On Friday, December 4, Mulberry's Christmas season starts inside the Gem Theater. The Mulberry High School Choir sings, and someone reads the Christmas story, starting at 6 p.m. The City of Mulberry's event page says space inside is limited. After that the crowd heads out to the street, the city's tree goes on, and people spend the rest of the night walking from one storefront to the next.
That walk is how the whole month works. The city's December calendar has three main events, and each one sends people to downtown businesses. The tree lighting turns into a cookie stroll past local shops. The parade ends at a Christmas Village with paying vendors. On the quieter weeknights between them, Depot 303 runs its own events a couple of blocks from the Gem. The city tracks the food hall's monthly sales through its Community Redevelopment Agency. If you live here, you can plan December by its addresses as much as by its dates.
Friday, December 4: The Tree Lighting Starts Indoors
The City's Christmas Tree Lighting and Cookie Stroll is set for Friday, December 4, 2026, and starts at 6 p.m. The city programs list gives the same date. Here's the order of the evening:
- 6 p.m. inside the Gem Theater at 118 NW 1st Avenue. The Mulberry High School Choir performs and the Christmas story is read. Seating is limited.
- The tree lighting outdoors. The city's tree goes on in downtown Mulberry, and the Purcell Elementary Choir sings.
- The stroll. People walk the downtown streets for cookies and hot chocolate from local businesses and from pop-up cookie stops, while the Mulberry High School Jazz Band plays.
The city describes the stroll like this:
"After the tree lights up the night, stroll through the downtown streets to enjoy cookies and hot chocolate from local businesses and festive 'pop-up cookie stops.'"
The page also says TECO "powers" the tree lighting. If you want a seat for the choir, plan to be at the Gem before 6, since the indoor part is the only one with a capacity limit. Everything after it happens outside on the street. The city's calendar page is the place to check the schedule before you go.
Saturday, December 12: The Village Opens at Spence Park
Eight days later, the second big night follows the same pattern. The Christmas Parade and Mulberry Christmas Village both fall on Saturday, December 12, 2026.
The parade application sets this year's theme as "Christmas Characters on Parade." Entries line up at Mulberry High School. Expect floats and walking groups built around that theme. If your church, club or business is entering, the application page has the details.
The Christmas Village starts right after the parade and runs until 9 p.m., according to the city's vendor form. It's held at Spence Park, 1100 NE 1st Street, which the city lists as the village's host park. The same form tells vendors that many guests watch the parade from Spence Park, so a booth that's set up early may start selling before the village officially opens.
For anyone deciding where to watch, Spence Park is the obvious spot. You'll already be standing where the village opens after the parade. The city charges vendors $20 to apply, which is low enough that the booths will likely include small local sellers alongside larger ones.
Fill the Afternoon Before the Parade
The parade and village are evening events. If you want to make a full Saturday of December 12, the Mulberry Phosphate Museum at 101 SE 1st Street is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. That leaves time for a daytime visit before people start heading to Spence Park. Visit Central Florida describes the museum's regular programs as including fossil celebrations and S.T.E.A.M. Saturdays. If you have kids who will be up late for the parade, it gives them something to do during the day.
A wider loop is possible too. Florida State Parks reports that the Gravitron bike trail at nearby Alafia River State Park has been closed for repair since August 5, 2026. All other trail areas there are open. So a Saturday-morning ride is still an option, with that one trail off the list.
The Food Hall That Fills the Weeknights
The tree lighting and parade are eight days apart. In between, the downtown spot with a regular weeknight schedule is Depot 303 at 303 NW 1st Avenue, on the same street as the Gem. The hall's posted hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Those late Friday and Saturday hours line up with both big nights. The hall stays open past the end of the tree lighting on December 4, and on parade night its 10 p.m. close runs an hour past the village's 9 p.m. end.
Depot 303's December calendar fills in the weeknights. Bingo runs 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, and Trivia runs 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays. That puts Trivia on December 3, the night before the tree lighting. Bingo on December 15 falls on the first day of the city's lights contest.
What's Cooking Inside
The vendors listed on the hall's Eat page include Fat Maggies, Pizza Odyssey, Tilaw, Layers by KC and Lola. The same page lists Drop Kitchen as "Coming soon!" The city's September 22, 2026 Community Redevelopment Agency packet describes it as a rotating global bowl concept and the hall's "final vendor," with the opening waiting on final branding and state inspections. The packet also says Chicken & Pig is planning a rebrand that will change its name, concept and team. So the counter you remember may look different by December.
The vendor mix has also changed since the hall opened. When LkldNow covered Depot 303's opening in May 2025, it listed Tilaw, Fat Maggie's, Ling's Dumplings and Pizza Odyssey as the open vendors. Layers by KC, Lola and Chicken & Pig all appear in the city's 2026 sales report.
Why the City Watches Its Numbers
The Community Redevelopment Agency is the city body focused on downtown, and it gets a monthly sales report from Depot 303. According to the September 22, 2026 CRA packet, the hall's sales in August 2026 topped $151,000, its second-highest month since opening. The December crowds at the tree lighting and parade will be walking past the CRA's main downtown project.
The Month on One List
Here is everything above in one list for the fridge:
- Tuesday, Dec. 1: Bingo at Depot 303, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Dec. 3: Trivia at Depot 303, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Christmas Tree Lighting and Cookie Stroll, starting at 6 p.m. inside the Gem Theater.
- Tuesday, Dec. 8: Bingo at Depot 303.
- Thursday, Dec. 10: Trivia at Depot 303.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Christmas Parade, followed by the Christmas Village at Spence Park until 9 p.m. The Phosphate Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Tuesday, Dec. 15: Bingo at Depot 303, and the Christmas Lights Decorating Contest begins.
- Thursday, Dec. 17: Trivia at Depot 303.
- Tuesdays, Dec. 22 and 29: Bingo at Depot 303.
- Saturday, Dec. 26: The lights contest ends.
The lights contest runs December 15 through 26. It's the one event on the list that happens outside downtown, out in residential streets across the city. The city programs page links to the contest application for anyone planning to enter their yard.
If you're thinking of listing your Mulberry home in the new year and want it to look its best through the holidays, Premier Realty Network can help with staging that suits the season and still photographs well in January. Schedule a complimentary home consultation with our Lakeland experts, and we'll walk through your rooms with you before the decorations come down.
