Jinglefest is on Saturday, December 5, and the schedule starts at 9 a.m. The lighted parade most people picture doesn't step off until 6 p.m. Between those two times, downtown Fenton fills with tree decorating, a 5K, live reindeer, a nativity, wagon rides and a row of food stands. Almost every one of them is run by a local club, church or school group, not by an outside vendor.
The afternoon is the stretch most worth planning around, and it happens a short walk from the riverfront the city has been rebuilding beside City Hall.
A full day, with the parade near the end
The Fenton & Linden Regional Chamber of Commerce has posted the full 2026 run of show. It breaks into four blocks:
- 9 a.m. Breakfast with Santa. You have to register ahead, and the Chamber's Jinglefest page links to the signup.
- 10 a.m. Fenton Rotary leads Christmas tree decorating at Bush Park. The Jingle, Mingle & Shop holiday shopping spree starts at the same hour at participating downtown businesses.
- 3 p.m. The free activities open, and the JingleJog 5K run/walk starts.
- 6 p.m. The Holiday Lighted Parade, then the community tree lighting, then fireworks from Fenton Festivals Inc. The night ends with Cookies with Santa, hosted by the Fenton Beautification Committee.
The evening runs in a fixed order, and each part starts when the one before it ends. Once the parade starts at 6, the rest of the night follows in sequence. That makes the afternoon the only stretch where you can come and go as you please.
Last year's event fell on December 6, 2025, and Fenton InPrint described the same 6 p.m. pattern: a lighted parade through downtown, then the tree lighting and fireworks. The evening order has held steady from one year to the next.
The 3 o'clock block is the town running its own festival
Starting at 3 p.m., the free activities spread across downtown. The Chamber lists who is behind most of them, and the list reads like a directory of Fenton's service groups:
| Free activity | Run by |
|---|---|
| Cookie decorating and crafts | Fenton United Methodist Church |
| Live nativity | First Presbyterian Church |
| Letters to Santa | FHS Key Club and Kiwanis Club of Fenton |
| Photos with Santa | Kiwanis Club of Fenton |
| Horse-drawn wagon rides | Listed by the Chamber |
| Ice sculptures and a live ice carving demonstration | Listed by the Chamber |
| Live reindeer | Listed by the Chamber |
| JingleJam warming tent | Listed by the Chamber |
That table explains why the afternoon is worth planning around. It is the only part of the day where you can walk from the reindeer to the nativity to the carving demo at your own pace, with no parade crowd yet lining the curbs. The JingleJam warming tent gives anyone with small children somewhere to thaw out between stops.
Santa shows up more than once. He's at the 9 a.m. breakfast, at the Kiwanis photo station in the afternoon, and at Cookies with Santa after the fireworks. If the morning breakfast is full or too early for your household, two later chances are already on the schedule.
Dinner comes from the same groups
Food at Jinglefest is sold by the same kind of groups that run the activities. Every stand on the Chamber's list belongs to a local organization:
- Chili, hot dogs and refreshments from Boy Scout Troop 212
- Pizza from the Fenton Lions Club
- Hot chocolate from FHS Project Graduation
- Popcorn from St. Augustine Knights of Columbus
- A bake sale from Center of Hope
For a family planning the day, this solves the dinner question. You can eat downtown between the end of the afternoon activities and the 6 p.m. parade without giving up a curb spot to sit in a restaurant.
Mill Pond Park, a short walk from the parade
The City of Fenton has been rebuilding Mill Pond Park and the Gazebo Plaza next to City Hall, in the downtown core the city calls Dibbleville.
The city's proposed FY2027 budget lists what Phase I finished in fiscal year 2026:
- Enclosure of the Shiawassee River Dam raceway
- A new playscape in Mill Pond Park
- Two kayak and canoe launches
- Riverwalk improvements
- A stone pedestrian bridge across the Shiawassee River
The same document puts Phase I at about $1.3 million. It was paid for with a Michigan DNR Land & Water Trust Fund grant, a grant from a local family, and matching money from the city's Downtown Development Authority.
The bridge is the piece that matters most on a December evening. When WNEM toured the work in March, Michael Hart, Fenton's assistant city manager and director of economic development, described what the old crossing was like in winter:
"Before we used to have ice on the bridge and or have, puddling, pooling of water. Now it will, drain away. It's also a lot wider. So if you're on a wheelchair, you can go ahead and ingress egress through that before you weren't able to necessarily do that."
The work around the gazebo is the next stage. The budget describes it as a plaza for the gazebo, an ADA-accessible deck and ramp, amphitheater seating and lighting. Its estimated cost is $2.3 million, backed by a $1 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Authority plus DDA matching funds. On June 22, 2026, City Council unanimously awarded the next construction contract for the Millpond Park Improvement Project to Evergreen Landscape Group, which does business as Spurlocks, for $1,019,490.04. Council also approved construction oversight by OHM and geotechnical work by G2 Consulting Group. Hart told WNEM the city is "excited to bring our concerts back into this area once this area is completed."
Mill Pond Park is one link in a longer chain. MLive reported that the project is meant to better connect the downtown parks: Bush, Rackham, Millpond, Strom and O'Donnell. Bush Park, where Fenton Rotary leads the 10 a.m. tree decorating, is part of that same chain.
Getting downtown on the 5th
Plan around three details before you head in.
Runners own the streets at 3 p.m. The JingleJog 5K run/walk starts and finishes behind the Fenton United Methodist Church Family Life Center at 119 S. Leroy St. Its route runs on downtown's paved streets, right as the free activities open. If you're driving in mid-afternoon, expect runners in the core. If you're signing up, registration is linked from the Chamber's Jinglefest page.
River Street traffic is changing. On September 28, 2026, Fenton City Council unanimously approved making the stretch of River Street near Crust and ChoiceOne Bank one-way southbound. The change prepares for the city's River Street project. Watch the signs on that block if it's part of your usual route downtown. The Tri-County Times has the details.
Watch the Chamber page for the map. The Chamber says it will post a downloadable event map and schedule on its Jinglefest page, and that the parade lineup map will go up in December. Check back in early December before you pick a spot for the parade.
A day that works for most households looks like this: shop the Jingle, Mingle & Shop businesses in the late morning, arrive for the 3 p.m. activities, eat at the Troop 212 or Lions Club stands around 5, and find a curb spot for the 6 p.m. parade. Stay through the fireworks and Cookies with Santa if the kids are still going.
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