When YourArlington's Eatington column reviewed Colette on Nov. 7, the French bakery at 681 Mass Ave had been open for about a week, and early mornings were already busy. Owner Nathalie Beddiar told the column why she picked Arlington. "We liked the energy," she said. "People ride bicycles and enjoy being outside. Families come in together and read their books across from the library."
The library across the street is Robbins Library, and that stretch of Mass Ave is where Arlington's holiday season starts in two weeks. Over the ten days that follow, the season works its way up the avenue. The Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Arlington Brewing Company, a nonprofit café on Mill Street and the Arlington Heights Community Association each run a piece, and each piece leads into the next.
Thursday, Dec. 3: First Lights in Whittemore Park
The season starts on a weeknight in Arlington Center. The Chamber's First Lights in Whittemore Park runs Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in front of the Jefferson Cutter House at 611 Massachusetts Ave.
The Chamber lists:
- Music
- Hot cocoa and cookies
- A visit from Santa
- A live ice sculptor
- A chance to tour the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
The Chamber's event page has a registration link. The event lasts 90 minutes on a school night, much shorter than the two Saturdays that follow, and it stays at the Center end of Mass Ave. Colette sits at 681 and Robbins Library at 700, both a short way up the avenue from the park.
Saturday, Dec. 5: Two Neighborhoods, One Day
Two days later, the calendar splits. The Heights event starts in the morning and the Center events take the afternoon. The two overlap by one hour.
| Time | Where | What | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 27 businesses in Arlington Heights | Winter window painting, 60+ storefront windows | Arlington Heights Community Association with the Arlington Chamber |
| Noon to 6 p.m. | Arlington Town Hall, 869 Mass Ave | Arlington Holiday Market, part one | Arlington Brewing Company |
| Noon to 6 p.m. | Mill Café, 14 Mill St. | Arlington Holiday Market, part two | Arlington Brewing Company |
| 1 p.m. | Town Hall | Story time with Santa | Holiday Market |
| 4 p.m. | Mill Café | Story time with Santa | Holiday Market |
Arlington Brewing Company's listing says the market is free and has more than 100 local vendors across the two locations. The brewery tells shoppers to visit both buildings. Santa is in a different building for each story time, so a family can catch both by moving from Town Hall in the early afternoon to Mill Street by 4.
If you're painting a window in the morning, the Heights session ends at 1 p.m., the same hour Santa reads at Town Hall. Painters and their kids can still make the 4 p.m. story time at Mill Café without rushing.
Why the Market's Second Room Is on Mill Street
The market's second venue already has ties to the brewery. The café at 14 Mill St. describes itself as a nonprofit that offers hospitality and jobs to people with disabilities, and it sends its profits to nonprofit partners. According to the café's music bookings page, Arlington Brewing Company books the bands for its monthly after-hours live-music series.
Mill Café hosts other local food businesses, too. YourArlington's calendar listed a Redwood Bakery pop-up at Mill Café on Nov. 7, with pumpkin-spice-latte cinnamon rolls and cacio e pepe scones. On Dec. 5, the market brings Town Hall into the same setup.
The Heights Paints Its Own Scenery a Week Early
The Heights is the clearest case of one event setting up the next. The Dec. 5 window painting is the sixth annual edition, and the paintings stay up through mid-January. They're also a featured part of the sixth annual Heights Holiday Stroll on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 2 to 5 p.m., rain or shine. The Chamber's listing for the stroll says it's free.
So the decorations for the Heights' biggest December afternoon are painted by residents a week ahead. The YourArlington listing describes winter scenes on more than 60 storefront windows at 27 Heights businesses, with "snowmen, polar bears, people at winter play and more."
For anyone who wants to paint one of those windows, the timeline is short and starts now:
- Register by Saturday, Nov. 21. Registration is only online, through the Chamber's 2026 window painting page. The first 60 entries get a spot, and the site closes once all slots are filled, so it could close before the 21st.
- Pay the $30 fee. It covers acrylic paints and brushes, which painters get on the day.
- Check your email about a week after registration closes. Painters get their window assignment, a rules flyer, and a list of supplies and tips.
- Paint on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, Dec. 6, at the same hours.
- Come back for the stroll on Dec. 12, when the windows are part of the event.
All Arlington residents can sign up, along with anyone who attends school in Arlington. Painters under 12 need an adult with them.
The group behind it is a neighborhood volunteer group. The Arlington Heights Community Association is made up of Heights business owners, residents and nonprofits. It meets on the third Thursday morning of each month and runs three seasonal window paintings, the Holiday Stroll and the Spring Fling Festival. The December windows are one of three paintings it runs each year.
Before and After the Main Stretch
The ten days from Dec. 3 to Dec. 12 hold the biggest events, and a few smaller dates fall on either side.
Friday, Nov. 20. The Arlington Historical Society's Games & Glory board-game night runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at 7 Jason St. That's tomorrow, for anyone reading this on publish day.
Saturday, Nov. 21. Registration for the Heights window painting closes.
Sunday, Dec. 20. The Regent Theatre hosts The Platters Very Merry Christmas Show at 3 p.m., with doors at 2:15.
The Wednesday farmers market isn't part of this year's holiday stretch. The Arlington Farmers' Market runs Wednesdays from June through October at Russell Commons, and its 2026 season is over until June.
Two New Stops Along the Center Route
Two businesses opened in Arlington Center just before the season, and they keep very different hours.
Colette opens early, and the YourArlington review says the pastry cases are fullest in the early morning. All of its bakers are French. It uses stone-ground Grands Moulins de Paris flour and Normandy butter, and it brews beans from Atomic Coffee Roasters on the North Shore. Beddiar told the column she skips wifi on purpose so customers can "spend time with themselves and what's around them." Asked about her best seller, she named the croissant au chocolat, which is labeled Cho-Colette in the case. The Arlington shop is one of four Colette locations.
Fresh & Go! never closes. Patch reported on Nov. 6 that the automated food market, run by Arsenal Catering Group, opened at 325 Broadway in Arlington Center as the company's first 24/7 location. Customers tap a credit card, open a refrigerated cooler and take breakfast sandwiches, wraps, sandwiches or protein yogurt. An AI system identifies the items and charges the card, with no cashier. The food is made daily in the company's commercial kitchen in Cambridge.
From the early bakery at 681 Mass Ave to the market on Broadway that never closes, Arlington Center has new places to stop at either end of the day, just as the holiday events start bringing people downtown.
At Marjie & Phil, we spend every December on this same stretch, from Whittemore Park to the painted windows in the Heights. If walking the Mass Ave route this year gets you wondering what your own Arlington home is worth, we're glad to talk it through over a Cho-Colette. Get your instant home valuation, and we'll give you a real number.
