Last year the Downtown Racine Holiday Parade stepped off on Nov. 8. This year it's Saturday, Nov. 14. With the six-day shift, the first weekend of November no longer belongs to the holidays. Downtown gives it to bacon, beer and late shopping hours. The holiday season starts on the second Saturday and runs to Nov. 30, when Spa Verdant, a new spa next to the Christmas tree on Monument Square, holds its grand opening.
Read that way, the month has two halves. Monument Square is the hinge between them.
The first weekend is now about food
Downtown Racine Corporation's November First Friday runs Friday, Nov. 6, from 4 to 9 p.m. Downtown shops, boutiques and galleries stay open late. This year's First Friday also has a giving side. DRC is collecting new or gently used scarves, hats, gloves and mittens for the Hospitality Center. Drop-off locations will be posted on the November First Friday event page.
The next afternoon is the seventh annual Beer & Bacon Walk, Saturday, Nov. 7, from 1 to 6 p.m. Last year that Saturday would have been parade day. In 2026 it's the main event.
The Beer & Bacon event page lists general admission at $40 and VIP at $70. General admission covers 20 three-ounce craft beer samples, 20 bacon samples, a 16-ounce pint glass and one full 16-ounce pour. VIP adds:
- a $15 gift card to Harborspot or Reefpoint Brew House
- a bacon Bloody Mary at Marci's on Main
- Sugar Shack popcorn
- a second full-size beer
- VIP swag and a raffle entry
Ticket holders can pick up their materials at the DRC office, 425 Main St. Pickup opened Nov. 2. The office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday. You can start the walk at any stop. Friday, Nov. 6, is the last weekday for pickup, and the office also opens at noon on Saturday, an hour before the walk begins.
The stops are where downtown shows off. The Racine County Eye published the full pairing list on Oct. 23, and it goes well past strips of bacon on a plate:
| Stop | Pairing |
|---|---|
| Reefpoint Brew House | Bacon burnt ends |
| Harborspot | Mini cheeseburger with bacon jam |
| Marci's on Main | Bacon and cheddar cornbread bites with hot honey |
| New Cafe | Applewood bacon-wrapped chicken with chile de árbol orange glaze |
| Red Onion Cafe | Bacon maple and bourbon Brussels sprouts with smoked kielbasa |
| Joey's Yardarm | Bacon and chive tater kegs with bacon cheddar sauce |
| Busias XOXO | "Candied Bacon Me Blush," a brown sugar candied bacon salted caramel cookie |
| Ivanhoe | Chocolate-covered bacon |
| Dimple's Imports | Grilled rumaki |
| Plumb Silver | Bacon and beer cheese soup |
| Lakeview Pharmacy | Bacon jam crostini with mascarpone |
| Revelyn Soul | Hot bacon cheddar ranch dip with pretzel |
| RG Natural Babies | Creamy bacon and dill pickle dip with kettle chips |
| Salute | Bacon-stuffed mushrooms |
| Blue Rock | BBQ bacon meatballs |
As of that story, Gold Diamond and Design, Pepi's, Pub on Wisconsin and Toad Hall were also stops with pairings still to be announced. The 20th stop, a downtown office on the route, is serving a maple bacon apple butter loaf slice. Several of the stops are retailers like Plumb Silver, Lakeview Pharmacy and RG Natural Babies, so the route takes you into storefronts a dinner reservation never would.
Nov. 14: the evening, minute by minute
A week later the same blocks fill up for the event that used to open the month. The parade and tree lighting are free, and DRC's posted schedule runs like this:
- 4:30 p.m. Carolers start the pre-festivities on Monument Square.
- 4:45 p.m. Real School performs.
- 5:15 p.m. Horlick Brass Ensemble.
- 5:30 p.m. Park High Vocal Ensemble, and the parade steps off from the west side of the State Street bridge.
- By 6:45 p.m. The parade has traveled down Main Street to 6th Street and reached City Hall.
- 6:50 p.m. More carolers on Monument Square, then Santa and Mrs. Claus light the Holiday Tree.
- After the lighting A small fireworks display, now in its fifth year.
If you've been to recent parades, the fireworks count tells you something. Last year's page called them "back for the 4th year." This year's says the 5th. The finale has quietly become a standing part of the night.
Parking is $4 for the whole day at the Lake Avenue Ramp, 300 Lake Ave.; the Civic Centre Ramp, 501 Lake Ave.; or the Shoop Ramp at State and Main. The Shoop Ramp sits where the parade starts. The two Lake Avenue ramps are closer to where it ends. If you'd rather watch the tree lighting than the step-off, park on Lake Avenue.
Parade weekend is also the last weekend of Racine Theatre Guild's Angel Street, also known as Gaslight, which runs Oct. 30 through Nov. 15 at 2519 Northwestern Ave. The Sunday after the parade is your last chance to see it.
The Saturday market is closed, so the Sunday one picks up
Downtown has an event almost every weekend this month, but one Saturday habit is gone. The Racine Farmers Market on the Lake ran at Festival Park, 5 Fifth St., on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and its 2026 season ended Oct. 31.
For produce shopping in November, the closest year-round option is indoors at Milaeger's, 4838 Douglas Ave. Its farmers market runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the climate-controlled Expo Greenhouse. Live music is scheduled every November Sunday, including Nov. 8, 15, 22 and 29. That puts a Milaeger's morning the day after both the Beer & Bacon Walk and the parade.
Also on Douglas Avenue, 3 Acres by Marci & Jason opened Sept. 29 at 5844 Douglas Ave. as a restaurant, catering business and event venue, the Racine County Eye reported. November is its first holiday season as a gathering place.
After the tree lighting, the events reward shopping
Once the tree is lit, downtown's events change shape. The first weekend was about tasting your way down the street. The second half of the month is about buying things, and three events back to back give you a reason to.
Ladies Day Out, Saturday, Nov. 21, noon to 6 p.m. The event is free. Every purchase earns one card draw from a deck, one draw per person at each location. Pull a Queen and you win a Golden Ticket, which you trade for a swag bag holding $25 or more in items and gift cards. Golden Ticket holders are also entered for one of five prize packs. Some stops are advertising half-price first drinks and retail offers.
Bourbon & Beer on Black Friday, Nov. 27, 1 to 5 p.m. This is the month's second ticketed walk, at $40. It covers a walkable eight-block area with 10 top-shelf bourbons, 10 craft beers and 20 bourbon-infused appetizers. Advertised labels include Buffalo Trace, Uncle Nearest, Milam & Greene, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Horse Soldier Straight Bourbon and Town Branch. It's the Black Friday version of the Beer & Bacon Walk, held after the tree lighting instead of before it.
Small Business Saturday with the Grinch, Nov. 28, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Downtown businesses run in-store promotions all day. DRC's event page says the Grinch will roam downtown from noon to 3 p.m., handing out more than $1,000 in gift cards worth $10 to $25 each. No fixed spot is listed, so you'll have to find him.
Taken together, the three weekends make the holiday half of November a running shopping campaign. The tree goes up on Monument Square on the 14th, and the rest of the month keeps sending people back past it.
Nov. 30: something new opens on Monument Square
The month ends with an opening instead of an event. Spa Verdant, the roughly 6,500-square-foot spa in the building directly south of Hotel Verdant on Monument Square, was projected to open in September 2026, according to the Journal Times. The hotel now lists a later date. Spa Verdant starts taking reservations Nov. 20, ahead of a grand opening on Nov. 30.
So the square where the tree is lit on Nov. 14 gets a new business 16 days later. Reservations open the day before Ladies Day Out, so a spa appointment could become a holiday gift bought during the shopping weekends that come before the opening.
December picks up where November leaves off. DRC's calendar already lists First Fridays "Tis the Season" for Dec. 4, from 4 to 9 p.m. The Racine Zoo's next listed holiday program is Brunch with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 5.
Spend a November weekend on Main Street and you'll see what downtown Racine looks like when it's busy. That's local knowledge we bring to every conversation about the blocks around Monument Square. If you're thinking about what your home near downtown is worth, or what's available within walking distance of the parade route, Christine and Tony Veranth are glad to talk it through. Request a free consultation and home valuation, and we'll give you a clear, unhurried read on the market.
