Leelanau Living Realty Group
With Fishtown Closed for the Season, Leland's Holidays Run Through the Old Art Building
November 12, 2026
Leelanau Living Realty Group
November 12, 2026
Village Cheese Shanty made its last sandwiches on October 23, held its year-end sale on the 24th and closed for the season on October 25. The Cove's website now points to April 1 for the 2027 season. The Bluebird says it is closed for the 2026 season. The Wine Cellar at the Leland Lodge says it will see guests again in June 2027.
The river mouth is quiet now, but the holidays haven't skipped Leland. The season has moved off the docks and onto a calendar. Between now and mid-December, nearly everything happening in town falls on a specific day with a specific start time, and most of those dates belong to the Old Art Building. If you're planning around the holidays here this year, plan by date. Wandering down to the water won't find you much.
Summer Leland runs on walk-up places: a sandwich on the dock, a drink at the river, an evening at whatever patio has a seat. In late fall those places close one after another. For anyone keeping track, here's where things stand by publish day:
That's why the holiday season here is shaped the way it is. With the spontaneous options gone, the season's social life comes down to a few organized nights. The Leland Chamber of Commerce supplies the town-wide ones. The Old Art Building supplies the ones you need a ticket for.
The Chamber's kickoff, Light Up Leland, is on Wednesday, November 25, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Light Up Leland used to be a Black Friday event. As The Leelanau Ticker reported in its 2025 holiday roundup, the Chamber moved it to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year. This year's listing keeps it there, so 2026 is the second year on the new date.
It's a practical spot on the calendar. Thanksgiving week is when out-of-town family arrives, and a Wednesday evening lighting gives everyone something to do in town the night before the big meal. If your house fills up that week, it's an easy first outing. Show up a few minutes before 5:30.
The Old Art Building used that same Wednesday last year to start its "Season of Lights." The 2025 display had a "12 days of Leland" theme, with each tree decorated by a different local business or organization. The town's two holiday calendars started on the same night.
The Chamber's calendar starts on the 25th. The Old Art Building's starts on November 20, with three days in a row the weekend before Thanksgiving. Here's its holiday program in order, with prices as posted:
That's six holiday dates at one building, and three of them come before the town's official kickoff.
The December show is coming back. The OAB's 2026 event page says it's "back," and The Ticker's 2025 roundup described last year's Andrew Dost variety show on December 13 as sold out.
Last year that was one night. This year it's two, December 11 and 12. A second night doubles the seats, but a show that sold out on a single night in 2025 is still the hardest ticket of Leland's holiday season. If you're hosting guests the second weekend of December, buy tickets before you plan anything else.
The workshops sell out differently. The ornament class, the Hygge Night and the candle workshop are all hands-on sessions with supplies included. Classes like that can only take as many people as there are seats at the table, so register early for those too.
The Chamber's other listings fill the gaps between the OAB's dates:
Put these next to the OAB list and Leland's holiday month has a steady rhythm. The weekend before Thanksgiving belongs to the Old Art Building. Thanksgiving week belongs to the Chamber, starting with the Wednesday lighting and continuing through the shopping days that weekend. The first Saturday in December is the Cocoa Crawl. The second weekend is the variety show. The season closes with Sip and Shop on the evening of December 17.
For the shopping days, it helps to know the town's year-round shops. Leelanau Goods is at 133 River St. in Fishtown and posts hours of 11 to 5 every day. Store hours can change in the off-season, so call before you plan a trip around any one stop.
The Leland Township Library has its own short holiday-season schedule, and one date lines up with the Chamber's last event.
The screening and Sip and Shop are on the same day, two hours apart. That makes for an easy afternoon-into-evening plan on the 17th: the film first, then the shops when Sip and Shop opens at 4.
Once Fishtown's seasonal kitchens close, eating out in Leland after a holiday event takes a little planning. Two places post evening hours:
Bogey's 19th Hole at the Leland Lodge describes itself as a year-round restaurant. It posts dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., with the bar opening at 4. That works for the Wednesday lighting, the Friday concert and both nights of the variety show. On variety-show nights you'll want an early table or a late drink, since the show itself runs 6 to 7:30.
The Riverside Inn posts dinner Thursday through Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. and is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. That covers the November 20 concert, the Sunday Hygge Night weekend and the December 11 and 12 shows. It does not cover Light Up Leland, which is on a Wednesday. On the evening of the 25th, Bogey's is the dinner option of the two.
Both places post these hours on their own sites without a seasonal end date, so call ahead, especially the week of Thanksgiving.
Leland has newer names too. Morning on Main opened for breakfast at 101 South Main Street in April, in the former Early Bird space, as The Leelanau Ticker reported at the time. In May, The Leelanau Ticker reported plans for Carp River Bottle & Tap at 110 W. River Street, a harbor-side tasting room for Baia Estate wine and cider. Check their winter hours before you count on either for a holiday outing.
Our Leland office is right in the middle of all this, and we'd be happy to help you get through it. If your Leland rental is booked for Thanksgiving week or the variety-show weekend, Leelanau Living Realty Group can give your guests the dates, the dinner hours and the ticket links before they arrive, so the holiday is easy for them and for you. Relax. We got this.
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807 W Front St,I was raised in Cincinnati. My dad was a professor at U.C. and so we were fortunate to have the entire summer to spend on North Lake Leelanau. Summers in Leelanau were such a gift. Starting at the age of twelve we were able to drive the boat into town or to the yacht club. My days were jam-packed. I would teach sailing school at the Leland Yacht Club in the mornings, then take a nap on the dock or the beach, shower, then drive into Leland where I had a job as a hostess. My sisters and I did this every summer and when we had a driver's license we had more options for employment. I stashed away thousands of dollars every summer (literally in a shoe box). Yes, we worked our tails off, but it really did not seem like it since we were enjoying all the beauty of Leelanau at the same time.
I graduated from Miami of Ohio and after graduation I bought the Riverside Inn with my mother and my sister. I later sold my shares when I realized that being a single parent did not pair well with working late nights. After that I was fortunate enough to spend about a decade as a full time parent and I cherish every moment of those years with my (now adult) kiddos, Mackenzie and Sean.
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