Photo courtesy of Ocean House RI \ Photograph by Chip Riegel
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Westerly has two trees and one sunset. At 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 28, the Chorus of Westerly starts carols in Wilcox Park. At the same minute in Watch Hill, Santa is due to arrive by firetruck on the front drive of Ocean House at 1 Bluff Ave.
Both are annual traditions, and both take place outside. The Wilcox Park lighting runs a half hour, from 4:30 to 5 p.m., so anyone planning to catch both will find they overlap.
Saturday is the only part of Westerly's holiday week where the town divides. Downtown has a program on Friday, Saturday and the following Wednesday, and the Watch Hill lighting is a single bright evening in the middle of it.
Friday, 6 p.m., Dixon Square
The week opens downtown the night after Thanksgiving. The Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce lists Santa's arrival for Friday, Nov. 27, at 6 p.m. in Dixon Square, 4 High St.
Santa and other holiday characters come in on fire trucks. Children get free coloring books, crayons and lollipops, and according to the Chamber's listing, Santa "heads back to the North Pole once all the children have been greeted." The Chamber doesn't set an end time. The event lasts as long as the line does.
This is the first of three downtown evenings in six days, and it sets up Saturday. Families who went to Dixon Square on Friday will be choosing on Saturday afternoon between another downtown event and a drive to the shore.
Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Two Addresses
Here is how the two ceremonies compare:
Wilcox Park, downtown Westerly
- Hosted by Westerly Library and Wilcox Park, the 12th annual lighting
- 4:30 to 5 p.m.
- Carols by the Chorus of Westerly, plus holiday treats and hot cocoa
- Contact for the library and park: 401-596-2877
Ocean House, Watch Hill
- Held on the hotel's front drive at 1 Bluff Ave.
- Starts at 4:30 p.m.
- Santa arrives by firetruck, then fireworks, complimentary hot chocolate and Christmas cookies
- Guests are encouraged to bring an unwrapped, boxed toy for donation
The practical differences are in the fine print. Ocean House's event page says the ceremony and refreshments are held entirely outdoors, and only overnight guests can go inside the hotel. No reservations are required, and the hotel strongly suggests warm clothing. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, after dark, on a bluff above the water, that warning is worth taking seriously. Bring hats for the children and plan to stay outside through the fireworks.
The Wilcox Park lighting is short, and that's the point. At thirty minutes from first carol to last cocoa, it fits between an afternoon on High Street and dinner downtown. The same organization runs the library, which is just across the park.
Each option sets up a different evening. The Watch Hill lighting is the bigger event, with fireworks and a toy drive. The Wilcox Park lighting ties into a downtown weekend that started Friday at Dixon Square and continues the following Wednesday.
Wednesday, 5 to 9 p.m., the Whole Downtown
Four days later, downtown hosts the event that covers the most ground. The 29th annual Holiday Stroll & Luminaria is set for Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. "throughout Downtown Westerly-Pawcatuck," and it is free. Luminaria line the sidewalks, participating shops run promotions and coupons, and there's hot chocolate and cookies along the route.
Holding it on a Wednesday is a tradition. The Westerly Sun's "Picks of the Week" listed the 2025 Stroll for Wednesday, Dec. 3, from 5 to 9 p.m. The paper's 2023 photo recap of the 26th Stroll also described a Wednesday evening. A weekday evening, after work and after the holiday weekend's out-of-town guests have gone home, gives the shops a night of their own.
The stroll also crosses the Pawcatuck River, since the route covers both Westerly and Pawcatuck, where one Mechanic Street bakery has outgrown its space.
On the Pawcatuck Side, a Bagel Shop Grows
The Westerly Sun reported that Flour Shop Bagels planned a move to a bigger location, from 20 Mechanic St. in Pawcatuck to 15 Palmer St. According to the Sun, the new space is nearly three times larger and adds a dining room and a patio, and the paper said the move would happen before the end of the year.
The bakery's history explains why a move is news. Co-owners Jon and Hannah Young began with a driveway bagel stand in the summer of 2021, selling six bagels and a handful of pastries, as a photo hanging in the Mechanic Street shop records. The Sun's story lists bagels, scones, muffins and lemonade on the menu. A shop that started in a driveway five summers ago and now needs room for a dining room and patio is one of the local businesses the Stroll is meant to showcase. If you're planning a Wednesday evening walk or a weekend coffee run, check which address is serving.
The Weekdays Between
The Westerly Library has its own calendar in the gaps between those evenings. It has made November a STEAM-themed month, with crafts, coding, a screening and storytime, and themed displays for children, tweens, teens and adults. This is the same organization that lights the Wilcox Park tree on Nov. 28. In October it ran its Myths & Legends month, which included the fifth annual Fall Fest & Pumpkin Stroll. The library and park keep a program going through every month of the fall, and the tree lighting is one stop on that calendar.
The Next Weekend Moves Up the Coast
The Wednesday Stroll closes out Westerly's week. That Saturday, the holiday calendar moves to Narragansett, which has events on two days:
- Saturday, Dec. 5: The Narragansett Chamber of Commerce Holiday Street Faire at Parks & Recreation, 170 Clarke Road, starting late morning and running until 4 p.m. The Chamber says the event will feature artists, food makers, crafters and small businesses, with free transportation from parking at Scarborough Beach.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: The town's Festival of Lights at Gazebo Park, noon to 5:30 p.m., according to the Town of Narragansett's 2026 special events calendar.
The shuttle from Scarborough Beach is the main planning detail. The Faire is held at the Parks & Recreation building rather than along the beachfront, and the free transport takes care of parking for a busy Saturday.
Taken together, the stretch from Nov. 27 to Dec. 6 includes six public events in ten days across two towns. Only one time slot forces a choice, 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 28, and it's between the shoreline at Watch Hill and a half hour of carols in Wilcox Park.
If you walk downtown on Dec. 2 and start wondering what your own Westerly home might be worth this winter, the Steven Miller Group can put a number on it quietly, on your schedule. Request Your Home Value, and enjoy the luminaria.
