On a Saturday morning in early November, 5th Avenue hosts the Veterans Day Parade. On the first Saturday in December, the same street hosts five hours of Festival of Lights and a 7 p.m. parade. Between those two busy Saturdays, the downtown Christmas tree gets lit at 7 p.m. on a Monday, with no parade and no vendor tents.
The three events happen on the same few blocks at three very different sizes. This season there is also something new to pair with them. In August, a sit-down Italian restaurant opened on 7th Street with help from the largest grant the city's downtown program offers. So the holiday calendar works best as three separate outings, and each one now has a nearby place to eat.
The season at a glance
Main Street Zephyrhills lists the parade and the Festival of Lights at 38500 5th Ave., and the East Pasco Chamber gives the same address for the tree lighting.
| Event | Date | Time | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans Day Parade | Saturday, Nov. 7 | 10 a.m. to noon | Morning parade |
| Christmas Tree Lighting | Monday, Nov. 23 | 7 p.m. | Tree lighting only, no parade or vendors |
| Festival of Lights | Saturday, Dec. 5 | 4 to 9 p.m., parade at 7 p.m. | Full evening festival |
The 2026 downtown event schedule posted on the city's website was last updated Sept. 22, 2026, and it says dates and times are subject to change. Main Street Zephyrhills posts updates at mainstreetzephyrhills.org, so check there before you head out.
Nov. 7: a morning parade for veterans
The season starts in daylight. Main Street Zephyrhills' Veterans Day Parade listing puts the parade on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. in the Zephyrhills Historic Downtown District. The listing runs from 10 a.m. to noon and invites families to "honor our heroes" and show support for veterans.
Because it is a morning event, the rest of the day stays free. If you walk downtown afterward, you'll be at the address the holiday events share. That makes the parade a low-pressure way to get to know the block before the busier December night.
Nov. 23: the Monday night tree lighting
The tree lighting is the event most likely to surprise people. Best of Pasco reported that Main Street Zephyrhills lights the downtown Christmas tree at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 23. The outlet describes it as "a short, simple event by design," with "no parade route to clear, no vendor setup, just the tree lighting itself in the heart of the Main Street historic district." It's free.
The East Pasco Chamber of Commerce event listing also gives Monday, Nov. 23, 2026, at 7 p.m., at 38500 5th Ave.
A Monday at 7 p.m. falls three days before Thanksgiving, on a school night. It's a short stop after dinner, not a whole evening. For anyone who wants to see the tree lit without a festival crowd, that small scale is the appeal. The setting helps too. Zephyrhills' downtown historic district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Best of Pasco points out that the Main Street buildings along 5th Avenue make a fine backdrop once the holiday lights go up.
Dec. 5: Festival of Lights, Christmas Through the Decades
The biggest event of the season comes 12 days after the tree lighting. The Festival of Lights runs Saturday, Dec. 5, from 4 to 9 p.m., with the parade at 7 p.m. The 2026 theme is "Christmas Through the Decades." The Main Street Zephyrhills event page lists the location as 38500 5th Ave.
The full 2026 lineup hadn't been posted when we wrote this. Last year's festival gives a good idea of what it looks like. The city's listing for the Dec. 6, 2025 Festival of Lights included food trucks, live music, craft vendors and a 7 p.m. parade, at Clock Plaza on 5th Avenue, with the theme "Christmas in Toyland." Those are 2025 details, so treat them as a guide to the format, not a promise for this year.
The schedule matters most for this event. Five hours of festival with the parade at 7 p.m. means an afternoon arrival gives you time with the vendors and food before the parade. Arriving just for the parade puts you there right when the street is busiest.
A new reason to stay for dinner
The holiday events stay on 5th Avenue, and that's where most people will be. One block over on 7th Street is the newest addition to downtown, and how it got there tells you where downtown is headed.
Tampa Bay 28 reported that Trattoria Napoli opened on 7th Street with a $50,000 commercial improvement grant from the City of Zephyrhills Community Redevelopment Agency. The station said the owner brings more than 30 years of culinary experience. According to Best of Pasco, the restaurant has served handmade pasta every day and pizza from a Wood Stone oven since its Aug. 27 grand opening.
The size of that grant stands out. The city's notice on the downtown commercial grant program says awards can range from $1,000 to $50,000 per property. Trattoria Napoli received the most the program allows. The CRA is spending on more than one business, too. At its May 11, 2026 meeting it approved a matching sign grant for a new frame shop downtown, as Citizen Portal reported. Earlier, in April, the CRA adopted a 10-year master plan that lists mixed-use infill, streetscape upgrades, complete-streets work and stormwater improvements as downtown priorities.
This is the first holiday season in which a parade or tree lighting downtown can end with a pasta dinner a block away, at a restaurant the city helped pay to open.
Back on 5th Avenue, Zephyrhills Brewing Company sits at 38530 5th Ave., a few doors from the event address. Best of Pasco's July 2026 brewery guide describes it with more than 25 beers on tap, a tasting room, a patio and Music Bingo on Wednesdays. That description is from July, so check its hours before planning a holiday stop around it.
Matching each night to a plan
Each event comes with a different kind of outing.
- Nov. 7, Veterans Day Parade. A morning parade from 10 a.m. to noon. You have the whole afternoon free for lunch downtown or for exploring the historic district in daylight.
- Nov. 23, tree lighting. A short Monday stop at 7 p.m. If you want to make it an evening, have an early dinner first, since the lighting itself is brief by design.
- Dec. 5, Festival of Lights. The one to plan around. The festival opens at 4 p.m. and the parade starts at 7 p.m., so an afternoon arrival leaves time for dinner on 7th Street or a stop on 5th Avenue before the parade fills the street.
Last year's festival had food trucks, and if they come back, they'll give you another way to eat without leaving the event.
Any of these dates could still change. Main Street Zephyrhills' own pages and the city calendar are the best places to check the week of each event.
At 444 Realty Group, we love a downtown that gets a little busier every season, and Zephyrhills is one of them. If a holiday evening on 5th Avenue gets you thinking about your own next move, from a home near the historic district to acreage out in East Pasco, we're glad to help. Contact Us.