The 2026 Flushing Candlewalk runs Thursday, December 3, and Friday, December 4, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. each night in downtown Flushing. For anyone entering a contest, though, the deadlines come well before that. Decorating contest entries close at noon on Wednesday, November 25, the day before Thanksgiving. Gingerbread houses and sugar cookies are due at drop-off on Wednesday, December 2. By Thursday night, when Santa's Parade of Lights steps off, the judging is done and the winners are about to be called out in Cornwell Park.
From today, November 5, the first deadline is 20 days away. Here is the calendar, in the order things happen.
November 25: The Decorating Contest Closes at Noon
The Flushing Candlewalk Committee's 2026 Home and Business Decorating Contest is sponsored by ClearPath IT CORP. Entries must be in by 12:00 p.m. on November 25. Judges score on three points: originality, creativity and effort. The Chamber also notes that the sponsor does not serve on the judging committee.
There are three award categories, and they are not all the same size:
- Best Decorated Home in Flushing: first through third place
- Best Decorated Business Exterior/Window Display: first place only
- Best Decorated Business Interior Display: first place only
Homes get three places and each business category gets one, so a homeowner has more chances to place. Winners are announced Thursday, December 3, at the tree lighting right after the Santa Parade. Winners' signs go up Monday morning, December 7, and are picked up by the end of December. The Chamber's contest event page has the registration link and the rule for when your lights need to be on. Check that rule with the Chamber before you plan your setup weekend, since the entry deadline falls the day before Thanksgiving.
December 2: Two Drop-Offs, Two Different Windows
The Wednesday before Candlewalk is the kitchen deadline. Two contests take entries that day, and their windows are different lengths.
| Contest | Sponsor | Drop-off | What to bring | Where it ends up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gingerbread House Decorating | Flushing Insurance Weddel Agency | Dec. 2, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | A fully edible house on a base no larger than 24" x 24" | On display at Flushing Insurance during Candlewalk |
| Sugar Cookie | I Can Market That.com | Dec. 2, 9 a.m. to noon | One dozen homemade cookies in a disposable container | Judged during the parade; containers are not returned |
The cookie window closes at noon. Cookies go to the Flushing Area Chamber of Commerce at 309 E. Main St., and they are judged on two things: taste and decoration. This is the contest's third year. Prizes are gift certificates of $50 for first, $25 for second and $15 for third. Entry terms are on the Chamber's sugar cookie contest page. They say plainly that the Candlewalk Committee will eat the entries during the event.
The gingerbread contest has stricter building rules. The structure itself must be completely edible, though non-edible accessories can go on the board. Houses can copy a house, a church, a business or another building. Judges score originality, neatness, creativity, use of material and effort, in three age groups: 10 and under, 11 to 15, and 16 and up. One date to note is the pickup. Gingerbread houses not collected by 4:30 p.m. on December 14 will be thrown away. December 14 is a Monday, ten days after Candlewalk ends. The gingerbread contest page has registration.
December 3, 5 p.m.: The Parade Lines Up at the Early Childhood Center
The parade staging area is the one part of Candlewalk that has actually moved. In 2024, the Chamber had parade entries line up at Flushing City Hall, 725 E. Main St., entering from Chamberlain Street only, with lineup starting at 4:30 p.m. In 2025, lineup moved to Flushing Early Childhood Center at 409 Chamberlain St. Entries came in off Coutant and staged on Hazelton between Chamberlain and Coutant, starting at 5 p.m.
The 2026 listing keeps the 2025 setup. Santa's Parade of Lights, sponsored by The Gym for Her, lines up at 5 p.m. at the Early Childhood Center, entering off Coutant onto Hazelton, and starts at 6 p.m. Registration is free on the Chamber's parade page. Anyone entering a float, a business vehicle or a group of walkers should know three rules:
- Candy and giveaways must be handed out by walkers. Nothing may be thrown from vehicles or floats, a safety measure enforced by Flushing police.
- Floats and cars must be lit, and the Chamber's guidance is "the more the better."
- There is one Santa. The Flushing Women's Club, working with the Chamber, provides him, and no other Santa entries are allowed.
December 3, After the Parade: Cornwell Park, Then Goggins Hall
Thursday night has a set order. The Parade of Lights brings Santa into town, he receives the key to the city, and the official Christmas tree is lit. Then Santa moves to Goggins Hall to visit with kids of all ages. The tree lighting is in Cornwell Park. The City of Flushing lists Cornwell Park as a downtown park of about 0.2 acres on its parks page.
The three contests from earlier in the season all end here. Decorating contest winners are named at the tree lighting right after the parade. The sugar cookie winners are announced at the same ceremony, since judging happens while the parade is on. The Chamber's calendar also lists a 2026 Candlewalk Ugly Sweater Contest for Thursday evening, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
If you watched the parade from Main Street in recent years, WNEM's 2024 coverage shows what the night looks like. Families lined Main Street for the parade, and snow from the night before added to the atmosphere.
Friday, December 4: The Walking Night
Friday runs the same hours, 6 to 8:30 p.m., without the parade. The Chamber calls the event a tradition that started more than 30 years ago and describes two evenings of candles along downtown streets. It lists holiday music from local singers and choirs, ice sculptures, live performances, Lionel train displays, s'mores, refreshments and horse-drawn wagon rides, plus chestnuts roasting in the middle of Main Street and warming stations around downtown. The Chamber frames all of it as the business owners' thank-you to the community. Some of the ice comes from sponsors as well: several sponsorship tiers include a carved logo ice block and a logo sign in Cornwell Park.
Last November, the Genesee County View reported a Lionel model train exhibit at the Flushing Area Historical Society, 431 W. Main St., set up for Candlewalk. The same paper's 2024 Candlewalk guide gives a fuller picture of how a year's program spreads across town. These were the 2024 plans:
- A synthetic ice rink and ice carving in Riverview Park, with a Mayfair Bible Church live Nativity nearby
- A Festival of Trees, cookie decorating and children's crafts at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, which served as a 6 to 9 p.m. warming center
- Center Stage Dance Academy's Praise in Motion and the Rockin' Marching Grannies at Flushing United Methodist Church, with warm drinks and snacks
- Flushing Rotary Club members and Rotary Interact students toasting marshmallows on portable grills along Main Street
- A Winter Wonderland display with Lionel trains and ornament decorating from the Flushing Area Historical Society
In 2024, churches, clubs and Main Street businesses each ran their own stop, and the Chamber's 2026 description lists the activities without assigning them to locations. Friday is the easier night to visit those stops at your own pace, since the parade crowd and tree lighting are both on Thursday.
December 7 and December 14: The Cleanup Dates
Two more dates come after the candles go out. Decorating contest winners' signs go up the morning of Monday, December 7. Gingerbread houses have to be picked up from Flushing Insurance by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 14. Counting from the November 25 entry deadline, Candlewalk takes up nearly three weeks of a Flushing household's calendar, and the two evenings downtown are only part of it.
If decorating for the contest has you thinking about how your house looks from the street this winter, or about listing it in the new year, I'm happy to talk through what that would mean for your home. Jeremy Taljonick | Mid MI HomeSellers works with Flushing homeowners on a plan built around their own timeline. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits you, before or after Candlewalk.
