Route 66 Turns 100 on November 11. Edmond Lights Its Tree the Next Night.
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
At 2nd Street and Broadway, the original Route 66 made a hard L-turn. For decades it sent every cross-country driver straight through the middle of Edmond. The highway was assigned its number on November 11, 1926, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. That puts the centennial on a Wednesday this year. The next evening, the 20-foot Christmas tree at Festival Market Place gets lit in front of the crowd at Deck the Downtown.
Edmond's 2026 holidays start two weeks before Thanksgiving, in the same week the centennial year peaks. From there they split into two hubs on different schedules. Mitch Park runs every night. Downtown runs mostly on Saturdays, plus a few named weeknights.
Visit Edmond's Route 66 Centennial guide, published in March, lists two Edmond events for November 11. City leaders open the Eagle's Nest at The Uncommon Ground Sculpture Park at 2 p.m. Veterans Day celebrations follow at 4:30 p.m. at Stephenson Park. No later announcement has confirmed or changed either time, so check again closer to the date.
The Eagle's Nest is a lookout, not a statue. The park describes a 37-foot-high platform built from repurposed oil-field pipe. It looks out over the park and Historic Route 66. The Journal Record reported in January that Oklahoma City architect Rand Elliott designed it. The 62-acre park sits at Coltrane Road and Route 66, 101 N. Coltrane Road, and Visit Edmond lists it as open "by event only" in 2026. News 9 reported on October 1 that the full park opens in 2027. The project now totals $62 million, and fundraising was about 87% complete. If the ceremony goes ahead on the 11th, it's one of the few chances this year to stand on that platform.
The 4:30 event at Stephenson Park has a recent model. In 2025 the Edmond History Museum hosted an hour at the Stephenson Park Pavilion with booths, speakers, choral music, an ROTC color guard and a musket salute. The 2026 program hasn't been posted. Separately, the Journal Record reported in August that a Veterans Flag Retirement Area with a custom fire pit was planned for Stephenson Park, and officials hoped to finish it by Veterans Day.
On Thursday, November 12, Deck the Downtown runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Festival Market Place, 26 W. First St. It's free. The evening includes the tree lighting, dance presentations, wagon rides, live reindeer, cocoa, live music, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Visit Edmond's own guide calls it the point where the town moves from centennial celebrations to the winter holidays.
The Route 66 theme carries into the week before, too. Edmond Fine Arts opens "The Other Side: Project A Photographic Road Trip through America's Heart," by photographers Melinda Green Harvey and VC Torneden, with a public reception Thursday, November 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. The show stays up through November.
The west-side half of the season opens first. The Edmond Ice Rink opens Saturday, November 7, inside Mitch Park at 1501 W. Covell Road, next to the silo. It stays open through January 31.
| Edmond Ice Rink, 2026–27 | Details |
|---|---|
| General admission | $15 |
| With military ID | $13 |
| Without skate rental | $10 |
| Children 5 and under | $10 |
| Monday–Thursday | 3–9 p.m. |
| Friday | 3–10 p.m. |
| Saturday | Noon–10 p.m. |
| Sunday | Noon–9 p.m. |
| Thanksgiving break, Nov. 22–28 | Noon–10 p.m. daily |
| Winter break, Dec. 20–Jan. 2 | Noon–10 p.m. daily |
| Christmas Eve | Noon–5 p.m. |
| Group rates | Start at 10 skaters |
The weekday 3 p.m. opening means the rink is mostly an after-school and after-work spot until the two school breaks. During those breaks it opens at noon every day. Christmas Eve is the one short day, closing at 5.
Two weeks after the rink opens, Edmond Electric's Luminance lights up in the same park. It runs Friday, November 20, through January 1, from 5 to 10 p.m. every night, and admission is free. The city describes it as a walk-through with more than 30 light displays. Visit Edmond's listing puts the count at more than 40 scenes. The city page still has a FAQ carrying last year's dates, but the 2026 dates are at the top. Between November 20 and January 1, a family can skate and walk the lights on any night of the week without leaving Mitch Park.
Downtown's events land on specific dates, and most of them fall on Saturdays.
Last year the Journal Record listed free carriage rides on three December Saturdays. This year's listing starts on Small Business Saturday and runs four straight weekends to December 19.
Downtown's weeknight events come together in one stretch of December:
The University of Central Oklahoma adds the first weekend of December. Visit Edmond lists WinterGlow for Friday, December 4, from 6 to 9 p.m., with a lighting ceremony at Broncho Lake and winter-carnival activities. UCO's own page still describes the 2025 event, so treat the date as likely rather than final. UCO Musical Theatre's "Broadway Tonight: Favorite Christmas Playlist" plays the UCO Jazz Lab at 100 E. Fifth St. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. December 3–5, with 2 p.m. matinees December 5 and 6. Ticket details haven't been posted.
Put together, Saturday, December 5 is the busiest day on the calendar. It has the downtown wagon rides, the outdoor movie, a UCO matinee, and the rink and Luminance at Mitch Park that night.
Last year's season had a name. Visit Edmond made "Miracle on 2nd Street" Edmond's theme in the 100 Miles of Christmas on Route 66. That initiative ran across 11 Midpoint Corridor towns, from Sapulpa through Kellyville, Bristow, Depew, Stroud, Davenport, Chandler, Wellston, Luther and Arcadia to Edmond. Each town picked its own theme, and the season ran from mid-November through January 1. Thomas Blonde, a local candle maker, made a "miracle candle" for it. The Journal Record reported it sold at Silver Leaf Gems, Frenzy Brewing, Urban Retreat Salon, Sherry's Drug and Hilton Garden Inn.
The March guide told residents to watch for news about a "potential return" of 100 Miles of Christmas and Miracle on 2nd St. Visit Edmond's Miracle on 2nd Street page now lists 2026 holiday events under that name. As of mid-October, nothing has been posted about whether the 11-town 100 Miles of Christmas corridor is coming back.
A few other gaps are worth tracking:
The dates that are set already cover the full stretch. The ice rink opens November 7, the Route 66 birthday is November 11, the tree lights November 12, Luminance runs from November 20 to January 1, and the rink keeps going until January 31.
Holidays are when Edmond fills up with visiting family, and sometimes a relative starts asking what a house near Mitch Park or a few blocks off Broadway would cost. When that question comes up, Matt Berry can give a straight, construction-informed answer about specific homes and streets. Schedule a Consultation.
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