Madison's Holiday Tour of Homes goes to a different host depending on the year. The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center hosts it in even-numbered years, and the Morgan County Historical Society takes over in odd-numbered years, when the event is called the Christmas Tour of Homes. So 2026 is the Cultural Center's turn, and the tour runs Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5.
Most people think of the tour as a December event. Its ticket pricing, the downtown shopping weekends around it and the parade that follows a week later all have cutoffs that fall earlier. If you live in town and want the full season, plan it before December starts.
Whose Tour It Is, and What It Pays For
The tour has been going for more than 75 years. Visit Madison calls it the biggest annual fundraiser for both of the organizations that take turns hosting it, and the money supports their preservation and cultural work. The weekend mixes private homes, historic house museums and churches, and you walk it at your own pace.
That's why the host matters. A ticket bought in an even year goes to the Cultural Center at 434 South Main Street. A ticket bought next December goes to the Morgan County Historical Society. If you buy every year, you end up funding both groups that look after the town's old buildings and its stage.
Thanksgiving Is the First Cutoff
The Cultural Center's tour page offers early-bird pricing until Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26 this year. Daylight tours run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and candlelight tours from 5 to 9 p.m., on both days.
| Ticket | Early bird, through Thanksgiving | Regular |
|---|---|---|
| Daylight or Candlelight | $35 | $50 |
| Daylight and Candlelight combo | $50 | $65 |
The combo is the better deal if you buy early. At early-bird pricing, it costs the same $50 as one regular ticket for a single tour. Every ticket is good on both days, and the combo is what lets you walk the daylight tour on Friday and come back for candlelight on Saturday. Groups of 15 or more get a discount. There's also an optional $15 raffle for one night in a historic Madison home, good for 12 months, with blackout dates.
If family is coming for the weekend, the tour's sponsor, the Fairfield Inn about 2.5 miles from downtown, is offering 10% off stays on December 4 and 5 only.
November Belongs to the Shops
Before the tour weekend, downtown holds its own events across three Saturdays and one Friday.
Shop, Sip & Stroll is on Saturday, November 7, and Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participating shops will have promotions, live music and free refreshments.
The Holiday Open House from Madison Main Street is November 13 and 14, so it overlaps the second Stroll Saturday. When you buy something at a participating store and fill out a "Letter to Santa," you're entered in a drawing. Five winners each get a $100 gift card to that store, for $500 in downtown shopping in total. The best part is the limited-edition collectible cookie tin, designed by a local artist each year. You pick up your tin at the Main Street office and then collect cookies at 10 downtown stops. Main Street plans to post the participating stores and cookie stops closer to the weekend, and the trolley route is still to come.
The Madison Artists Guild Holiday Market opens October 24 and stays open through December 31, Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is its seventh year. Everything is handmade for the season by local artists, and each piece is one of a kind, so the best selection comes early. The Guild's events page has the details.
Taken together, the shopping weekends wrap up a few weeks before the tour, and the early-bird deadline sits in between.
December 3 Is the Other Cutoff
The Madison Holiday Parade is Saturday, December 12. The City of Madison and Madison Main Street picked "A Colonial Christmas" as the 2026 theme, in honor of America 250. Visit Madison's holiday page lists a different theme, "Here We Come A-Caroling," so go by the city's 2026 parade packet, which comes from the organizers.
Schools, businesses, civic and church groups, sports teams, music and talent groups, families and individuals can all apply. There's no entry fee, but every entry has to be approved, and applications are due December 3. Floats compete in three categories: Best in Show, Most Creative and Best Use of Theme. Each winner gets a $100 Downtown Dollar prize. Floats can be no taller than 16 feet, and entries with animals have to include a cleanup plan. Questions go to Colleen Hall at Madison Main Street, (706) 752-7945.
Where to Stand on December 12
The published schedule lists the parade from 4 to 5 p.m. The packet gets more specific. Floats stage at the Morgan County Middle School parking lot starting at 2:30, everyone has to be in line by 3:15, judging happens in line, and the parade steps off around 3:50. The route:
- North up East Avenue toward Hancock Street.
- Right on Jefferson Street, across Main Street.
- On toward Town Park, then right on Second Street, where the parade breaks up.
The packet names the best viewing spots: along Hancock and Jefferson, from Hancock to North Second Street. Float winners are announced at the corner of Hancock and West Jefferson as each float goes by, so that corner gets the announcements too. The award-winning MCHS Marching Bulldog Band joins from the track, and the Color Guard comes in at the county archives on Hancock near the courthouse.
The parade happens rain or shine unless the weather is severe. Any delay or cancellation will go out on Main Street Madison's Facebook and Instagram and through the city's Notify Me alerts. Streets reopen soon after the last float goes by.
Caroling by Candlelight follows at Madison Town Park from 5 to 7 p.m. Visit Madison describes choral groups, bands and local musicians performing carols, Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves taking Christmas wishes, hot chocolate, and marshmallows roasted over an open fire.
The Cultural Center's Month on South Main
In its hosting year, the Cultural Center's calendar fills December. After the tour weekend comes the Atlanta Shakespeare Company's A Christmas Carol on Sunday, December 13, at 2:30 p.m. That's the afternoon after the parade. Tickets are $35 for adults and $15 for students. Then the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert is Thursday, December 17, at 8 p.m., with tickets listed at $125.
The building at 434 South Main hosts the year's biggest preservation fundraiser and two of its biggest holiday shows inside two weeks.
One more musical note is out of town. Madison Presbyterian Church says its choir will sing at Carnegie Hall on December 1.
Past the Square
Three traditions outside the downtown blocks keep their own schedules:
- Jack's Creek Christmas Tree Farm, about 15 minutes from downtown, opens for choose-and-cut on November 21 and stays open through December 18. Weekday hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and weekend hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The farm covers more than 50 acres and has cypress, cedar and fresh-cut Fraser firs, hayrides through a tunnel of lights, Grandma's Christmas Shoppe, and photos with Santa on select weekends.
- Christmas on Dixie at 2300 Dixie Highway is a free walk-through light display put on by a local family. It opens Thanksgiving night, and parking is free, though donations are welcome. The tourism listing has it open Thursday through Sunday at first and then nightly through Christmas. Check the family's Facebook page for this year's dates and Santa or Grinch nights.
- Heritage Hall, Rogers House and Rose Cottage have traditionally been decorated in 1850s holiday style by Madison's garden clubs, with guided tours led by Madisonians. Confirm this season's hours with each house museum before you go.
Christmas on Dixie and the tree farm both open in the same Thanksgiving week that early-bird tour pricing ends.
If the tour weekend has you looking more closely at Madison's historic homes, Jennifer Vaughan and our team are glad to talk through the houses, the history and the town around them. Love Where You Live. Let's Get Started.