoring Dolly Parton, and the SkyWheel’s gondolas give an aerial view of the whole glowing stretch. The city’s tree lighting follows at Plyler Park on Saturday, November 28, with Santa and snow flurries on the boardwalk.

The Merry Myrtle Festival on December 11 and 12 brings Santa photos, carolers, street performers, a hot cocoa crawl, sleigh races and live music to downtown, and on New Year’s Eve, The Market Common’s A Southern Times Square counts down to midnight with a ball drop. Broadway at the Beach dresses up for the season as well, and the Carolina Opry Christmas Special and Pirates Voyage Christmas Show run through the holidays for families who want a show indoors. Our guide to things to do in Myrtle Beach at night covers the stretch from the boardwalk to Broadway.

Murrells Inlet: Candles and the MarshWalk

The most beautiful night of the season on this coast happens at Brookgreen Gardens. On select evenings from November 27 through January 3, Nights of a Thousand Candles fills the sculpture gardens with more than 2,700 hand-lit candles and thousands of holiday lights, with live music, warm cider and the live oaks lit from below. Tickets sell out well in advance for weekend nights, so buy early and consider a weeknight. Allow 45 minutes from North Myrtle Beach, and plan to arrive at opening to see the gardens in the last of the daylight.

Closer to the water, the MarshWalk Wonderland of Lights strings the Murrells Inlet boardwalk from November 27 through December 31, and the waterfront restaurants along it make the obvious dinner stop before or after Brookgreen.

Conway: A Rivertown Christmas

Conway, which spent October as the City of Halloween, flips to Christmas in November with city-built displays and a Christmas village along the Riverwalk and the historic downtown streets. The Rivertown Christmas Celebration on Thursday, December 10, and Thursday, December 17, from 6 to 8 p.m., keeps the shops open late with carolers and lights under the oaks, and the Waccamaw River reflects all of it. It is about 40 minutes from North Myrtle Beach and pairs well with an early dinner at one of the riverfront restaurants.

Surfside Beach: Small-Town Traditions

Surfside Beach, the family beach south of Myrtle Beach, keeps its holidays close to home. The tree lighting at Memorial Park on Thursday, December 3, brings music, food trucks, crafts and Santa; the Christmas Parade rolls down Ocean Boulevard and Surfside Drive on Saturday, December 12; and the Trolley of Lights on Thursday, December 17, offers a free ride past the town’s holiday displays with cocoa and family activities back in the park. None of it is big, and that is the charm.

Planning a Holiday Week on the Coast

The calendar clusters around three weekends. Thanksgiving weekend has the most going on at once: Lighting of the Landing the Saturday before, the light show opening Monday, Winterland Friday, the boat parade and Plyler Park tree lighting Saturday, and the first candlelit nights at Brookgreen. The first full weekend of December belongs to the parades, with North Myrtle Beach on Saturday the 5th and Surfside the following Saturday. And the week before Christmas is the quietest, with the light show in full swing, the Conway and Surfside evening events on the 17th, and the beach nearly empty.

A good North Myrtle Beach holiday week might look like this: arrive Saturday for Lighting of the Landing, drive the light show Monday after dinner, spend Thanksgiving in the house, take the kids to Winterland and the boat parade over the weekend, and save one evening for Brookgreen. Everything else can be a bonus. For more ideas between events, our pillar guide to things to do in Myrtle Beach and our Christmas and New Year’s beach rental guide are good places to start.

Where to Stay for the Holidays

North Myrtle Beach sits in the middle of all of it. Cherry Grove is closest to Little River’s waterfront events and the quietest place to wake up on Christmas morning. Ocean Drive puts the parade route and Main Street’s shag clubs within walking distance. Crescent Beach and Windy Hill are minutes from Barefoot Landing, the Alabama Theatre and the light show, and the shortest drive south toward Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet.

Holiday gatherings tend to need a real kitchen and room for everyone, which is why families fill our oceanfront homes for Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks; many have fireplaces, game rooms and decks for the December sunrise. Couples and smaller groups find oceanfront condos with winter rates that make a week at the beach surprisingly affordable. Our guide to rentals by feature sorts the options by what matters to your group.

Frequently Asked Questions

Make This the Year You Spend the Holidays at the Beach

The lights go up the week before Thanksgiving and come down after New Year’s, and in between, a family can fill every evening with something glowing and still wake up to an empty beach. That combination is hard to find anywhere else.

Sources: Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce holiday announcement via PR Newswire (Nov. 2, 2026); City of North Myrtle Beach Christmas Parade and Great Christmas Light Show pages (2026); Destination North Myrtle Beach; Brookgreen Gardens. Dates, times and prices are subject to change; confirm with each organizer before attending.