Columbia County's Holiday Season Opens Three Times in Ten Days. Which One Is Yours?

Columbia County's holiday season doesn't start on one night. It starts three times in ten days. A nine-mile race leaves Berwick on Thanksgiving morning. A one-hour parade of lights runs through downtown Bloomsburg on Black Friday. On the first Saturday in December, Market Street in Berwick has traditionally opened to people on foot for a single night. Each one has a short window, a cutoff date or a closing hour, and that window decides how the day goes for you.

The county has two fairgrounds weekends first. Here is the full stretch from this weekend into December, with the narrow part of each event marked.

Two Fairgrounds Weekends Come First

The Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau's seasonal events guide lists the Wine Shine 'n Picklesburg Palooza at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, 620 West 3rd Street, this Saturday, November 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are required. The pourers include 1822 Winery, Derailed Distillery and Excise Distillery, with pickle and shopping vendors such as The Messy Pig, The Pickled Guy and Tim's Chili & Salsa. Everyone shows ID at the door, whatever their age, and only ticketed guests 21 and older get a sampling glass. The guide's advice is to arrive early, because samples go first come, first served. Prize-basket drawings are at 2, 2:30 and 3 p.m. Ticket and parking details are on the LocalWineEvents.com event page.

Pickles have had a downtown storefront in Bloomsburg since February, too. Bloomsburg University's student paper The Voice profiled the Bloomsburg Pickle Barrel in April. Owner Albert Tregaskis rotates small-business brands like Jersey Pickles and told the paper he planned to move one block to a more visible spot downtown.

A week later, the Bloomsburg Antiques Show fills the Industrial Arts Building at the fairgrounds. It runs Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, November 15, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Americana, primitives, advertising pieces and toys. Sunday is the shorter day, so if you're shopping for something specific, plan on Saturday.

Thanksgiving Morning: The Race Already Has a Deadline Behind It

Run for the Diamonds is a nine-mile road race on Thanksgiving Day. It started in 1908, and the visitors bureau calls it the oldest race in Pennsylvania, with more than fifty Olympians in its history. It has been canceled only twice, in 1918 and 1919. The official race site sets the 2026 start for Thursday, November 26, at 10 a.m., with the finish line closing at 1 p.m.

By the time you read this, the cheapest entry is gone. Here is the price schedule on the race's RunSignup page:

• Through October 31: $35 plus a $3 processing fee, the early rate
• November 1 through November 21: $45, plus a $3 processing fee
• Race day: $50, cash or check only

October 31 was also the cutoff for getting your name printed in the race program. If you register now, you're still in the race, but you won't be in the booklet. Packet pickup is Wednesday, November 25, and again on race morning at the Elks. RunSignup lists the Elks Lodge at 117 W. 2nd Street, Berwick, as the event location.

The course is why the finish times look the way they do. Runner's Gazette's report on the 2025 race describes a start on Market Street, a first mile north into the countryside, a climb up Summerhill, rolling ground after that and a final straight back onto Market Street. On that course, Issame El Jazouli won the 116th running last Thanksgiving in a gun time of 44:38.85, according to the official Falcon Race Timing results. WNEP reported about 1,200 participants that year.

The diamonds are real. The race's awards page lists:

1. Diamond rings for the first seven men and diamond pendants for the first seven women
2. Plaques for eighth through fifteenth place, men and women
3. A diamond ring and a diamond pendant for the first male and female finishers in each of four age groups: Masters, 40–49; Veterans, 50–59; Seniors, 60–69; and Super Seniors, 70 and over
4. A new $3,000 prize for setting the overall course record, men's or women's

Spectators can follow the race on the radio. The visitors bureau lists coverage on FM 102.3, 104.3, 106.9 and 107.1, plus AM 930 and 1050, with 104.3 serving Berwick and Bloomsburg. Water stations and portable restrooms sit at the 3.6-mile and 7.2-mile marks.

Black Friday: One Hour Downtown, Then One More at the Fairgrounds

The 7 Mountain Media Parade of Lights is set for downtown Bloomsburg on Friday, November 27, from 6 to 7 p.m. It's free and needs no registration. The visitors bureau promises lighted floats, classic cars, fire trucks and Santa.

Last year, the organizer's registration page had units staging at 4:30 p.m. in the Geisinger Bloomsburg parking lot on Lightstreet Road. The parade then moved along Main Street to Market Street to West 5th Street and ended at Winterfest. That was the 2025 route. The 2026 listing confirms the time and place but not the turns.

If the parade ends at the fairgrounds again, the timing works out well. Winterfest at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds runs Friday, November 27, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 28, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission and free parking. It fills five heated buildings plus outdoor space. With the parade over at 7 p.m. and Winterfest open until 8 on Friday, you get one hour inside the heated buildings after the floats pass. If you'd rather shop without a parade crowd, come Saturday.

December 5: The One Night Berwick Is Walkable

Eight days later, Market Street in Berwick has the narrowest window of the three. The 2026 listing for Berwick Christmas Boulevard puts opening night on Saturday, December 5, from 6 to 9 p.m., free, run by the Berwick Christmas Boulevard Association.

In past seasons, that opening night was the only time the Boulevard has been open to walkers. WNEP's coverage of an earlier opening quoted Association president Patsy Bowers:

"Opening night is the only night people are able to walk the boulevard, so that's the only night, and after that, it's cars, and it's just a wonderful experience for everyone."

The same WNEP report describes the Boulevard as a one-mile display of lights, trees, animated and still figures, and Santa, in a tradition going back more than 75 years. Many of the figures are built and repaired a few blocks away at Berwick's Jingle Hall by a crew of more than 50 volunteers. One of them, David Talanca, told WNEP he had started on the next season "last January as soon as we took it down." Walking the mile on opening night gives you an up-close look at a year of that work.

Benton has its own Winterfest on Park Street the same day, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., so one Saturday can cover both towns. Spend the daylight hours in Benton and get to Market Street in Berwick for the 6 p.m. opening.

Whatever you choose, opening night lasts three hours, from 6 to 9 p.m. on December 5, and it's free.

At CENTURY 21 Mertz & Associates, we've watched these Columbia County traditions come around year after year, and the dates on this page are the ones we'd put on our own calendars. For more on the towns that host them, from Bloomsburg to Berwick and Benton, visit our Columbia County neighborhood page. If you're wondering what your home is worth heading into the new year, request a Free Home Valuation and we'll go over the numbers with you.