Mount Pleasant's Holiday Season Now Opens at Park West and Closes on Coleman

"We are excited to add a new market to kick off the holiday season," Events Coordinator Tracy Richter said in the Town of Mount Pleasant's August announcement of the Merry Makers Market. The town's long-running holiday events, the Holiday Market & Craft Show and the Christmas Light Parade, both take place in mid-December on or near Coleman Boulevard. In 2026 the season starts three weeks earlier, at two addresses away from Coleman.

This weekend Lights Up comes to Mount Pleasant Towne Centre at 1200 Belk Drive on Saturday, November 21, and the first Merry Makers Market opens at Park West Recreation Complex, 1251 Park West Blvd., on Sunday, November 22. The long-running events still close the season on December 12 and 13 near the Farmers Market Pavilion and along Coleman. Your holiday month now has two anchor weekends, three weeks apart, one at Towne Centre and Park West and one on Coleman.

Saturday night starts in front of Belk

Lights Up opens the season on Saturday evening. All of it happens in front of Belk, and the Towne Centre's event page runs it on a simple schedule:

• 6 p.m.: Pre-lighting festivities begin, with live performances by the East Cooper Baptist Church Choir & Orchestra and Jared Petteys & The Headliners, plus a visit from Santa.
• 7:30 p.m.: The 44-foot Christmas tree is lit, with a laser light show and what the center calls "a very special surprise."
• 8 p.m.: The event wraps up.

That leaves an hour and a half before the lighting. The Towne Centre fills it with food and drink from visiting vendors: Zimos Gyros & Lobster, Madrigal Tacos, Holy City Popcorn, Delights Desserts & Coffee, Holy City Homemade Italian Ice, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Pure Fluff Co. The center's own restaurants are also on the list: Malika, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Burtons Grill & Bar, Sweet Julep's, The Wine Cellar, SAVI Cucina & Wine Bar and Jon Smith Subs. For children there's face painting by Faces by Faith, balloon animals by Carol's Balloon Art and fairy hair by The Sparkle Bar.

Some of the evening raises money. Camp Rise Above volunteers will sell light-up items so guests can glow along with the tree, with proceeds supporting the camp's programs for children with serious illnesses, disabilities and challenges. Brian Cleary of 92.5 Kickin' Country hosts, and Starling Chevrolet, Roper St. Francis Healthcare and AV Connections present the event.

Sunday brings the town's first new market of the season

Merry Makers runs the next day, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Park West Recreation Complex. Its Experience Mount Pleasant listing calls it "New for 2026!" and separate from the town's annual Holiday Market & Craft Show. Shoppers will find booths from local farmers, growers, bakers, makers and artists, along with food vendors and food trucks. Commercial and mass-produced goods are not allowed.

The Mount Pleasant Farmers Market ran its weekly Tuesday season from April 7 through September 29 this year. Its home, the Farmers Market Pavilion at 645 Coleman Boulevard, is otherwise used for Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 to 7 p.m., April through September. That left an eight-week stretch with no town market of local growers and bakers anywhere in Mount Pleasant. Merry Makers fills it in late November, on a Sunday and at a different address.

The town's call for vendors shows the kind of goods both holiday markets want: locally grown produce, homemade preserves, baked goods, hot food, and handmade gifts such as ornaments, glasswork, woodwork, holiday crafts, clothing and original art. Vendors are chosen to keep the mix "balanced." The Post and Courier's Lowcountry Lowdown covered the two markets together and noted the same rule against commercial and mass-produced items. The two markets run on the same idea, three weeks apart, so a gift list can be split across both.

Before the closing weekend, Boone Hall has the first Sunday of December

Wine Under the Oaks at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens falls on Sunday, December 6, from 1 to 5 p.m., the weekend before the closing events on Coleman. Boone Hall lists general admission at $80. Its $900 VIP tables are already marked sold out. The afternoon includes wine tastings under the oaks, complimentary oysters and desserts, specialty food, and wine and cooking demonstrations.

The town also has a new restaurant this month. Loong Yan, a Shanghai and Cantonese restaurant serving dim sum and soup dumplings, held its grand-opening ribbon cutting at 341 Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. The town reported the opening in a November 4 news post and described Loong Yan as a sister to the West Ashley location.

The closing weekend returns to Coleman

The season ends with three events on December 12 and 13. Two of them fall on the same Saturday, with overlapping hours.

The Holiday Market is the Pavilion's only planned day this December, and it brings back what has gone missing since September. The Experience Mount Pleasant events calendar calls it a "cheerful twist on our beloved farmers market." Booths will offer ornaments, glasswork, photography and pottery, and there will be live entertainment, balloon art, caricature drawings and a visit from Santa. Admission and parking are free. Santa has two appearances on the calendar this season, one at each end of town: Towne Centre on November 21 and the Pavilion on December 12.

Oysters On The Point opens at 2 p.m., while the Holiday Market still has two hours to go. If you want to do both, shop first and go for oysters after. The event pairs steamed local oysters with live music and views of Charleston Harbor. Tickets are $3 cheaper online than at the door.

The parade closes Coleman before it starts

The town calls the Christmas Light Parade one of the largest nighttime parades in South Carolina, and every entry must be fully lit and decorated. It steps off at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 13, but the parade listing shows the road closures starting earlier, in two stages:

1. 4 p.m.: Coleman Boulevard closes from Whilden Street to Pherigo Street.
2. 5 p.m.: Coleman closes from Whilden Street to Patriots Point Road. The Ravenel Bridge off-ramp to Coleman closes too, along with Patriots Point Road from Coleman to Harry Hallman Boulevard.

Driving across the Ravenel Bridge that evening affects you even if you aren't going to the parade. The Coleman off-ramp closes half an hour before the first float moves, and the parade runs until 8 p.m. If you're watching from the curb, the 4 p.m. closure on the Whilden-to-Pherigo stretch sets the latest practical time to drive in. If you're coming home over the bridge, 5 p.m. is the deadline for that exit.

The Holiday Market the day before is only open until 4 p.m., which keeps the two events from overlapping. The Pavilion's Saturday crowd will be gone a full day before Coleman closes for floats.

If you're weighing how the parade route, the Park West area or the Towne Centre side of town fits the way you live, Marie Pohlman is happy to talk through Mount Pleasant one address at a time. Schedule a Free Lowcountry Market Consultation, and we'll start with the places on your own holiday calendar.