Rosslyn's Holiday Season Now Opens Before Thanksgiving and Peaks in Three December Days

Last year the Rosslyn Holiday Market ran over two days in December, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 and 7, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Central Place Plaza. This year it's one Saturday in November. The Rosslyn Business Improvement District lists the 2026 market for Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Central Place Plaza, 1800 N. Lynn St. On its Rosslyn Cheer page, the date carries the label "NEW DATE & TIME." ARLnow's event listing, posted Oct. 21, gives the same date and hours.

That one change reshapes the whole season. Rosslyn Cheer now has two parts. There's a shopping day the weekend before Thanksgiving, then a separate cluster of plaza events packed into the first week of December. If you treat the market as a December thing, the way it worked last year, you'll miss it.

Same plaza, very different calendar

Here are the two years side by side, using the BID's own listings for each.

So the market is now 15 days earlier than last year's opening day, and it has four fewer total hours. The evening events moved by only a day, because Dec. 3 is this year's first Thursday in December the same way Dec. 4 was last year's. The tree lighting and the dog party stayed put on the calendar. The market is the piece that moved.

Each day is longer, though. The 2026 market stays open until 4 p.m., an hour past last year's 3 p.m. close. Santa visits from 2 to 4 p.m., so he takes up the final two hours. If the kids are the reason you're going, plan for the afternoon. If browsing the vendors is the reason, get there early, because there's no Sunday to come back on.

What the one Saturday is carrying

In 2025 the market listed 32 vendors on the BID's vendor page. The 2026 page hasn't posted a vendor count. It describes the market as "one-of-a-kind gifts, handmade goods, and festive finds from small business vendors across the region," and says more details are coming. The vendor application form is still linked from the event page.

Whatever the final lineup turns out to be, it now fits into a single day. And that day falls five days before Thanksgiving, when plenty of people are still shopping for the table, not for gifts. A wreath bought on Nov. 21 gets a full extra week on the door compared with last year's timing. Gifts bought then are done before the Black Friday rush. The BID also has an Eventbrite RSVP on the market page if you want reminders.

Then the plaza goes quiet until December

After the market, Rosslyn Cheer becomes a calendar of smaller moments. Here's the full order as the BID lists it:

1. Wed., Nov. 18, 8 a.m. Hot Chocolate Sticks, one of the BID's trike activations, the Wednesday before the market.
2. Sat., Nov. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Holiday Market at Central Place Plaza, with Santa from 2 to 4 p.m.
3. Nov. 25–Dec. 3 Winter clothing drive for PathForward, collecting gently used winter clothing.
4. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Dec. 1–17 Find Cheerio. Spot the BID's holiday mascot around the neighborhood for six chances to win a restaurant gift card.
5. Wed., Dec. 2, 12 p.m. Rosslyn Cheer Ornaments trike.
6. Thu., Dec. 3, 5–7 p.m. Light the Plaza.
7. Fri., Dec. 4, 5–7 p.m. Santa Paws Yappy Hour.
8. All of December Open Rewards, 5% back at participating Rosslyn restaurants and businesses.

Look at Dec. 2 through Dec. 4. Three straight days, Wednesday through Friday, hold the ornament trike, the tree lighting and the dog event. The clothing drive ends on Dec. 3, the same evening the tree is lit. If you've been holding a bag of outgrown coats since Thanksgiving, the walk over to Light the Plaza is your last chance to drop it off.

The tree lighting and the dog party, back to back

Light the Plaza lights a 24-foot holiday tree at Central Place Plaza, with festive music, raffles and a cash bar, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 3. The next evening, in the same place and the same two-hour window, Santa Paws Yappy Hour brings treats for dogs, drinks for their people and time to mingle. Neither page names sponsors or partners yet. Both say more details are coming soon.

Last year's dog event is a useful warning. The 2025 Santa Paws, scheduled for Friday, Dec. 5, was canceled. The BID's update said it was called off "for the safety and comfort of attendees and their pets" because below-freezing temperatures were expected. As a fallback, the BID brought Right Place Studio to the Sunday market to engrave custom dog bone ornaments for free while supplies lasted. That only worked because the market was the same weekend.

This year that safety net is gone. The market will be two weeks in the past by Dec. 4. If the forecast turns on the first Friday of December again, nothing on the calendar is set up to catch the dog crowd. If Santa photos with your dog are the point, the Nov. 21 market is the more reliable outdoor date, though the BID hasn't listed a pet activity for it so far.

Where the warm-up stops are

Apart from the market, the big plaza events are the two 5 p.m. starts on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, and the trike stops are at 8 a.m. on Nov. 18 and noon on Dec. 2. Most of that lands on cold days, so it helps to know where to warm up. The BID's Holiday Coffee & Cocktails guide, linked from the Rosslyn Cheer page, lists seasonal drinks within a short walk of Central Place Plaza. The guide doesn't carry a date, so think of these as the BID's picks, not a promise of this year's menus.

• For Five Coffee Roasters, 1735 N. Lynn St.: pumpkin spice chai, toffee nut latte, pistachio white mocha, peppermint mocha and a pumpkin spice espresso martini.
• Lightning Coffee at Upside on Moore, 1700 N. Moore St.: Gingerbread Velvet Latte, Holiday Honey Cinnamon Matcha and an Iced Coconut Americano.
• Compass Coffee, 1201 Wilson Blvd.: gingerbread latte, Gingerbread Cream Cold Brew, peppermint mocha and peppermint latte.
• Locket, 1900 Fort Myer Drive, Suite 100: a Maple Apple Martini and a cranberry cocktail.

Two newer spots weren't open for last year's Cheer. ARLnow reported in September that Noble Fox Bar & Terrace opened on the fourth floor of 1121 19th St. N. It serves breakfast and dinner, has a terrace overlooking the Potomac, and runs a weekday happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. Chef Francecil Ponte told the outlet the menu would reflect "seasonality, curiosity, and a genuine love of bringing people together." That happy hour covers the first two hours of both the Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 events, so a drink upstairs before the 5 p.m. tree lighting fits easily.

For the 8 a.m. Hot Chocolate Sticks morning, ARLnow reported on Sept. 28 that Bullfrog Bagels is now sold at the Ghostburger stall inside UPSIDE on Moore. You can buy them individually, by the half-dozen or as breakfast sandwiches. The Rosslyn and Spensers' Shroom-Alone are on the sandwich list. Open Rewards kicks in during December, so the 5% back covers those stops through the Dec. 1–17 Find Cheerio run, though not the Nov. 21 market.

Why every event is on the same plaza

Every 2026 Rosslyn Cheer event with a fixed address lists Central Place Plaza at 1800 N. Lynn St., the same as in 2025. Gateway Park, at 1300 Langston Blvd., is still listed as "In Design" on Arlington County's project page. The County Board adopted its master plan and design guidelines on Dec. 14, 2024, and the county projects construction will begin in 2027. The plan calls for a new lawn and event spaces, an updated dog park and gardens, safer pedestrian connections, play areas and room for public art. For this season, though, Rosslyn's outdoor holiday life is the plaza on Lynn Street. We covered how the park plan is already moving Rosslyn's gathering spots in our August look at the neighborhood.

The BID's 2026 pages still say "more details coming soon," so check the Rosslyn Cheer page before Nov. 21 for vendor names and any late changes. For now, the two dates to put on the fridge are Nov. 21 for the market and Dec. 3 for the tree.

I volunteer every week with the Arlington Food Assistance Center, and the holidays are always busy. So yes, I'll be the one at the plaza with a coffee in one hand and a donation bag in the other. If the holiday market is also when you start thinking about what next year looks like for your home in Rosslyn, let's talk before the calendar fills up. Book a consultation with Coral Gundlach.