Avon's 2026 holiday season starts on Tuesday, November 17, nine days before Thanksgiving. By Sunday the 22nd, the town's busiest stretch of the season is already over. In those six days you get a film screening with the son of the composer of "Sleigh Ride," the 50th Candlelight Holiday Stroll at the Farmington Valley Arts Center, a Saturday shopping trolley, a live concert of that same composer's music, and a free craft fair just over the Canton line.
After Thanksgiving the pace changes. December has plenty going on, but most of it repeats on weekend afternoons. The week of the 17th is the only time Avon fits this much into such a short window, so it's the week worth planning around.
There's one thing to handle before then. Through November 30, the Avon Sustainability Commission is collecting pumpkins at Sub Edge Farm, 199 Town Farm Road in Farmington. Bring unpainted pumpkins and gourds with candles removed and leave them in the marked trailer in the parking area. Drop-off hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the Town of Avon's October 2026 newsletter. Once the porch is cleared, it's ready for wreaths.
Tuesday Opens With "Sleigh Ride," and Saturday Brings It Back
The Avon Free Public Library has built its week around Leroy Anderson, and the scheduling is smart. The two Anderson events fall at either end of the six days.
On Tuesday, November 17, from 2 to 4 p.m., the library's Community Room at 281 Country Club Road is showing the documentary Once Upon A Sleigh Ride: The Music and Life of Composer Leroy Anderson. Afterward, Rolf Anderson, Leroy's son, leads a discussion. The library asks guests to register so it can set up enough seats. The film already has a long history, and the library's event page describes its run this way:
"PBS reported that only the films by Ken Burns were shown more times than the biographical video about Leroy Anderson – 'Once Upon A Sleigh Ride'."
On that same page, the library says the film aired more than 1,200 times on more than 235 PBS stations and on Swedish television after the Anderson family released it to PBS in June 2000. It also won a first-place Gold Camera Award at the International Film and Video Festival that year.
The Connecticut connection is close. According to the composer's official site, Anderson lived in Woodbury from 1948 to 1975. During Thanksgiving week, "Sleigh Ride" plays from every speaker in every store. This week, you can hear the story behind it from the composer's son, a short drive from the town where his father lived and worked.
Leave a few minutes before or after the film for the display case in the library's history room. It holds artifacts and collectibles from Anderson's life and career, and posters about his work will be up at both events. The Leroy Anderson Foundation is supporting the series.
The concert comes on Saturday. We'll get there after Friday night.
Friday Night, 50 Strolls In
On Friday, November 20, from 5 to 8 p.m., the Farmington Valley Arts Center holds Candlelight 2026. The center calls it the 50th Candlelight Holiday Stroll. The format is simple. You walk the lit boardwalk around the two-story brownstone, help yourself to complimentary food, and step into the studios and galleries. The artists who work there year-round fill them with gifts and fine art: paintings, prints, photography, film, textiles, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, and illustration.
The buildings matter as much as the gifts. FVAC has operated as a nonprofit since 1974, and it's housed in the red-sandstone buildings of the former Climax Fuse Factory. Preservation Connecticut's mill record connects the site to Climax Fuse and Ensign-Bickford and notes the brownstone-block walls of the mill buildings still standing. For one evening a year, an old fuse works is lit up by candlelight, which is about as fitting as Avon traditions get.
The center thanks TRUMPF Inc and Union Savings Bank for supporting this year's stroll. FVAC is a nonprofit and asks visitors to consider a donation.
Friday is the night to go if you want to meet the artists in their own studios. The rest of the season gives you more chances to shop, but only one Friday stroll.
Saturday Fits Two Plans Into One Day
Saturday, November 21, is the most crowded day of the six. The two main events sit back to back:
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: the Jingle Bell Trolley 2026. The Avon/Canton Chamber of Commerce lists it as stopping at shopping destinations across Avon and Canton.
- 2 to 3:30 p.m.: the Leroy Anderson Musical Celebration in the library Community Room at 281 Country Club Road. Sarah Marze sings soprano, with Cynthia Bos on piano, Christa Berezowskyj on violin, and Shannon Carlson on cello. Rolf Anderson returns as special guest.
The trolley stops running right as the concert begins, so if you want both, end your trolley loop near the library. Tuesday's documentary gives you the stories. Saturday gives you the music those stories are about, played live by a quartet. Go to both and the second makes more sense because of the first.
If you missed Friday's stroll, the Fisher Gift Gallery at FVAC is open Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. all year. You could stop by on the way to the library, though you'd be cutting it close.
Sunday, Just Over the Line in Canton
The six days end on Sunday, November 22, from noon to 4 p.m., at Roaring Brook Nature Center, 70 Gracey Road in Canton, right past the Avon border. The Friends of Roaring Brook Nature Center hold their annual Holiday Gift and Craft Fair there every year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Local artisans sell nature-themed gifts, including felted ornaments, pottery, jewelry, and soaps, and the money raised supports the center's programs.
Both the fair and the nature center are free that day. Shoppers who haven't been inside lately get to see the center at no cost. Check the center's events page for dates and times before you head over.
Roaring Brook also has something on the Tuesday of the six days. From 6 to 8 p.m. on November 17, it holds a trivia night fundraiser at Brewery Legitimus, 283 Main Street in New Hartford. You could watch the 2 p.m. documentary in Avon and still make it to trivia that evening.
After Thanksgiving, the Calendar Switches to Repeats
After the 22nd, the pace slows. Two days later, on Tuesday, November 24, from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m., Roaring Brook leads a guided hike under the full Beaver Moon. Tickets are $11 each or $36 for a family of four, and hikers should bring a flashlight and dress for the weather. Two days after that is Thanksgiving, and the Fisher Gift Gallery closes for the day.
December spreads out from there. The arts center opens on weekend afternoons, and the Chamber adds one daytime stop in the middle of the month:
| Date | What | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Holiday Season Open Studios | Farmington Valley Arts Center | 12–4 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Fisher Gift Gallery extended holiday hours | Farmington Valley Arts Center | 12–4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Holiday Season Open Studios | Farmington Valley Arts Center | 12–4 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Fisher Gift Gallery extended holiday hours | Farmington Valley Arts Center | 12–4 p.m. |
| Tue., Dec. 15 | Avon/Canton Chamber Day at the WTIC NewsTalk 1080 Holiday Store | Avon Old Farms Hotel, lower lobby, 279 Avon Mountain Road | All day |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Holiday Season Open Studios | Farmington Valley Arts Center | 12–4 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 20 | Fisher Gift Gallery extended holiday hours | Farmington Valley Arts Center | 12–4 p.m. |
That's three Saturdays of open studios at FVAC, each followed by a Sunday of gallery hours, all in the same 12-to-4 window. You can shop at the Fisher Gift Gallery any of those afternoons, or online at fishergiftgallery.org. The gallery closes from December 25 through January 1, 2027. Miss one weekend and the next one looks the same.
The week of November 17 doesn't work that way. The Leroy Anderson film and concert, the 50th Candlelight stroll, the trolley, and the Roaring Brook fair each happen once. If you want them all, keep that week clear before your Thanksgiving plans fill it.
When a house is ready for the holidays, it shows, whether you're hosting family this year or getting ready to list next spring. If this season has you wondering how your Avon home would look and present on the market, Litchfield County Real Estate can help, from staging and photography to timing the launch. Contact us and we'll sit down and talk it through.
