No single office runs Prescott Valley's holiday season. Three organizations put it together. The Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce runs Valley of Lights at Fain Park. Fain Signature Group hosts Christmas at Town Center. The Town of Prescott Valley stages the Winter Spectacular at the Civic Center, and this year it adds a drone show. Each host has its own venue, its own date and its own way of paying for the night. If you plan the season around those three hosts, you'll get more out of it than if you work from a single list.
The lights belong to the sponsors
Valley of Lights is a free, one-mile drive past more than 60 lighted and animated displays at Fain Park, 2200 N. 5th St. The Chamber appreciates a $5 cash donation per vehicle. The Chamber's Valley of Lights page calls its sponsors "the true stars of our show" and credits "the unwavering support of our local businesses" with keeping the lights on year after year.
The page backs that up by matching display graphics to the businesses and organizations behind them. The list works as a cross-section of the town's institutions.
- Utilities and media: APS, Sparklight, the Daily Courier, KPPV, KQNA and Cattle Country Radio
- Local and regional institutions: the Town of Prescott Valley, Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority, Yavapai College, Yavapai Regional Medical Center and the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe
- Hometown businesses: Red Plumbing, Manzanita Landscaping, Ocean Blue Car Wash, Bradshaw Family Dental, Walker Estate Law, The Movement Studio and CallTek
- Larger names with local operations: Findlay Subaru Prescott, OneAZ Credit Union, Little Dealer RV, Sunstate Equipment, Cemex, Waste Management and Bucky's Casino
- Civic traditions: World's Oldest Rodeo, along with Fain Signature Group and Advanced Electrical Contracting
This year's sponsor graphics also include America 250 artwork with Liberty Bell and flag themes, which ties the display to the country's 250th anniversary. On your drive, the display in front of you was most likely paid for by a business you already know.
How eight Chamber designs grew past 60
The show started small. A 2024 Signals AZ history by the Chamber's CEO says Valley of Lights began in 2000 with eight designs. Lew Rees, the Chamber director at the time, came up with them and worked with a lighting company from Branson, Missouri. By 2024 the same article counted 63 displays. Advanced Electrical Contracting and Jeff Schaffer handled setup, maintenance and storage. The Chamber's 2026 listing says "more than 60."
Eight designs in 2000 grew to more than 60 by 2024, and that growth came one sponsor at a time. Advanced Electrical Contracting shows up twice in the story, once as the crew that keeps the displays running and again on the sponsor list.
Here's the 2026 schedule, from the Chamber's season page and the Signals AZ 2026 holiday guide:
- Opening night: Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26
- Nightly hours: Sunday through Thursday, 6 to 9 p.m.; Friday, Saturday and holidays, 6 to 10 p.m.
- The one walking night: Tuesday, December 8, 6 to 8 p.m. The loop closes to cars so families can walk the mile on foot, and walkers park on 2nd Street.
- Last night: Wednesday, December 30
The Chamber also takes donations online through its Valley of Lights donation page.
Town Center opens its season two days later
Fain Signature Group runs the second host's event on Saturday, November 28. Christmas at Town Center runs from 3 to 7 p.m. and brings Buddy the Elf, photos with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, a holiday market and a tree-lighting ceremony. The Signals AZ guide places it at Town Center Turf Park, 2980 Park Ave. This is a newer tradition than Valley of Lights. Fain Signature Group's 2025 event page billed last year's edition as the third annual, running from 2 to 7 p.m. on November 29 with the tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. The 2026 listing starts an hour later and hasn't published a tree-lighting time yet.
The same evening, downtown Prescott holds its 29th Annual Prescott Holiday Light Parade. More than 40 lighted floats roll down Cortez Street at 6 p.m., followed by a bonfire festival at Mile High Middle School's field from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thanksgiving weekend has two separate hosts in two towns, both going in the early evening of the same Saturday.
December 5 is the busiest night of the season
The Town of Prescott Valley calls the Winter Spectacular the community's biggest holiday celebration. It runs Saturday, December 5, from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Prescott Valley Civic Center, 7501 E. Skoog Blvd. The Town's Winter Spectacular page lists photos with Santa, live entertainment, ice skating, food trucks and holiday activities through the afternoon. The Community Tree Lighting Ceremony starts at 6 p.m.
What's new this year comes right after the tree lighting. The Town is adding Prescott Valley's first-ever Winter Spectacular Drone Show, a choreographed display of lights in the sky above the Civic Center. Next comes the Night Light Parade, presented by the Chamber. The Town says it travels along Main Street and Lakeshore Drive, circles the Civic Center and returns to Findlay Toyota Center. The Chamber's 2026 parade listing has entries staging at Findlay Toyota Center from 3 p.m., moving at 6 p.m. and starting at 6:15 p.m. Groups that want to enter a float or marching unit pay $25 through November 15 and $35 from November 16 to 29. Spectators don't pay. The Signals AZ guide lists the festival as free.
Prescott Valley isn't the only place busy that Saturday. Prescott's two biggest holiday events fall on the same day, and so does Chino Valley's celebration. Here's how the day lines up, from the Town page and the Signals AZ guide:
| Time on Sat., Dec. 5 | Prescott Valley | Prescott | Chino Valley |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 p.m. | Festival opens at 2 p.m. at the Civic Center | 44th Annual Prescott Christmas Parade, downtown | |
| 5 p.m. | Festival continues | Live music on the Courthouse Plaza | |
| 5:30 p.m. | Festival continues | December to Remember opens at Memory Park | |
| 6 p.m. | Community Tree Lighting, then the first drone show | 72nd Annual Courthouse Lighting and Fireworks | December to Remember continues |
| After the lighting | Night Light Parade | Runs until 9 p.m. |
Prescott Valley's tree lighting and Prescott's Courthouse Lighting both start at 6 p.m., so you'll have to choose one. The afternoon leaves more room. Prescott's daytime parade runs from 1 to 3 p.m., and the Civic Center festival goes until 8 p.m. That leaves enough time to watch floats downtown and then get back for skating, the tree lighting and the drone show. If you'd rather spend the evening in Prescott, the Signals AZ guide notes a free shuttle from Yavapai College to the Courthouse Lighting.
A season planned around three hosts
When you lay out the three calendars side by side, the season falls into a clear order. Valley of Lights opens Thanksgiving night and runs every night for five weeks, so it fills the evenings between the bigger events. Town Center starts the season's single-night events two days later. The Winter Spectacular is the peak on December 5. Three days after that, the Chamber closes the loop to cars for its one walking night. The one stretch with no conflicts is the run of weeknights at Fain Park. From Sunday through Thursday the drive closes at 9 p.m., and none of the other hosts has anything scheduled against it.
If your family has a favorite display, you can find the business behind it on the Chamber's sponsor page. That might be the APS graphic, the World's Oldest Rodeo display or the one carrying the Town's name. The page also shows how the tradition grew from eight designs in 2000 to more than 60 today.
At Luxury Prescott, we pay attention to what shapes Prescott Valley week to week, from the sponsors behind the lights at Fain Park to the evening the drone show debuts over the Civic Center. If you're thinking about how your own home fits into that picture this season, we're glad to start with a free home valuation.
