Hurricane's Christmas Starts at Valley Park and Finishes on Main Street
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
A red mailbox goes up on Main Street in Hurricane the day before Thanksgiving. From Wednesday, November 25, through Sunday, December 13, 2026, kids can drop off letters there to be sent to the North Pole. The City of Hurricane asks families to put a self-addressed, stamped envelope inside so Santa can write back. Over those same nineteen days, the first of the season's big holiday events take place across town in Valley Park.
Hurricane has two holiday hosts this year, and they take turns. Putnam County Parks & Recreation holds the first two weekends of the season at Valley Park. The City of Hurricane holds the next two on Main Street. Apart from the City's mailbox, neither host has an event scheduled on the other's weekends, so where the season happens depends on which week of December it is.
Here is how the 2026 calendar breaks down by weekend. The dates come from the Putnam County Parks events page and the City of Hurricane's event listings.
| Weekend | Event | Where | Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 27–29 | Small Business Saturday Vendor Event, Sat., Nov. 28 | Valley Park | Putnam County Parks |
| Dec. 4–6 | Yuletide in the Park Tree Lighting, Fri., Dec. 4, 6 p.m. | Valley Park | Putnam County Parks |
| Dec. 11–13 | Christmas Parade, Sat., Dec. 12, noon | Main Street | City of Hurricane |
| Dec. 18–20 | Horse and Carriage Rides, Sat., Dec. 19, 4–7 p.m. | Main Street | City of Hurricane |
The Letters for Santa mailbox is the one piece of the season that runs across the change of venue. It opens before the Valley Park weekends start and closes on Sunday, December 13, the day after the parade. That means the last chance to mail a letter falls the same weekend Main Street takes over, one week before the carriage rides.
The first event at Valley Park this season is a market. Putnam County Parks scheduled its Small Business Saturday Vendor Event for Saturday, November 28, 2026, two days after Thanksgiving. The market will be at Valley Park. When Parks put out its call for vendors, it described the day as a chance for local businesses to "get your business in front of holiday shoppers." Parks also said vendor spots are limited and that it is choosing vendors based on what they sell and what the event needs.
So the market is curated. Parks is choosing a mix of products, not filling every table with whoever applies first. For anyone shopping that Saturday, that means a selected group of small sellers in one place, on a day when shopping small is the whole point.
The opening on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving fits that weekend too. The mailbox on Main Street starts taking letters three days before the market. A family heading to Valley Park on Saturday can write letters over the long weekend and drop them off on Main Street any time before December 13.
The second Valley Park weekend brings the tree lighting. Putnam County Parks lists Yuletide in the Park for Friday, December 4, at 6 p.m. It calls the event its "annual tree lighting with visits by Santa, sleigh rides, live nativity and more!"
Last year's event gives a sense of how the evening runs. WOWK 13 News reported that the 2025 Yuletide in the Park was held Friday, December 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Valley Park, with food trucks, coloring contest displays and festive lights alongside the holiday activities.
The trees are the main attraction. In 2025, Putnam County Tourism described the Festival of Trees at Valley Park as 75 decorated trees in the park's courtyard, and it suggested driving through the park afterward to see the lighted displays. Earlier Tourism coverage placed that courtyard next to the Valley Park Conference Center.
The trees are sponsored. Parks has opened 2026 tree sponsorships to businesses, organizations and families, and says all proceeds go toward improvements to its all-inclusive playground. In its 2025 update, Parks described the inclusive playground as giving children of all abilities the same recreational experience, and said it was pursuing additional features. A tree in the courtyard this December is decoration, and it is also helping pay for a playground in the same park.
A week after the tree lighting, the season moves to Main Street. The City of Hurricane's Christmas Parade steps off at noon on Saturday, December 12, 2026. The City calls it "a yearly tradition" and says "a lot of pre-parade fun is in store also."
Entries line up at Hurricane Bridge Park on Midland Trail, just past Hurricane Middle School, and the parade ends at First Baptist Church on Main Street. Groups that plan to enter should note the City's warning about arriving early:
"Lineup: 10:30 – 11:45 am (We will not be ready for you before that time.)"
Entering costs nothing, but the City asks businesses, groups, organizations and clubs to register ahead of time through the form on its parade page.
Parade day is also the second-to-last day the mailbox takes letters. Children watching from the curb on December 12 still have that afternoon and the following Sunday to mail a letter before the box closes on December 13.
The last event on the calendar stays downtown. The City is offering free horse-and-carriage rides on Main Street on Saturday, December 19, 2026, from 4 to 7 p.m. The City says the rides have "quickly become a crowd favorite activity" and pairs them with an invitation to enjoy "all the joy, shopping and dining downtown has to offer."
The timing works well for a family outing. The rides start at 4 p.m., when the December light is fading, and end at 7, so a ride can come before or after dinner downtown. It falls on the last Saturday before Christmas, a week after the parade, which puts the end of the season on Main Street, just as the start of the season belonged to Valley Park.
Last year the Putnam County Chamber listed the Hurricane Christmas Parade for Saturday, December 13, 2025, at noon. Yuletide in the Park was held Friday, December 5, 2025. Both events kept the same day of the week in 2026, and both moved one calendar date earlier.
The pattern is the same as last year too. In 2025 the Friday tree lighting at Valley Park came eight days before the Saturday parade on Main Street, and the 2026 calendar keeps that same gap. A family that marked the county's Friday and the City's Saturday last year can mark the same weekdays this year.
Here is the 2026 schedule in order:
Christina and David at Home in WV will be following both calendars this December, from the Valley Park courtyard to the parade route on Main Street. If your family is thinking about a move within Hurricane or across Putnam County in the new year, schedule your free consultation, and we'll talk through which parts of town fit your plans.
Whether you’re ready to sell your home, curious about its value, or just exploring your options, Christina and David Di Filippo are here to guide you. Let’s connect and start turning your real estate goals into reality.