Around 1946 or 1947, a small mechanical Santa in a velvet suit showed up in the window of Marguerite Parker Galicich's gift shop on North Front Street. He played Christmas music on a pipe organ. Decades later he came back to Rock Springs, and since 2007 he has lived at the Rock Springs Historical Museum. These days he plays from the old firehouse doors.
The Marguerite Santa is the oldest thing on downtown's holiday calendar by a long way. Christmas in the Park at Bunning Park first ran in 2024. The 56 life-sized Santas along South Main and North Front Street were also on display that November, in a showing the Rocket-Miner headlined as their debut. So the 2026 season is only the third run of a holiday downtown built in the last two years. Every big new piece of it is tied to the town's old nickname, the "Home of 56 Nationalities."
Bunning Park is the newest anchor, and it's growing
The City of Rock Springs Parks & Recreation Department and Rock Springs Main Street/URA launched Christmas in the Park together in 2024 and called it a first-ever event. For 2026, Downtown Rock Springs has set First Light for Saturday, November 28 at 5:30 p.m. That's when more than 100,000 lights come on in the park. They stay lit every night through January 1.
The lights run every night, but the programming doesn't. Live performances, food trucks and hot cocoa happen on Friday and Saturday evenings through December 19. Weeknights are mostly for walking through the lights. The organizers are still recruiting performing groups and nonprofits for the event nights. The Main Street office at 307-352-1434 is the contact for groups that want a slot.
The new feature this year is a glassblowing workshop run by Ikonic Glass from December 10 to 20. Each participant spends about 20 minutes shaping a glass ornament with the artisans. According to the ticket page, tickets cost $35, participants must be 10 or older, and each timeslot takes up to four people. With four people per slot over an 11-day window, booking ahead makes more sense here than at a walk-up light display.
Some details from last year haven't been confirmed for 2026. In 2025, SweetwaterNOW reported that the park display was free, open nightly from 5:30 p.m. to midnight, and offered free Lions Club train rides on Fridays and Saturdays. The 2026 listing so far confirms the food trucks. It doesn't yet list nightly hours, admission or the train. Treat those as last year's setup until the 2026 details come out.
Fifty-six Santas, one for each nationality
The second big piece downtown takes the nickname literally. Christmas Around the World is a set of 56 life-sized, hand-drawn Santas, one for each nationality in the town's slogan. They stand along South Main Street and North Front Street. Each one comes with a description of how that country celebrates the holidays. Susan Fitch Design created the characters. Volunteer Bill Ruoff cut out every figure and spent hundreds of hours getting them ready for display. When Wyo4News covered the display in November 2024, the exhibit was free.
The descriptions are the best part. Japan's Santa-san comes with the Christmas Eve KFC tradition. Romania's Moș Crăciun, "Old Man Christmas," brings gifts on Christmas Eve. The full list covers a lot of ground. Here's a sample, grouped by region:
- Northern Europe and the British Isles: Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Wales
- Western Europe: France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain
- Central Europe and Italy: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland
- The Balkans and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine
- The Middle East and beyond: Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, South Africa
- The Americas: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela
The Santa display covers about the same stretch of downtown as the shops and the theater. A walk past the figures also takes you past Bunning Hall, the Broadway Theater and the gazebo at D and Broadway.
The Historical Museum covers December
The Marguerite Santa has his own run on the 2026 downtown holiday calendar. He's on display at the Rock Springs Historical Museum from December 1 to January 5 and plays every night between 6 and 7 p.m. The museum also runs Letters to Santa from December 1 to Christmas Eve. Drop off a letter to the North Pole and an elf mails back a personalized postcard.
He plays at 6 p.m. and the park lights come on at 5:30, so the two fit into the same December evening. The organ-playing Santa from a 1940s shop window and the 100,000 lights from 2024 are a short walk apart.
How the 2026 calendar falls
Downtown's holiday events bunch up on a few dates. The listings come from the Downtown Rock Springs calendar, last updated October 9, 2026.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Plaid Friday | Downtown-wide |
| Nov. 27–28 | Christmas Market, free admission | Bunning Hall, 603 S. Main St. |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Small Business Saturday | Downtown-wide |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | First Light, 5:30 p.m. | Bunning Park |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | The Nutcracker, Grand Kyiv Ballet | Broadway Theater |
| Saturdays, Nov. 28–Dec. 19 | Santa Saturdays | Downtown Gazebo, D and Broadway |
| Dec. 1–Jan. 2 | Winter Magic Community Show Part II | Community Fine Arts Center |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m. | Chamber Lighted Christmas Parade | Downtown |
| Dec. 10–20 | Ikonic Glass workshops | Bunning Park |
| Dec. 11–12 | Christmas Brr-lesque, presented by Upstage Theater | Elite Events |
| Mon., Dec. 14 | A Cloverton Christmas | Broadway Theater |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Breakfast with Santa | Rock Springs Masonic Lodge |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Downtown Cookie Crawl | Bunning Hall |
The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day on the list. The market at Bunning Hall, Small Business Saturday, the first Santa Saturday, the Nutcracker at the Broadway and First Light in Bunning Park all happen on November 28. Saturday, December 5 has the Chamber's Lighted Christmas Parade at 5:30 p.m., the same start time as First Light the week before.
December 19 closes out the season. Santa Saturdays, the Friday and Saturday park programming and Breakfast with Santa all end that day. The Downtown Cookie Crawl at Bunning Hall works like a cookie exchange. You fill a keepsake jar or holiday tray with cookies from local bakers, and the money goes toward future Christmas promotions and downtown improvements. After the 19th, the lights in Bunning Park stay on through January 1, and the Marguerite Santa plays through January 5.
If you find one of your favorite family photos turned out to be taken under the Bunning Park lights or next to a Santa on South Main, Abby would love to hear about it. Along with helping people buy and sell homes, Forever West Land & Home keeps track of the small traditions that make Rock Springs feel like home in December. Let's Connect.
