Groton's December Runs on Main Street by Day and Groton Hill by Night
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
Five local hosts put Groton's holiday season together, and each one takes a different part of the day. The Groton Business Association has the Saturday afternoon festival. The Groton Inn has Santa. Groton Hill Music Center has the evenings. The Groton Conservation Trust has the mornings outdoors, and the Groton Center has the weekday programs. On Saturday, Dec. 5, their schedules stack into a single day in town, with a festival in the afternoon, dinner at 5 and a concert at 8.
Below is the calendar, sorted by host and in the order the days arrive.
GrotonFest Winter runs from noon to 4 p.m. that Saturday at two venues, Prescott Community Center and The Groton Inn. The Groton Business Association produces the GrotonFest events. The festival name goes back to 1979, and the organizer's site says "46 Years Running." The winter edition is much newer. The Lowell Sun described a Groton winter festival and artisan fair as inaugural when it was announced for Dec. 4, 2021. So the winter festival has only a few seasons behind it, while the summer festival has decades of habit.
The GrotonFest Winter page lists Santa, hayrides, carolers and live music, warm food, hot chocolate and food trucks. Vendors will sell seasonal décor, apparel, handmade gifts, jewelry, baked goods and crafts. Photo booths and nonprofit groups round it out. Admission is free, as it is for all GrotonFest events. The Groton Inn's event listing adds warm food, hot drinks, sweets and a cash bar at the Inn.
After 4 p.m., the rest of the day still holds together:
Groton Hill has a show every night from Wednesday, Dec. 2, through Sunday, Dec. 6, so the Norm Lewis concert falls in the middle of its busiest week.
Groton Hill's 2026 holiday concert page runs from Dec. 2 to Dec. 20. The venue promotes free parking, plus farm-to-table pre-concert dining in its Woodland Room for patrons.
| Date | Performance | Time | Tickets, incl. fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Dec. 2 | Aoife O'Donovan & Chris Thile: Wassail! | 8 p.m. | Sold out |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | Mr Sun Plays Ellington's Nutcracker Suite | 8 p.m. | From $49 |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Sara Evans: Holiday Road Tour | 8 p.m. | From $49, low tickets |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Norm Lewis | 8 p.m. | From $69 |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Groton Hill Big Band's "Holiday Swing!" | 3 p.m. | From $25, free for 12 and under |
| Thu., Dec. 10 to Sun., Dec. 13 | Vista Philharmonic's Christmas Magic | Five performances | From $30 |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Wintery Songs in Eleventy Part Harmony | 7 p.m. | From $45 |
| Wed., Dec. 16 | Take 6: Spread Love at Christmas | 8 p.m. | From $59 |
| Fri., Dec. 18 | Lúnasa's Irish Solstice Celebration | 8 p.m. | From $49 |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | An Evening with Squirrel Nut Zippers: Christmas Caravan Tour | 8 p.m. | From $55 |
| Sun., Dec. 20 | Boston Gay Men's Chorus: Holigays | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. | From $37 |
The two family-priced shows are the Big Band's Sunday matinee and the Christmas Magic run. The Big Band show, led by Jerry Sabatini with guest vocalists Bebe Wood and Daon Drisdom, is free for children 12 and under. Maestro Bruce Hangen and the Vista Philharmonic Orchestra perform Christmas Magic five times. There are evening shows at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, plus matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The program includes a sing-along. Mr Sun's Dec. 3 show is a string band take on Duke Ellington's version of the Nutcracker Suite, with Darol Anger on fiddle, Joe K. Walsh on mandolin, Grant Gordy on guitar and Aidan O'Donnell on bass.
Puritan Tavern is open Tuesday through Saturday, so it covers most of these concert nights. The Sunday performances fall outside its hours: the Big Band on Dec. 6, the Christmas Magic matinee and Wintery Songs on Dec. 13, and the Boston Gay Men's Chorus on Dec. 20.
The Groton Inn shares the Dec. 5 festival with Prescott Community Center. Two weeks later, on Saturday, Dec. 19, it hosts its own Santa events. Breakfast with Santa runs from 9 to 11:30 a.m. with a buffet, photos with Santa and story time. When the listing went up, its ticket link was marked "coming soon," so check the page before you plan around it. From noon to 2 p.m. the same day, the Inn's Annual Photos with Santa is free in the lobby. The Inn asks visitors to bring a food donation for Loaves & Fishes.
Families who miss Santa on Dec. 5 get another chance on Dec. 19. The second visit also gives something back to the local food pantry.
Groton's land trust brackets the season with two free outdoor events, one at each end. The Groton Conservation Trust holds a Black Friday walk on Friday, Nov. 27, at 11 a.m. It's a quiet morning outside while the rest of the region heads to the stores. On Sunday, Dec. 20, at 8 a.m., the Trust runs its Groton-Oxbow Annual Christmas Bird Count. That's the morning after the Inn's Santa events. Both are free, and the Trust asks people to register for each.
For a household planning the month, the Trust's two dates are the first and last fixed points of the season. One falls the day after Thanksgiving. The other falls the weekend before Christmas.
During the week, most of the holiday programming happens at the Groton Center. Its November/December 2026 newsletter has a holiday event nearly every week, starting Thursday, Nov. 19.
The library adds one more event that same Thursday evening. Groton Public Library's Build-a-Board holiday workshop with Abbie Snyder runs on Nov. 19 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at 99 Main St. Registration is required, so check the library calendar before you head over.
Laid out by host, the whole season fits in a few lines:
Four of these hosts are at work on Saturday, Dec. 5. The Business Association and the Inn have the afternoon, Puritan Tavern has dinner, and Groton Hill has the 8 p.m. curtain. If you only have one free December day to spend in town, Dec. 5 is the one the calendar supports best.
The season also brings people into Groton's homes, and some homeowners start wondering what their own place would be worth on today's market. When that question comes up, Colleen Murphy and the St. Martin Team can give you a straight answer from people who follow this town closely. Request your complimentary home valuation, and enjoy the music, the hayrides and the bird count in the meantime.
The St. Martin Team is a team of dedicated and well-respected Realtors®️ and they welcome the opportunity to meet with you and count you among our lifelong clients. Contact them today!