In Northport Village, 7 p.m. on Friday, November 27 is double-booked. The Village Christmas Tree Lighting starts at 7 p.m. in Northport Village Park, 63 Bayview Avenue. At the same hour, the John W. Engeman Theater raises the curtain on its evening performance of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The same thing happens the next night, half an hour apart. Every evening event of the weekend lands in the same narrow window, and the daytime is where the choices are. So the Engeman's 2 p.m. matinees, its 10 a.m. children's shows and the shop hours on Main Street work as the scaffolding the two lightings hang from.
Friday at Seven Belongs to Village Park
The tree lighting date has been on the books for months. The Village Board of Trustees' January 20, 2026 agenda lists the Annual Tree Lighting in Village Park for Friday, November 27, 2026, at 7 p.m. The Northport Chamber of Commerce's event listing gives the same date, time and park address.
The Engeman's How the Grinch Stole Christmas runs from November 12 through December 27, 2026. The theater lists the show at about 90 minutes including intermission and says the exact runtime is still to be confirmed. On the Friday after Thanksgiving there are two performances, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The 2 p.m. show, at roughly 90 minutes, lets out in the late afternoon. That leaves a few hours to eat, walk Main Street and get down to the harbor before the tree is lit. With the 7 p.m. ticket, you watch the Grinch while the village lights its tree.
Here is how the weekend's published schedule lines up:
| Day | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 27 | Frosty, Engeman Children's Stage, 10 a.m. | Grinch matinee, 2 p.m. | Tree Lighting, Village Park, 7 p.m.; Grinch, 7 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 28 | Frosty, 10 a.m. | Grinch matinee, 2 p.m. | Leg Lamp Lighting, 6:30 p.m.; Grinch, 7 p.m. |
| Sunday, Nov. 29 | Frosty, 10 a.m.; Nutcracker reading, Northport Books, 10 a.m. | Grinch matinee, 2 p.m. | Grinch, 7 p.m. |
The Engeman box office handles ticket questions at (631) 261-2900.
Saturday Night Started in a Hardware Store Window
The second lighting is the one Northport has to itself. The Village's January agenda pairs Shop Small Business Saturday with the Annual Leg Lamp Lighting on Saturday, November 28. The Firefly Artists, who present it, set the start for 6:30 p.m.
According to the Firefly Artists, the tradition began twenty-one years ago. The Mayor of Northport was visiting the owners of The Northport Hardware Company when they came across an old gag gift. They put it in the front window as a joke and gave it an honorary salute. Today the group says the Small Business Saturday event draws roughly 1,500 people to Main Street. Local performing artists put on the show for free, and the Village and supporters help fund it. Professional lighting and sound cost thousands of dollars.
The Saturday clash is tighter than Friday's. The lighting starts at 6:30 p.m., and the Grinch's evening curtain goes up at 7 p.m. Half an hour between the two leaves no room for both, so Saturday's matinee buyers come out ahead again.
Before the lighting, the shop windows are part of the event. Raffle prizes donated by the community go on display in windows along the street. Raffle tickets cost $5 for one, $20 for five, $50 for an "Arm's Length" and $100 for a "Wing Span's Work." You can buy them online or with cash or check at the Firefly Artists' location at 90 Main Street. Any proceeds go to the Firefly Lights Fund, which supports future events and local sponsorships and scholarships.
The gallery is also collecting for its annual Island Harvest food drive through the end of the year, with collection at the lighting itself. Suggested items include:
- Canned tuna or chicken
- Canned vegetables
- Canned soups and stews
- Gravy, canned or dry mix
The group says grocery gift cards and monetary donations are the most appreciated.
Main Street Has a New Place to Kill the Afternoon
Matinee audiences need something to do between the show and the lightings, and Main Street has a new answer this year. Northport Records opened at 121 Main Street on Saturday, October 31, the Northport Journal reported. Owner Karen Anzalone, a Northport resident and former Barnes & Noble store manager, told the Journal the shop had always been her dream.
"Opening our doors and sharing the love of vinyl with others was an incredible feeling," Anzalone told the Northport Journal after opening day.
The Journal counted 2,400 LPs and 1,200 45s in the store at the time of its report, with more arriving every day, and records from doo-wop to Olivia Dean and from Motown to Metallica. Anzalone also buys used records. On a coffee table by the couch there is a box where customers of any age can leave suggestions and wish lists.
The shop's launch hours fit around the lightings unevenly, which matters on this particular weekend. The Journal listed them as Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Friday the shop closes at 7 p.m., just as the tree is being lit, so a stop there belongs before you head to Village Park. On Saturday it stays open until 8 p.m., an hour and a half past the start of the Leg Lamp Lighting, so it is still open once the lamp is lit.
A few doors along, at 245 Main Street, is Mimi's. The Northport Journal reported in October that the French-European inspired marketplace, daytime cafe and community space was set to open in mid-November. Co-owners Venus Paige and Brendan Morgan named it after Paige's grandmother. They told the Journal they planned to sell candles, oils, teas, fine art and French sweets, along with daytime soups, sandwiches and espresso. Phones would not be allowed during hosted events. Mimi's website lists market hours of Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those hours cover the daytime of all three days of the long weekend and end before either lighting.
Sunday Morning Asks Families to Pick One
By Sunday the evening lightings are over, and the schedule that's left asks families to choose. The Engeman Children's Stage production of Frosty runs November 21 through December 27, according to the Northport Journal. Over Thanksgiving weekend the theater's ticket calendar shows one 10 a.m. performance each day, Friday through Sunday.
On Sunday, November 29, that 10 a.m. slot is shared. The Chamber lists a free reading of The Nutcracker by Posey Dance Company at Northport Books that morning at 10 a.m. Families who want both can see Frosty on Friday or Saturday morning and keep Sunday for the bookstore. Sunday is also the one night of the weekend when the Grinch has the evening to itself, with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and no lighting competing with the 7 p.m. curtain.
In practice, a full Northport weekend works best like this:
- Friday: the 2 p.m. Grinch matinee, a browse at Northport Records before it closes at 7 p.m., then Village Park for the tree lighting.
- Saturday: Frosty at 10 a.m. for families with young children, Small Business Saturday on Main Street with the raffle windows, a food-drive donation in hand, and the Leg Lamp Lighting at 6:30 p.m.
- Sunday: the Posey Dance Company Nutcracker reading at Northport Books at 10 a.m., then the 2 p.m. or 7 p.m. Grinch if Friday's matinee didn't fit.
Each day gets one evening plan, and nothing on the list competes with anything else.
Hosting family in the village over Thanksgiving weekend and finding the free events crowd out the evening plans? That timing is the kind of local detail Team Rodgers watches all year across Northport, Centerport and Huntington. If the weekend gets you talking about what's next for your own address on the North Shore, Kieran Rodgers and the team are glad to help. Schedule Your Private Consultation.
