The planters along First Street have power outlets built in. Many of the light poles carry brackets for banners, flags and hanging baskets. The overhead wires that used to cross the street are gone, buried as part of the City of Cle Elum's Downtown Revitalization Project. Engineering firm HLA reports that the project's third and final phase was finished in May 2026. That makes this the first holiday season downtown Cle Elum gets to spend on a finished street.
It's also the first holiday season since Suncadia Social opened up the road. Suncadia has posted a full Winterfest program built around the new village. Put the two calendars side by side and the evening events land on the same two Saturdays. Everything else on the calendar works around those two nights.
What changed on First Street since last December
Phase 3 covered the remaining First Street blocks between Oakes Avenue and Peoh Avenue. It started in spring 2024 and ran through a winter weather shutdown before it wrapped up. HLA puts that phase at $11.92 million, on top of $460,000 for Phase 1 and $2.15 million for Phase 2, paid for from 25 funding sources. The city's 2025 annual report names two large grants behind the final phase: $6.4 million from the Federal Highway Administration and $1 million from the state Transportation Improvement Board.
Several of the changes matter most when it's dark at 4:30 and the sidewalks fill up:
- Bulb-outs and mid-block crosswalks, which make it a shorter walk across First Street at every intersection
- Pedestrian and street lighting fitted with flag holders, banner supports and hanging basket brackets
- Planters with trees, shrubs and power outlets, which HLA describes as GFI receptacles for lighting
- 30-degree angled parking, with narrower lanes and new pavement markings
- Wide patterned sidewalks, benches, bike racks, and the coal carts moved to new spots
Outlets in the tree planters suit a street that holds a tree lighting every November. This year's tree lighting is the first one on the finished version of that street.
Boo-Elum comes first, on October 31
The Cle Elum Downtown Association's Boo-Elum 2026 is set for Saturday, October 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. It's free, and the listed venue is simply "Downtown." The city's 2026 event tracker gives a longer window, 3:30 to 7 p.m., which likely includes setup and teardown.
The event is a trunk-or-treat. The registration form takes local businesses, organizations and groups, and individual families, and each entry gets an assigned parking space. There's also a separate Pumpkin Path open to children under 16 and to adults. Entrants drop off a pumpkin by 3 p.m. and pick it up by 6 p.m. Anyone planning to register a trunk or a pumpkin still has a little over a week after this post goes up.
Boo-Elum doesn't overlap with anything at Suncadia. The overlaps start four weeks later.
November 28 puts two tree lightings on one evening
Thanksgiving weekend fills up quickly. On Friday, November 27, the Merry Mitten Mingle runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in historic downtown Roslyn, a family holiday event built around local shopping. Roslyn's downtown association runs it, and Suncadia lists it on its own Winterfest calendar. That same Friday and Saturday, the Christmas Market at Suncadia Social runs from noon to 6 p.m., with rotating vendors, local makers and artisans, and free Santa photos during the same hours.
Saturday evening is where the two calendars meet head-on.
| Saturday, November 28 | Downtown Cle Elum | Suncadia Social |
|---|---|---|
| Event | Christmas Tree Lighting 2026 | Tree Lighting Ceremony and Lighted Santa Parade |
| Organizer | Cle Elum Downtown Association | Suncadia |
| Time | 4:30 to 7:45 p.m. | 6 to 7 p.m., parade starts at 7 p.m. |
| Status | Marked pending on the city's tracker, no location entered | Published on Suncadia's Winterfest page |
The downtown window starts 90 minutes before Suncadia's ceremony and runs 45 minutes past the parade's start. That leaves an opening early in the evening. Someone could spend 4:30 to about 5:30 on First Street and still make it to Suncadia for 6, but only if CEDA's lighting itself happens early in its window. For comparison, last year's downtown tree lighting ran from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Flagpole Park, 318 West 1st Street. A repeat of that schedule would put both lightings at nearly the same moment. As of mid-October, CEDA's calendar shows no November events. The final time and place are what decide whether that early downtown hour works.
December 5 does it again, with fireworks
The second overlap falls one week later. The city's tracker lists Christmas in Cle Elum for Saturday, December 5: a parade from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. and fireworks with a 4 to 7:30 p.m. window. Both are CEDA events, and both are still marked pending.
December 5 is also the first of Suncadia Social's weekly Saturday tree lightings, which run from 5 to 7 p.m. and include pop-up activities that change each week.
The two calendars first overlap in the afternoon. Suncadia's December 5 starts with free Santa photos from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Christmas Market opens at noon and runs until 6, so its last two hours fall inside the downtown fireworks and parade windows. Suncadia's Story Time, a free holiday storytelling hour open to the public, runs from 7 to 8 p.m. Its venue isn't listed. A family could do Santa photos and an early market stop at Suncadia, then spend the evening at the parade and fireworks downtown, and keep Story Time as an option if the downtown events finish on schedule.
After December 5, Saturdays belong to Suncadia Social
Once Christmas in Cle Elum is done, the city's tracker shows no more downtown evening events for the year. Suncadia keeps going for two more Saturdays:
- Saturday, December 12. Santa photos 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Christmas Market noon to 6 p.m., weekly tree lighting 5 to 7 p.m., Story Time 7 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, December 19. Journey to the North Pole at Suncadia Social from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with Santa and Mrs. Claus, crafts and retailer activations. The market, Santa photos, tree lighting and Story Time all run again. At 5 p.m. there's a free Holiday Drone Show, where hundreds of lit drones form holiday images over the village. Entry is free, though some activities may be ticketed or paid.
Suncadia says the Santa photos are open to resort guests, owners and the community. One Winterfest event lasts longer than any of the Saturdays. From Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, Winterfest Legacy Lane at The Lodge at Suncadia shows gingerbread houses made by custom homebuilders. Visitors vote for a favorite, and donations, taken on site or by QR code, go to Kittitas County Habitat for Humanity. It's a good weekday stop when the Saturdays are booked.
At the village itself, Forage Home is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Roslyn Grocery's Suncadia Social location is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., which is late enough to cover every evening event on the schedule.
First Street's season runs on its storefronts
Downtown's holiday program has fewer scheduled events, so its storefronts carry more of the season. CEDA's 2026 business directory lists a run of shops along the rebuilt street: Miner's Pizza & Pastry Co. at 121 E 1st St, Upsidedown Wine at 205 E 1st, Jensen Farms Outpost at 211 E 1st, Bright & Day at 213 E 1st, The Barn Door at 220 E 1st, Mule and Elk Brewing at 418 E 1st, Cle Elum Bakery at 501 E 1st, and Owens Meat Market at 502 E 1st. Cle Elum Farm and Home sits at the west end at 100 W 1st St. Farm & Home is growing, too. The Northern Kittitas County Tribune ran "Cle Elum Farm & Home expands to Yakima" in its October 8 issue.
Last year, CEDA marked the Friday after Thanksgiving with Plaid Friday, a coupon booklet for downtown shoppers. The 2025 participants were Farm and Home, Mule and Elk Brewing Co., Jensen Farms Outpost, Bright & Day, Pioneer Coffee Roasting Co., Miner's Pizza + Pastry Co., The Barn Door and UpsideDown Wine. CEDA hasn't posted a 2026 booklet yet. If it brings Plaid Friday back on November 27, First Street will have its own Thanksgiving-weekend draw on the same day as Suncadia's market and Roslyn's Mitten Mingle.
The two calendars overlap on just two Saturdays, from late afternoon into the evening. Suncadia's scheduled events are mostly on Saturdays, so weekdays are open for the storefronts on First Street and the gingerbread at The Lodge. For the full year's rhythm downtown, the Cle Elum neighborhood page and our post on the town's Friday-night summer ritual cover the rest. Roslyn's own fall and holiday calendar fills in the next town over.
A finished First Street and a new Suncadia Social are two of the biggest changes in upper Kittitas County this year, and the Rau Peterson Team follows both closely. If you're curious how this year's changes in Cle Elum affect what your own home is worth, start with an instant home valuation. We're happy to talk it through over coffee on First Street.
