By the first of November, most of the hardest ticket in Englewood's holiday season was already gone. Holiday Express tickets went on sale Oct. 5 for Englewood residents and Oct. 7 for everyone else, and by Nov. 1 most early entry times on the first weekend were marked sold out. Everything else in December falls into two Saturdays. On Dec. 5 the city's Holiday Market and Tree Lighting share the day with the train. On Dec. 12 the train shares it with Downtown Englewood's Second Saturday arts night. If you're planning your holidays in Englewood, start from the few train openings left and fill in the free events around them.

What's Still Open at Belleview Park

Holiday Express turns Belleview Park and the Englewood Farm & Train at 1111 W. Belleview Ave. into a lit-up winter display with s'mores, crafts, Santa visits and unlimited train rides. It runs Dec. 4 and 5 and Dec. 11 and 12, from 3 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person, and children under two get in free.

Entry is sold in half-hour slots. As of Nov. 1, the city's ticket page showed this for the slots listed:

Inventory changes daily, so check the ticket page before you plan around any of these times. The open slots sit at the edges of the evening. One is the last entry window but one, since final entry is 7:30 p.m. The other is the first hour of a Friday, when many people are still at work. A 7 p.m. ticket still gets you on the train: your ticket time is when you enter, not when you ride, and trains load on a rolling basis and leave about every 15 minutes.

A few details matter more than usual this year:

• You need an account to buy. Every purchase requires an Englewood Parks and Recreation account, and tickets arrive by email from "Englewood Parks and Recreation Department." Check spam if they don't show up.
• Sundays are the backup. On Dec. 6 and 13, the train runs from 3 to 7:30 p.m. for riders who just want a lap past the lights. Rides cost $5 per person per ride, and tickets went on sale to everyone Monday, Nov. 2 at 9 a.m.
• Know the ground. You enter through the parking lot, down a paved asphalt ramp and over two railroad ties. The Santa, hot cocoa and train areas are on asphalt, and the crafts and s'mores are on grass. The Englewood Train has an accessible ramp with secure straps for wheelchairs.

Dec. 5 Puts the Civic Center and the Train on the Same Afternoon

The first Saturday of December is the busiest day on the city's calendar. The Holiday Market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, with local vendors selling handmade goods and holiday treats. The Holiday Tree Lighting follows at the same spot from 3 to 6 p.m., with live performances, Santa, a build-your-own s'mores station and food trucks. Both are listed without tickets.

Holiday Express runs at Belleview Park that same afternoon. With every Dec. 5 train slot before 7 p.m. sold out as of Nov. 1, the day falls into a natural order:

1. Shop the Holiday Market in the morning, before it closes at 2 p.m.
2. Go back to the Civic Center for the Tree Lighting, which runs from 3 to 6 p.m.
3. Head to Belleview Park for a 7 p.m. Holiday Express entry, if one is still available when you buy.

Holiday Express runs to 8:30 p.m., and trains leave about every 15 minutes, so a 7 p.m. entry still leaves time for the lights. If you don't have train tickets, the Civic Center events alone fill the day, and the Sunday rides on Dec. 6 cost $5 a person.

Dec. 12 Belongs to Downtown's Galleries

The second Saturday has a different focus. Dec. 12 marks two years since the artist collective NKollectiv moved from the Santa Fe Art District to EASEL Co Art Space in Downtown Englewood, and EASEL is holding a celebration and holiday party that night, which is also December's Second Saturday.

Second Saturdays are led by Nicole Korbe of EASEL Co Art Space and Hayley Schneider of SeeSaw Gallery. Participating businesses and creative spaces offer pop-ups, music, gallery and studio events, classes and demos, and food and drink, with special hours. The EASEL Second Saturdays page keeps the current map and list of participating businesses. EASEL's Winter Art Market opens Dec. 3 and runs through Jan. 24, 2027. It features work from NKollectiv's 19 artist members along with guest artists, at 3485 S. Broadway, second floor.

Holiday Express runs the same day from 3 to 8:30 p.m., so families who got Dec. 12 train tickets can ride in the evening and still catch the downtown arts night. Anyone without train tickets still has a full holiday Saturday in the galleries, and it costs nothing to walk in.

November Is the Warm-Up, and the Vintage Market Closes First

On Saturday, Nov. 7, from 1 to 3 p.m., CitySpark at 901 Englewood Parkway hosts an artist talk for "Duets." The show pairs studio artists from Carousel Arts and Studio 108 in Downtown Englewood, with each artist presenting work beside a peer's. It hangs in the CAST Colorado gallery through Dec. 31, so you can also see it on either December Saturday. CitySpark is the Englewood Downtown Development Authority's program for filling vacant spaces, and in 2026 it won a Governor's Award for Excellence as a statewide model.

Saturday, Nov. 14 is the November Second Saturday. It's also the last Old School Cool Vintage Market of 2026, which runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the parking lot at S. Broadway and W. Hampden. Local vendors sell curated vintage and upcycled clothing, antiques and collectibles. The market's 2026 schedule ended up following the Second Saturday calendar from April onward, and Dec. 12 is not on it. If thrift-store gifts are on your list, Nov. 14 is your last chance this year. More details are on the Old School Cool site.

On Friday, Nov. 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the city holds its Turkey Feast at the Civic Center, handing out meal kits to 200 families in partnership with Groove Toyota. The city's event page has the details.

Holiday Shopping on South Broadway Runs on a Construction Deadline

Between these Saturdays, most holiday shopping in Englewood happens on South Broadway, where construction has been underway all year. The South Broadway Complete Streets project has had traffic control and partial lane closures between Belleview and Hampden since January. Its contractor is Essential Contractors, Inc., and its expected completion is December 2026. The project costs about $7.54 million for design and construction. Federal money covers 88% of that, and the city pays 12%, or $905,000. It adds ADA improvements, better bus stops, lighting and landscaping, and it turns South Sherman Street into a lower-traffic route for cyclists.

The city's Oct. 5 update scheduled October work on new shelters, benches and trash cans at the bus stops at Chenango, Tufts, Quincy, Mansfield and Kenyon. It also listed sidewalk and light-pole work on the west side of Broadway, new median covers and fresh topsoil in the new planter boxes. Weather and site conditions can still change the order of the work. For holiday shoppers, the finish date matters for a second reason.

While the street is torn up, the city has paid shoppers to keep coming. Through the Open Rewards app by BluDot, you get 10% back at small businesses along the corridor and 5% back at other Englewood businesses. You can link a card or upload receipts. The city says the offer lasts "now through completion of the project." Completion is scheduled for December, so this holiday season may be the last stretch of the 10% rate.

Two newer businesses are worth a look while the offer runs. Good Girl Cafe and Bookstore opened Sept. 13 at 2807 S. Broadway after construction delays pushed back a planned July opening, the Littleton Independent reported. It sells only romance novels, shelved by subgenre, and its drinks are named for romance tropes. "The Slap Shot" is a chai latte with espresso, and "The Black Cat" is a London fog latte with lavender syrup.

Farther south, inside the construction stretch, Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii held the grand opening of its drive-thru and walk-up shop at 4298 S. Broadway on Oct. 24, according to ColoradoBiz, and Westword included it in its list of October openings. It's run by Beth Deasy's Peaks to Waves LLC, which also operates Bad Ass Coffee locations in Boulder and at Lakewood's Belmar. It serves Hawaiian coffees and Hawaiian-inspired food, has picnic tables outside, and lists hours of 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. "Whether you're pulling through the drive-thru or stopping by on a neighborhood walk to relax at our picnic tables, we want everyone to feel at home here," Deasy told ColoradoBiz.

At Luxe Living, we keep track of local dates like the last vintage market of the year, the 7 p.m. train slot after the tree lighting, and the final month of corridor rewards. If you'd like help putting your December calendar together, or have questions about what's changing along South Broadway as the construction wraps up, Let's Connect.