Ballston Spa's Holiday Parade Still Runs Down Milton Avenue. Plan Dinner Around Washington Street.

The 2026 Ballston Spa Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting is on Friday, December 4. It steps off at 6:30 p.m. and heads south on Milton Avenue to West High Street. Afterward, Santa lights the village tree in Wiswall Park. The route and the tree are the same as before. What's different is a short run of Washington Street. Three places there now have Friday hours that start before the parade and run past the tree lighting, and two of them didn't exist before late November 2025.

The Route Hasn't Moved

The Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association hosts the evening, and its 2026 listing runs from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Expect floats, decorated fire trucks and community groups. Santa arrives at Wiswall Park on an Eagle-Matt Lee Fire Company truck.

Two details shape the night more than the floats do:

• It's also First Friday. BSBPA says local shops and businesses will stay open late with special activities, hot cocoa and chowder, and parking is free all evening. First Friday is the association's monthly night of extended business hours and activities around town.
• Toys for Tots is collecting. Volunteers from the Ballston Spa Community Emergency Corps, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Marine Corps will collect new, unwrapped toys along the route and during the tree lighting.

Street closures and parking lots are the logistics people ask about most. Last year BSBPA posted a parade-day FAQ on December 3, two days before that parade, with a parking map and the time Milton Avenue would close. Check ballston.org during the first days of December for this year's version.

Three Doors On Washington Street

The event's posted window is 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. On Washington Street, three spots post Friday hours that start before step-off and keep going after the tree is lit.

The Still was set to open on Black Friday, November 28, 2025, at 4 p.m., NEWS10 reported, which made it about a week old at last year's parade. Saratoga TODAY covered the grand opening in its December 4, 2025 edition. Its own site describes an in-house craft distillery pairing its spirits with small plates. Last year's coverage listed cheese curds, charcuterie, smash burgers and steaks on the menu. That was a year ago, so check the current menu before you count on a particular dish.

Back Barn's taproom is the newest of the three. NEWS10's midyear roundup put it among the Capital Region's 2026 openings, and BSBPA's calendar shows an April 17 ribbon cutting. This will be its first holiday parade on Washington Street.

Read across the table: all three are open by 5:00 p.m., an hour and a half before step-off, and all three are still open at 8:00 p.m., when the parade's posted window closes. Two Decembers ago, only one of these doors was serving on a parade Friday. Now there are three, which gives Washington Street enough room to cover dinner before the parade and a drink after it. A family can eat at one before 6:30, watch the floats, and finish at another without moving the car.

Front Street Turned Over Too

Front Street has the longer-running restaurants, and it also changed this year.

Kim Tribley, who owns Coffee Planet, took over the Front Street Deli at 39 Front Street in February 2026 and renamed it Kim's Place. NEWS10 reported a menu of wings, chicken tenders, smash burgers, grinders, quesadillas, salads and pizza. The Troy Record covered its grand-opening ribbon cutting in August. In May, NEWS10 listed Thursday through Saturday hours of noon to 8 p.m. On those hours, Kim's Place fits before the parade more than after it, since the kitchen would be closing about when Santa reaches Wiswall Park.

Two Front Street spots run later on Fridays:

• Next Door Kitchen & Bar, 51 Front Street, posts Friday hours of 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. and describes locally sourced comfort food that changes with the seasons, along with spirits and wine.
• Front Street Social Club posts Friday hours of 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. and lists steak, burgers, seafood, tacos, seasonal dishes and craft cocktails.

One storefront from last December is gone. The Sweetish Chef closed its 76 Front Street shop on May 1, 2026, and kept its online orders and pickup. NEWS10 reported the change in April.

Taken together, downtown has more places open after 8 p.m. on a Friday than it did a year ago, and most of the added hours are on Washington Street.

Timing The Night

Here is how the posted hours line up with the parade window on December 4:

1. Before 4:00 p.m. The National Bottle Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., so a Friday afternoon visit fits. Its All Sculpture Show opens November 21 and runs through January 30, 2027.
2. 4:00 p.m. Speckled Pig Brewing, The Still and Front Street Social Club all open, according to their posted Friday hours.
3. 5:00 p.m. Back Barn's taproom and Next Door Kitchen & Bar open. First Friday shops are staying open late with cocoa and chowder.
4. 6:30 p.m. The parade steps off and heads south on Milton Avenue toward West High Street. Have a new, unwrapped toy ready for the Toys for Tots volunteers along the route.
5. About 8:00 p.m. Santa lights the tree in Wiswall Park as the event's posted window closes.
6. After the tree. The Still is open until 9:00, Speckled Pig Brewing until 9:30, and Back Barn, Next Door and Front Street Social Club until 10:00.

Hours can change around a holiday, so check a business's own page or ordering site that week before you build the evening around one table.

The Rest Of December Runs Through Brookside

The parade is one Friday. The Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum fills in the rest of the month with its 26th Artisan's Market of gifts made by regional artisans.

Brookside's events page says its programs are free and open to the public unless noted. Shop 'n' Sip gives the month a second downtown evening two weeks after the parade, and it's on a Thursday, when Kim's Place's reported hours also run to 8 p.m.

If your December 4 plan includes a table on Washington Street or a stop at Brookside's market, our team at Jamie M Mazuryk is glad to share what we know about downtown Ballston Spa. And if you've been wondering what your home near Front Street, Milton Avenue or Washington Street is worth this season, get your free home valuation.