"The parade is rain, snow, or shine," reads the letter Westwood Recreation sent to parade groups on October 1, and it adds that there is no rain date. That fixes Saturday, December 5 on the calendar no matter the weather. The 2026 Home for the Holidays Parade steps off at 6 p.m. sharp on Westwood Avenue. The borough calls it one of the longest-running events in the Pascack Valley, now in its 62nd year.
Two nights later, on Monday, December 7, Celebrate Westwood and the Arts Hub hold their 4th annual Gingerbread House Contest at the Westwood Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m. Both events have the same theme this year, "Stars, Stripes & Holiday Lights." So the first weekend of December works as one event with a Saturday chapter and a Monday chapter. Each one starts hours before its 6 p.m. headline time.
Where the Theme Comes From
The borough's letter spells out the inspiration. Groups are asked to use "holiday lights and America 250" for their costumes, decorations and float displays. This is the country's 250th-anniversary year, so the floats on Westwood Avenue will mix red, white and blue with the usual string lights.
Celebrate Westwood took the same idea for the gingerbread contest. Its contest page encourages patriotic designs, stars and decorations that light up. A gingerbread house with a flag on the roof and battery lights on the eaves fits Monday's theme the way a lit-up float fits Saturday's.
There was an earlier entry point too. Celebrate Westwood ran a holiday card contest with a November 16 deadline and winners named November 17. Celebrate Westwood says both winning designs will be featured on the official 2026 Westwood holiday greeting cards. The town's holiday season began on paper before anything went up on the street.
Saturday Starts at 3 p.m.
The parade's start time is 6 p.m., but the borough's schedule for participants has downtown filling up much earlier.
| Time on Saturday, Dec. 5 | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| By 3:00 p.m. | Floats must be in place | Lineup on Roosevelt and Lexington Avenues |
| By 5:00 p.m. | Marchers report to their numbered lineup spots | Roosevelt and Lexington Avenues |
| Before 6:00 p.m. | Dance groups perform at assigned times | Center Avenue viewing area, near the DJ |
| Before 6:00 p.m. | Marching bands assemble | Bergen Avenue, between Kinderkamack and Lexington |
| 6:00 p.m. sharp | Parade steps off | Westwood Avenue |
| After the parade | Tree and menorah lightings, hot chocolate, Santa visits | Veterans Park |
For a household with a child in a marching group, a dance troupe or a youth float, the day starts in the afternoon. The borough lets groups be dropped off by car by turning onto Lowell Street from Kinderkamack Road and stopping at Roosevelt Avenue and Lowell Street. Its letter also asks participants to park in town first, when they can, and walk to their spots. Lineup numbers go out on Monday evening, November 30, so families learn exactly where their group stands less than a week before the parade.
The deadline for groups to register was Friday, November 13, and lineup positions are assigned on November 30. Patch's November 4 coverage of the registration window listed local organizations, bands and classic cars among the entries.
The Curb Has a Program Before the Parade Begins
The Center Avenue viewing area is where the show starts early. The borough's rules give each dance group a performance time before step-off and put those performances at the Center Avenue viewing area near the DJ. If you are there before 6 p.m., you see a set of performances that people farther along Westwood Avenue will miss.
The parade ends at Veterans Park, where the evening shifts from watching to taking part. Patch reports tree and menorah lightings, hot chocolate and visits with Santa. The photos are courtesy of the Westwood Volunteer Fire Department. The borough's Recreation, Police, Public Works and Fire Departments run the event together with volunteers.
For anyone who can't stand outside in December, the Westwood Regional High School Film and TV program will live stream the parade again this year. A grandparent watching from home sees the same floats as the crowd on Westwood Avenue.
Dinner on a 6 p.m. Parade Night
A 6 p.m. step-off means dinner comes either before the lineup or after the Veterans Park lightings. Two of Westwood's newer restaurants are open at both ends of the evening.
Il Vero, 170 Center Ave. The address puts it on the same street as the parade's dance and DJ viewing area. New Jersey Monthly's September 22 profile describes it as a Mediterranean-infused Italian restaurant in the former Prohibition space, co-owned by Maria Sausa and Gia Giudice, with dining downstairs, a lounge upstairs and a rooftop. Dinner runs Monday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays the lounge stays open from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. A 5 p.m. table on Saturday leaves a short window before step-off. A table after the lightings fits the later part of the night. Il Vero takes reservations through OpenTable or by phone at 201-383-0804.
Çka Ka Qëllu, 328 Kinderkamack Road. This restaurant serves Albanian and Kosovan cuisine. It is open from noon to 10 p.m., including Saturdays and Mondays, so it can cover a late lunch before the float crews arrive or a meal after the gingerbread awards. Its own location page lists the 328 Kinderkamack address. One diner's OpenTable review is dated October 31.
The Cuban Press, 271 Westwood Ave. In September, Boozy Burbs reported on this Cuban sandwich and coffee concept at an address right on the parade's main street. The report said the business was hiring baristas, sandwich makers and counter staff.
Monday's Houses Are Built at Home
The gingerbread contest runs on its own afternoon schedule, and most of the work happens before anyone reaches the Community Center. Celebrate Westwood requires every house to be built and decorated off-site. Entrants can bake from scratch, use a kit, or build from cardboard. In practice, the Saturday parade and the week's build overlap. A family can take its decorating ideas straight from the floats.
Here is the order of the steps, as the contest page lays them out:
- Register. Entry costs $5 per house through the Celebrate Westwood registration page, and space is limited.
- Source a kit. The contest page lists Lidl, Stew Leonards, Target, Trader Joe's and Wegman's for kits.
- Stock the candy. For candy it names Westwood Candy Co. and Conrad's, along with CVS, Trader Joe's, Stop n Shop and ShopRite.
- Drop off between 4 and 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 7, at the Westwood Community Center.
- Come back for viewing and voting from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with awards at 7:45 p.m.
The prizes are gift cards to local Westwood businesses, awarded across several age and skill-level categories. Money from the contest goes back into the downtown shops that hosted Saturday's crowds. The two local candy sources on the list, Westwood Candy Co. and Conrad's, also keep the shopping for Monday's entries in town.
Both the gingerbread awards and Il Vero's Monday dinner service run at night, and Çka Ka Qëllu stays open until 10 p.m. A family that drops off a house at 5 p.m. has time for a meal before the 7:45 awards.
If the lights on Westwood Avenue this year have you thinking about a sale in the new year, Michael Properties can prepare a home valuation for you before the borough takes the decorations down. Request yours while the season is still on.
