St. Peters' Tree Lighting Starts at 5:30 This Year, and the First Hour Is New

"PLUS new festivities: a Holly-Day Market and a Gingerbread House Contest!" That was the City of St. Peters' announcement on October 21 for the Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday, Dec. 4. This is the 37th year the tradition has been held at City Hall. According to the city's calendar listing, this year's event starts at 5:30 p.m., an hour earlier than the 6:30 p.m. start the city listed in both 2023 and 2025.

That extra hour changes how the evening works, and Friday isn't the only date on the calendar. Police officers trim a tree at the Justice Center on Thursday, and the St. Charles County Symphony Orchestra plays its holiday concert at the Cultural Arts Centre on Saturday afternoon. If you live in St. Peters, the first weekend of December now runs three days in a row along St. Peters Centre Boulevard and Grand Teton Drive.

Three years of listings, side by side

The city's own calendar pages show how the event has grown. The 2023 and 2025 entries describe a short evening: a ceremony in the City Hall courtyard, then a concert indoors. The 2026 entry starts an hour earlier and lists the new market and contest.

The 2026 ceremony is at St. Peters City Hall, 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd., and it's free.

What fills the new first hour

The Holly-Day Market is the biggest new piece of the evening. Local vendors will have booths with gifts and handmade items for holiday shopping.

The market also has a section for kids:

• The Children's Market includes Shop with a Cop, where children shop alongside a St. Peters police officer for gifts for their parents.
• Santa's Mailbox sits inside the market. Kids can write a letter to Santa, drop it in, and get a letter back from him.

Shop with a Cop is a good example of how this weekend fits together. The police department shows up on Thursday and again on Friday, so a child who decorates an ornament with an officer at the Justice Center can shop with one at City Hall the next evening.

The Gingerbread House Contest is the other new feature. The city's calendar listing points readers to its Tree Lighting Ceremony page for the full list of event activities. If someone in your house is thinking about building a gingerbread house, start there.

The ceremony itself keeps its familiar order

The music will sound familiar to anyone who has been before. The Childbloom Guitar Program of St. Charles County and Voices Only, Lindenwood University's a cappella group, will perform holiday favorites before the lighting. After the tree is lit, families can enjoy treats and activities, and kids can have photos taken with Santa.

Both groups have played this event before. The 2023 listing names them in the City Hall courtyard program, followed by the countdown, the lighting, and "God Bless America." The 2025 listing includes Childbloom again, followed by caroling. Same groups, same countdown, same Santa. This year adds the market and the contest, plus one more hour on the schedule.

The event still runs until 8:30 p.m. That gives the whole evening three hours, compared with two in 2023 and 2025. You can browse the market early, hear the performers, watch the tree go on, and then line up for Santa photos without cramming everything into one short stretch after dark.

Thursday at the Justice Center comes first

Friday's lights go on one night after the department's own tree is decorated. The Police Tree Trimming runs Thursday, Dec. 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the St. Peters Justice Center, 1020 Grand Teton Drive.

Here's how it works, according to the city's listing:

• Kids make their own ornament, and an officer helps hang it on the tree.
• All ornament materials are provided.
• It's recommended for ages 3 to 12, but all ages are welcome.
• Hot cocoa and cookies are served.
• No reservation is needed.
• Park in the mall parking lot across the street and use the crosswalk at Suemandy Drive and Grand Teton.

Questions go to 636-278-2244, ext. 3550. It runs for three hours and needs no reservation, so it's an easy first stop for the weekend.

Saturday's concert is the one that needs a ticket

The weekend wraps up indoors, a few steps from the tree. The St. Charles County Symphony Orchestra performs its Holiday Concert on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m. at the St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre, 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd. That's the same address as City Hall.

This is the only event of the three that costs anything or needs planning ahead. The orchestra lists tickets at $10 and says they must be bought in advance for the Saturday concert. The city's listing for the 2023 holiday concert, held Dec. 2 that year, says that show sold out. The tree lighting and the tree trimming are free and need no reservation, so the concert is the one to buy early.

Putting the three days together

Here is the weekend in order, with the Rec-Plex skates that come before and after it:

1. Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7 to 9 p.m.: DJ Skate, Thanksgiving Skate at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
2. Thursday, Dec. 3, 5 to 8 p.m.: Police Tree Trimming at the St. Peters Justice Center, 1020 Grand Teton Drive. Park in the mall lot and cross at Suemandy Drive.
3. Friday, Dec. 4, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Tree Lighting Ceremony at City Hall, 1 St. Peters Centre Blvd., with the Holly-Day Market, Children's Market, Gingerbread House Contest, music before the countdown, and Santa photos after it.
4. Saturday, Dec. 5, 2 p.m.: St. Charles County Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert at the Cultural Arts Centre. $10, bought in advance.
5. Friday, Dec. 18, 7 to 9 p.m.: DJ Skate, Holiday Skate at the Rec-Plex.

Friday has changed the most. If you're going to the tree lighting, plan to arrive at 5:30, not 6:30, so you have time for the market before the performers and the countdown.

If the new year might include getting your St. Peters home ready to list, or you'd just like to know where its value stands, the team at Finest Homes Network is happy to walk you through a clear, no-pressure plan. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits your calendar.