In 2025, the Festival of Trees award for best tree theme went to "12 Days of Mining Magic," a tree donated by Nevada Gold Mines. Organizers told the Elko Daily Free Press that someone else donated a golf cart that same year and decorated it with a full golf theme.
Neither item was bought by the organizers. Community members donate almost everything on the Elko Conference Center floor. The same goes for the Parade of Lights, where 2025 entries ranged from a horse-drawn stagecoach to large mine service vehicles. Elko's two biggest December events depend on whoever signs up, and the sign-up windows for 2026 are open now.
The trees have to be registered by Nov. 29
The 36th annual Festival of Trees runs Dec. 2 through Dec. 5 at the Elko Conference Center, 724 Moren Way. This year's theme is "Christmas in the USA, 250-Year Celebration." Donors are encouraged to decorate to the theme, but organizers told the Elko Daily Free Press that any theme is welcome.
Every donated item has to be registered online, from Nov. 1 through Nov. 29. That covers decorated trees, holiday-themed baskets and anything else going up for auction. The deadline falls the Sunday after Thanksgiving, three days before the doors open. A business or group still deciding about a tree has a little over two weeks from this post to make the call.
Bidding is online too. The festival made that switch in 2020. Visiting the Conference Center gives you a look at the trees up close before you bid. The Elko Convention and Visitors Authority, which presents the event, says that in recent years nearly 500 bidders have competed for more than 100 items.
The totals show how much those donations add up to.
| Festival year | Raised | Split among |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $44,120 | Five charity partners |
| 2025 | Almost $60,000 | Elko Cancer Network, Communities in Schools, LASSO, Newe Waipaipian Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Group |
The 2023 figure comes from the Elko Daily Free Press report on that year's auction. The 2025 figure and recipients come from the paper's September 2026 coverage. That works out to nearly $16,000 more two years later, shared among one fewer group. For 2026, nonprofits applied through Oct. 16. The board picks four or five registered 501(c)(3) organizations and divides the proceeds among them after the festival.
The parade works the same way, for $25
On Saturday, Dec. 12, the Elko Area Chamber hosts the Snowflake Festival downtown from noon to 5 p.m. The Parade of Lights follows at 5:30 p.m., and this year's theme is "A Nutcracker Christmas." 2026 is the Chamber's second year running both events. The Elko Daily Free Press reported that 2025 was its first.
The Chamber's 2026 Parade of Lights entry form is open to businesses, organizations, schools and community groups. It sets out these terms:
- Fee. $25 per entry, or $50 for two or more floats.
- Lineup. Starts at 3 p.m. in front of the Crystal Theater, 676 Commercial St.
- No throwing. Nothing may be thrown or handed out from floats, including candy, toys, gifts and promotional items.
- No Santas. The form says, "Absolutely No Santa's Please!"
The no-Santa rule protects the real one, who is booked elsewhere. During the daytime festival, Santa appears at Kate Brown Photography. In the 2025 parade he waved to the crowd from a fire truck on Idaho Street, according to the Elko Daily Free Press photo coverage.
Chamber Chief Executive Billie Crapo told the Elko Daily Free Press last December that she expected 75 entries. Some of those entries were large enough to change a city decision.
The corner that had to answer to the floats
Over the past two years, downtown Elko got new sidewalks, curbs and landscaping through the city's Downtown Corridor Sidewalk Project. City Council records from January 2026 describe the project as substantially complete. Remaining landscaping and electrical work in the 500 block was pushed to spring.
The parade traditionally starts on Commercial Street at Sixth Street and turns at Fourth. Last December, the new curb at Commercial and Fourth turned out to be too tight for that turn. At the council meeting, as the Elko Daily Free Press reported, Lisa Jackson, safety manager for Hunt & Sons, described the corner this way:
"Beautiful but not functional."
She said even a small Ford F150 with a flatbed couldn't make the turn at Fourth, and "even fire trucks can't make the turn." The Nevada Day Parade had already used the new corner after construction, but Assistant City Manager Dale Johnson noted its entries were smaller than what the Parade of Lights brings.
The council approved a one-time trial for 2025. The parade turned at Third Street instead, and city crews used a message reader board, a detour and traffic control devices for drivers heading east on Idaho Street from Mountain City Highway. Johnson said staff would look at modifying the new construction in spring 2026 so the route could move back. Crapo said the Chamber appreciated the extension to Third Street because it gave larger vehicles more room to maneuver.
This year, lineup starts again at the Crystal Theater on Commercial Street. If you're choosing a spot along the route, or entering a float big enough to worry about corners, ask the Elko Area Chamber at 775-738-7135 which turn the parade takes. More corners may change in later years. In January 2026, the Planning Commission heard about a planned next phase from Seventh to 11th streets, covering sidewalks, landscaping and ADA corner upgrades. Each new corner will need to fit the same stagecoaches and mine trucks.
The daytime half on Dec. 12
Before the parade, the Snowflake Festival has food trucks, local vendors, shopping at downtown businesses and hot cocoa from the Cocoa Cottage. Children can collect small gifts from local businesses on the Sugarplum Stocking Stuffer Stroll. The stroll also depends on participation, since each stop is a business that agreed to hand something out. Last year, children carried Christmas stockings from vendor to vendor for treats. The Overland Stage Theatre Company performed songs from "A Christmas Story: The Musical," and the Elko Daily Free Press reported hundreds of people downtown.
The festival wraps up just before the parade starts. Last year, spectators were already lined up on Idaho Street to claim their spots.
The calendar, with the deadlines first
| Date | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Through Nov. 29 | Online registration for Festival of Trees auction items | Explore Elko website |
| Wed., Dec. 2 | Festival of Trees, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. | Elko Conference Center, 724 Moren Way |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | Festival of Trees, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Elko Conference Center |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Festival of Trees, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Elko Conference Center |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Festival of Trees, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Elko Conference Center |
| Wed., Dec. 9 | Jam On!, free, 6 to 8 p.m. | Western Folklife Center |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Snowflake Festival, noon to 5 p.m.; float lineup from 3 p.m. | Downtown; lineup at the Crystal Theater, 676 Commercial St. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Parade of Lights, 5:30 p.m. | Downtown Elko |
The Western Folklife Center describes Jam On! as a free monthly jam session. It falls between the two big weekends and needs no registration deadline.
If your business or group is planning a tree for Moren Way or a float for Commercial Street, the team at Carla Bailey would love to see it. We live and work here too, and these traditions are part of why. When you're ready to talk about your own place in Elko, Schedule a Free Consultation.
