On the evening of October 8, more than 250 people sat down to supper on Water Street. Fromage Co. co-owner Jennifer Brisson had pictured "one really long table running right down the middle of Water Street." Instead of one caterer, each participating Water Street restaurant cooked a different part of the meal. Tickets went on sale September 4 and sold out soon after, according to Lake Minnetonka Magazine.
Proceeds from that dinner were set aside to benefit Christmas in Excelsior, the two-day holiday festival returning to the same street on Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28. That link explains what Thanksgiving weekend in Excelsior has turned into. For about twenty years, Excelsior's big holiday market was run by an outside organization. It moved away in 2025. The event that replaced it is organized by a local service club, and one of its sources of funding is the street it takes over.
The market that used to fill Black Friday weekend
The Christkindlsmarkt started in Excelsior in 2005. In a 2024 Sun Sailor story, organizer Myrle Mackenzie, president of Excelsior Christkindlsmarkt Inc., said the idea from the start was to bring shoppers to Excelsior's small businesses on Black Friday weekend.
It worked at a large scale. The Sun Sailor reported that weather cut the 2024 market to a single weekend, and it still drew about 12,000 people, according to Mackenzie.
On June 2, 2025, the Waconia City Council approved a special use permit for the market in Waconia's City Square Park. The Sun Sailor reported that the park would give the market more space than it had in Excelsior. The move also changed the timing. Its first Waconia run was two weekends in December, Dec. 5–7 and Dec. 12–14, 2025, so the Thanksgiving weekend slot in Excelsior was left open.
A Lions Club event with Excelsior names on the sponsor list
The Excelsior Lions Club had helped support the Christkindlsmarkt. After the move was announced, the club started planning its own event in July 2025, the Sun Sailor reported. "We wanted to help continue the holiday tradition, so we created Christmas in Excelsior as a brand new event and that will be an Excelsior Lions Club signature event that will be an annual thing," Lions President James Flattum told the paper.
The first edition ran November 28–29, 2025. The same article listed its sponsors, all local names:
- Maynard's
- The Waters
- Ooh La La, which provided the festival lights
- Beem Light Sauna
- Haskell's
- Amore & Fede
- Lilia Flower Boutique
Another local group took on part of the day. Flattum said the Masons would host Santa and run activities inside their building, so Santa joined the festival through the lodge. After the first weekend, WCCO covered the festival as an effort to encourage local shopping. That is the same goal Mackenzie described for the Christkindlsmarkt in 2005.
The Lions have been active in Excelsior since 2016. Their work includes monthly community meals at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church. For year two, the club's October 6 announcement says 100% of net proceeds will go to local charities.
Where October's supper fits
Year two is the first with a fundraiser built specifically for the festival. Gathered on Water Street flipped the usual arrangement. Restaurants that normally benefit from a festival's crowds cooked a meal to help pay for the festival.
Brisson told Lake Minnetonka Magazine that the restaurants "have been incredible" and that "this event really doesn't exist without them." She added layers beyond the food, including the Gathered Community Recipe Collection, references to Excelsior's history, music and florals. Demand was larger than the table. "We now have a very large waiting list and have already had so many people asking when the next Gathered will be," she said.
Fromage Co.'s event page calls the evening a family-style supper made by several local restaurant partners, with proceeds going to Christmas in Excelsior. The magazine describes Christmas in Excelsior as a nonprofit that brings the community together through December and beyond. Put together, an October supper on Water Street was designed to help fund the street's Thanksgiving weekend festival.
The posted plan for November 27 and 28
According to the official FAQ, the festival runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days on Water Street between Lake Street and Third Street, and admission is free. The festival's music and activities page lists the following Friday program. Expect the times to shift before the weekend.
| Activity | Friday time |
|---|---|
| Artisan Marketplace | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Santa and Santa's Workshop, with indoor kids' games | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Frosty's Funland, with outdoor kids' games | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Adult games: Hammerschlagen, giant Jenga | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Red Stable Reindeer | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Silent Run Adventures Huskies | 11 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Disney Princess | 11 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| Carlson's Lovable Llamas | Noon–4 p.m. |
| Brand Valley Shires carriage rides | Noon–3 p.m. |
| Fire Dancer | 5 p.m. |
The live music tent has a separate lineup each day. Friday opens with Julie Tuck singing carols at 10 a.m. and closes with Mazarine playing Christmas rock at 5 p.m. Saturday also opens with Julie Tuck. It includes River City Rovers playing Irish Christmas music at 1:30 p.m. and ends with Avery Rainey's Christmas classics at 5 p.m. Roving carolers perform all day on both days.
The animals keep shorter hours than the festival. The reindeer leave at 2 p.m. and the carriage rides stop at 3 p.m., so a late-afternoon visit will miss them both. The fire dancer closes the day at 5 p.m.
The FAQ says parking combines free and paid street parking around the village and a fee-based ramp between Second and Third streets.
How the rest of the season stacks on that weekend
The Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce schedules its Celebrating the Season series around the festival. Saturday the 28th is when the two programs overlap most. These are the dates on the Chamber's seasonal page:
- November 1–December 14: Winter clothing drive for ResourceWest, with drop-off at Excelsior Realty, 386 Oak Street.
- November 27–29: Photos with Santa, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., at Excelsior Masonic Lodge No. 113, 249 Water Street. Donations go to ICA Food Shelf.
- November 28: Small Business Saturday during the day. At 6:30 p.m., the tree lighting at the Excelsior Veterans Memorial at Lake Street and Excelsior Boulevard, with Santa and the Minnetonka High School Choir.
- November 28–December 8: The Giving Tree Public Decorating Extravaganza along downtown storefronts and sidewalks.
- December 5: Santa photos again at the Masonic Lodge, then a free chili dinner there from 5 to 7 p.m.
- December 12: Highmark Holiday Headquarters, noon–4 p.m., at Highmark Builders, 500 Lake Street, Suite 110, with free hot cocoa and gift wrapping. That evening, CREO Arts & Dance Conservatory performs Nativity at Hopkins High School Auditorium, 2400 Lindbergh Drive.
The timing on the 28th works out. The festival closes at 6 p.m. and the tree lighting starts half an hour later, at the Veterans Memorial at Lake Street and Excelsior Boulevard. You can spend the afternoon on Water Street and stay for the lights.
The Masonic Lodge at 249 Water Street is on the schedule for five days this season: Santa photos on November 27, 28 and 29 and December 5 and 12, plus the December 5 chili dinner. Families who miss Santa during the festival have two more Saturdays in December to visit.
Excelsior is a lake town, and much of its holiday season is now organized by neighbors: the Lions, the Masons and the restaurants that cooked in October. If you're thinking about how your own home on the lake would fit into a season like this, or you'd like help planning a move around the holidays, Polovitz Group is glad to talk it through. Start your lake-home search or market your property with our team.
