Little Rock Lights Two Christmas Trees This Season. The Monday One Belongs to Downtown's Own Blocks.
The first lights on the Arkansas State Capitol were strips of bulbs fastened to sheet metal around the cupola. Secretary of State Crip Hall put them up in the late 1930s with help from a staff electrician, and he added a fir tree sprayed silver and lit with rotating lights. That homemade display became the Capitol Lighting Ceremony, which reaches its 88th year on Saturday, Dec. 5.
Twelve days before that, on Monday, Nov. 23, the Downtown Little Rock Partnership lights its own tree at Capitol Plaza, at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Main Street. The two nights have different hosts, run at different scales, and are built for different crowds. Bright the Night is put together from the downtown blocks around the tree, and nearly every part of its program shows it.
Bright the Night runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 23. The countdown and tree lighting are at 6 p.m., and the event is free with no tickets or registration. The partnership suggests arriving early to find a spot before the countdown.
The lineup is local all the way down. Arkansas bluegrass band The Gravel Yard plays, and so does fiddler Mike Walters, who brings his fiddle-playing puppet. There's old-fashioned caroling, and Santa is on hand. Elsa emcees the evening. Nutcracker characters from Ballet Arkansas and characters from the Arkansas Renaissance Festival are also expected. The free cookies come from Community Bakery, and the hot cocoa comes from Big Bad Breakfast, made with Hiland Dairy milk. W&M Concessions sells food. Santa's sleigh is set up for photos, and there's a family fun zone.
The storefront windows make the strongest case that this night belongs to the neighborhood. The 3rd Annual Downtown Holiday Window Decorating Contest, which the partnership also calls Downtown Dressed for the Holidays, draws entries from five districts:
Each district gets a winner, and one business takes the overall prize. Winners receive a holiday trophy and are announced at Bright the Night. Businesses have to register by Monday, Nov. 16, which is four days after this post goes up, and their windows must be finished for judging on Nov. 23. That puts the decorated windows up across all five districts by the night of the lighting. You can walk them before the countdown, then come back to the plaza and see which ones won.
The evening also doubles as a collection point. The partnership's Bright the Night Holiday Drive gathers winter clothing, shelf-stable food and hygiene essentials for Our House and Jericho Way, two local organizations that serve neighbors experiencing homelessness. The list is specific:
You can bring items to the collection stations at the plaza on Nov. 23, drop them at the partnership's office at 101 E. Capitol Avenue, Suite 106, or order from the drive's online wishlist. Donations are accepted through Dec. 1.
The date matters for anyone planning to ride in. On Aug. 28, Rock Region METRO posted a temporary streetcar schedule that started Monday, Aug. 31. Under it, there's no streetcar service at all on Mondays and Tuesdays. METRO expects the modified schedule to stay in place until Tuesday, Dec. 1, though regular service could come back sooner. Nov. 23 falls on a Monday inside that window. Unless METRO restores regular service early, the fare-free streetcar won't be running to Bright the Night.
Two longer-term changes stay in effect after the interim schedule ends. The Green Line is suspended. Three Little Rock stops on the way to the east side of I-30 are out of service until about mid-2027 because of 30 Crossing construction. Those stops are River Market Avenue & 3rd Street, World Avenue & 3rd Street, and 3rd Street & River Market Avenue, which lead toward the Clinton Presidential Center and Heifer International headquarters. METRO tells riders to check its Transit app for active alerts before every trip. That advice applies to both holiday dates this year.
The second lighting is bigger and starts earlier in the day. The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau lays it out as an afternoon-into-evening plan, and its Capitol Lighting page suggests starting with the parade and then heading to the Capitol.
Secretary of State Cole Jester hosts the 88th ceremony. After the ceremony there's a fireworks show, and then the Capitol opens its doors to visitors. Inside are the Fallen Heroes Holiday Tree, decorated with volunteer help, along with Santa's workshop and the Capitol Gift Shop, where the 2026 Capitol Christmas Ornament is sold. The visitors bureau calls the ceremony one of the most popular Christmas traditions in the state.
The Capitol also keeps regular visiting hours outside the ceremony. According to the Secretary of State's Capitol visitor information, the building's standing hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends and state holidays. The gift shop is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
| Bright the Night | Capitol Lighting Ceremony | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Monday, Nov. 23 | Saturday, Dec. 5 |
| Host | Downtown Little Rock Partnership | Secretary of State Cole Jester |
| Location | Capitol Plaza, Capitol Ave. & Main St. | Arkansas State Capitol |
| Tree lit | 6 p.m. | About 6:15 p.m. |
| Before the lighting | Window contest winners announced, local music, cookies and cocoa | Holiday Parade at 3 p.m. on Markham |
| After the lighting | Event wraps at 7:30 p.m. | Fireworks, then the decorated Capitol interior |
| Cost | Free | Open to the public |
| Streetcar | No Monday service under METRO's interim schedule, unless regular service returns early | Check METRO alerts that day |
The Capitol Saturday sits in the middle of a busy weekend. The Arkansas Craft Guild's 48th Christmas Showcase runs Dec. 4 through 6 at the State Fairgrounds Hall of Industry, 2600 Howard Street. Admission is $5, and entry is free from 5 to 6 p.m. on Friday and from 9 to 10 a.m. on Saturday. The free Saturday hour fits easily before a 3 p.m. parade.
Robinson Center has holiday shows on either side of the two lightings. A Celtic Christmas by A Taste of Ireland is on its calendar for Sunday, Nov. 22, the day before Bright the Night. The week after the Capitol ceremony, Ballet Arkansas and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra stage the Nutcracker Spectacular at Robinson Center Dec. 11 through 13. Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The Land of the Sweets Nutcracker Tea on Dec. 12 and 13 is already sold out. The symphony's Home for the Holidays follows at Robinson Center Dec. 18 through 20.
Ballet Arkansas characters show up at both ends of that stretch. They appear at Capitol Plaza on Nov. 23 and take the Robinson Center stage on Dec. 11.
At Rita Smith and Bluebird Real Estate, we like seeing a downtown that throws its own party, with its own bakery, its own bands and its own storefront windows. If you'd like to talk about the blocks around Capitol Plaza, or anywhere else in central Arkansas, we're glad to hear from you. Contact Us.
When we assist you with buying or selling, we evaluate the property and your goal as if they were our own. It’s really that simple – doing business the way it used to be done.
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