Auburn's Santa Parade Day Starts Hours Earlier, at the Old Post Office

When does Auburn's Lighted Santa Parade start? The city's answer is 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. But the City of Auburn's own calendar has Postmark Center for the Arts opening its doors that day at noon, which is four and a half hours earlier, with a holiday market it describes as the "pre-Santa Parade event."

So parade day now runs for an afternoon, and it begins on one downtown corner. Main Street and Auburn Avenue is where the city turned an old post office into an arts center. It's also where a new theater is being built next door. This December is likely the last one before that corner changes for good.

The building that sets the afternoon

Postmark Center for the Arts, at 20 Auburn Ave, opened in 1937 as Auburn's post office. Later it served as a King County medical and public-health center. The City bought the building in 2016, and Phase One of the arts-center conversion had its grand opening in September 2023. The city's Postmark page lists gallery shows, performances, literary events, classes and cultural programs. The gallery and gift shop are open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and on Second Saturdays.

The current exhibit, "The Beauty of Korean Identity," opened October 21 and runs through January 8, 2027. That means it will still be on the walls on parade day. If you stop in for the market on December 5, you get the gallery too.

Second Saturdays are a big part of why the building matters on a regular weekend. The City describes them as free, all-ages creative afternoons from noon to 4 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month, held at Postmark. December's parade day is a first Saturday, so Postmark is adding a second Saturday of programming to the month.

December 5, hour by hour

Here's the day in order, put together from the Postmark events listing and the city's special events page:

1. Noon to 4 p.m., Holiday Art Market at Postmark. Handmade items, gifts and live music, all at 20 Auburn Ave.
2. 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Cookies, Cocoa, and Craft. Drop in anytime in this window to make holiday crafts to take home, with cookies and warm cocoa. This year it's in Postmark's Lower Level Art Studios, and you need to register online.
3. 3:30 p.m., parade lineup begins at Auburn High School. This is for people walking or riding in the parade.
4. 4 p.m., free live music at City Hall.
5. 4:30 p.m., the Lighted Santa Parade begins. Lighted vehicles, floats, cars and walking entries head west along East Main Street from Auburn High School, past Washington Elementary, and through the downtown civic area toward the Auburn Transit Center. Then the route wraps north and east around City Hall and ends at Division Street.
6. After the parade, the tree lighting and a visit from Santa at City Hall, with more live music.

The city lists the parade, the City Hall music, the tree lighting and Santa's visit as free, and the cookie craft requires registration. Two deadlines come up well before the day. If your family, nonprofit or business wants to walk or ride, entries must register by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 20, and every entry needs a lighted element. Santa's Helper, who lights the tree in front of City Hall, will be chosen at random from nominated children ages 5 to 9 who live within Auburn city limits. Nominations are open now.

Where to eat between the market and the parade

The market closes at 4 p.m. and the parade starts at 4:30. If you want a sit-down meal, plan for before the market or after the tree lighting. The city's downtown restaurant directory lists these spots within a few blocks of Postmark and the parade route:

• Pie Style Bakery, 20 W Main St
• Oddfellas Pub & Eatery, 102 W Main St
• Rainbow Cafe, 112 E Main St
• J&J Islander Spot, 202 E Main St
• Zola's Cafe, 402 E Main St #120
• Cow & Cod, 201 A St SE
• Angel Boba & Sandwich, 2 B Street SE
• PNW Coffee Co, 110 2nd St SW #130
• Spunky Monkey Bar & Grill, 124 2nd St SE

Two of these have a recent downtown story. Pie Style used to be at 1111 E Main Street, and the Auburn Reporter covered its move into a much larger downtown space in August 2025. The City's economic development office described the new storefront as having an open kitchen and a seating area. Its 20 W Main address puts it a short walk from Postmark.

Zola's sits farther east, closer to where the parade starts. In November 2025 the Auburn Reporter called it a Main Street mainstay after a double Best of Auburn win. The paper also reported that owner Matthew Noesen planned to expand the breakfast menu. Holiday hours vary, so check with each spot directly before you plan around it.

The weeks on either side

Parade day gets the crowd, but Postmark and the city have filled the weeks around it too. Here's what's left on the calendar after this post goes up:

The November 14 celebration has a detailed schedule. Hopa Trop starts with Northern Bulgarian dances, teaches a dance lesson around 1:30, performs the Spring Flower dance from the Thracian Valley, and shows authentic Bulgarian costumes before closing out at 4 p.m.

The gingerbread display has a firm end date. Voting runs during the Community & Events Center's normal hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. The winners in the youth and adult categories will be announced Monday, December 14. The center then closes to the public December 16 through December 31 for floor repairs, so there's no late-December visit this year. Breakfast with Santa comes with live music, dancing and a scoop of ice cream to finish.

The corner next door

The theater site beside Postmark is the other half of this story. The old Auburn Avenue Theater was structurally damaged at the end of 2021, condemned in January 2022 and demolished in spring 2024. The City is now building a replacement: a 9,960-square-foot, 300-seat theater with a $13.7 million design and construction budget. In May 2026 the Auburn Examiner reported a groundbreaking ceremony planned for May 12. The city's timeline calls for the theater and a new park to be finished, and the theater to open, in mid-2027.

The project page is clear about how the theater will connect to Postmark. It's designed with visual connections to the Postmark Center for the Arts and an Arts Alley to the north and the new park to the east. A glass lobby will run the full length of the south side, facing Main Street, with entrances at the Auburn Ave and Main Street corner and from the park. Both entrances will have marquee reader boards. Brick saved from the original theater will frame the loading doors on the alley.

This December 5, the market, the cookie craft and the walk out to Main Street all happen beside the theater site, which the city plans to open as a working venue by mid-2027.

We love seeing Auburn neighbors fill Main Street on parade night, and we'll be watching the theater corner fill in through 2027 right along with you. If questions about your own home ever come up between the cocoa and the tree lighting, The Patterson Real Estate Team is always happy to talk, calmly and on your timeline. Contact Us.