In Hingham, the holiday season follows two calendars. Downtown, the Hingham Downtown Association puts its biggest moment into one Friday evening. Santa arrives on a firetruck at 6:30, and the evening ends at 8. Over at Derby Street Shops, Santa has a brunch reservation, a store appearance, a donut shop visit and three strolls between December 6 and December 23.
If you plan around only one of these calendars, you can miss the other one completely. Before either starts, a single Saturday in late November opens the season twice.
The Season Opens on November 21, in Two Places at Once
Saturday, November 21, has two holiday markets running at the same time in different parts of town.
The Hingham Holiday Fair fills Hingham High School from 9 am to 4 pm. Its page says the large raffle of themed baskets is back, with one free ticket included with event payment, and it points visitors to new vendors and food trucks set up outside at the school entrance. Vendors on the fair's site include the Hingham Historical Society and Fleurish Home & Garden.
That same morning, the St. John's Holiday Boutique opens at the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist from 9 am to 3 pm. The parish describes a curated group of vendors selling everything from homemade jam to hand-crafted jewelry to outdoor apparel. Its café serves coffee, tea, lunch and sweets, and Santa is back this year for visits and photos from 10 am to 1 pm.
With overlapping hours, you can visit both on one morning. The boutique closes an hour before the fair, so a family that wants the St. John's Santa photo and a look at the raffle baskets at the high school has a natural order: the church first, then the school.
That puts a Santa visit at a parish boutique about two weeks before downtown's big Friday.
Downtown Puts Its Santa Into One Friday Night
The Hingham Downtown Association's Hingham for the Holidays page sets Christmas in the Square on the first Friday in December, which this year is December 4. The event runs from 5 to 8 pm. Santa arrives on a firetruck at 6:30, and the evening includes food trucks, candy canes, an ice sculpture, hot cocoa, a holiday movie, live performances and the tunnel cap "Snow Show." Shops stay open late.
The evening is a little shorter this year. Last year's Christmas in the Square ran from 5 to 9 pm on December 5, as the Hingham Anchor reported. This year's schedule ends at 8, so the firetruck arrives with an hour and a half left in the evening. If you want to see Santa come in and then finish your shopping, plan to be downtown by 6:15 or so and count on the shops' late hours for the rest of your list.
On the HDA's holiday page, that evening is the one event built around Santa's arrival. Most of what the HDA lists for the rest of the season is quieter.
Two Days Later, the Square's Calendar Moves Indoors
The annual menorah lighting is on the HDA's community calendar for Sunday, December 6. The listing invites everyone and promises complimentary cocoa, donuts, Chanukah dreidels and gelt.
The change this year is what happens afterward. In the calendar's words:
"New this year: the celebration continues with activities and entertainment inside the Hingham Community Center immediately following the lighting."
That line comes from the Discover Hingham community events calendar. Continuing inside the Community Center gives the evening somewhere to go after the lighting, which helps anyone bringing small children out on a December Sunday night.
What Downtown Keeps Running All Season
Between those two evenings and around them, the HDA keeps a steady, low-key presence in the Square. Its holiday page lists:
- Saturday festivities in late November and December, including horse-drawn hayrides and pop-up events, with the page directing visitors back for specifics as each weekend comes up
- Santa's mailbox for letters going straight to the North Pole
- Holiday character cut-outs, sponsored by Wilder Memorial Nursery School
- Sunday shop openings and extended hours throughout the season
The HDA also runs a program that lets residents put their own name on the decorations. Through Adopt a Lamppost, $150 dresses a downtown lamppost and adds a name or business of up to 80 characters. There are two color schemes to choose from: green garland with a red bow, or white garland with a blue bow.
Downtown's season, then, is mostly decorations, Saturday hayrides, Sunday hours and two set evenings. Derby Street works differently.
Derby Street Books Santa Through December 23
Derby Street Shops spreads its programming across the month and holds most of it in individual stores, including a few weekday slots that downtown doesn't offer. Here is its December calendar as posted on Derby Street's events page:
| Date | Event | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Dec 6 | Santa Brunch at Legal Sea Foods | 11 am to 1 pm | Santa and Mrs. Claus; reservations required, space limited |
| Wed, Dec 9 | Mom's Night Out Holiday Shopping Stroll | 5 to 8 pm | Evening shopping event |
| Fri, Dec 11 | Polar Express Storytime at Barnes & Noble | 6 to 7 pm | Evening reading |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Shopping with Santa at Vineyard Vines | 11 am to noon | In-store visit |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Santa Stroll | Noon to 2 pm | Follows the Vineyard Vines visit |
| Mon, Dec 14 | Donuts with Santa at Union Square Donuts | 2:30 to 3:30 pm | Free children's tickets; donuts sold separately |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Santa Stroll | 11 am to 2 pm | |
| Wed, Dec 23 | Santa Stroll | 11 am to 2 pm | Two days before Christmas |
One venue on that list is new to the holiday rotation. Derby Street's tenant directory marked Union Square Donuts as now open at the end of September, so the December 14 Donuts with Santa is the shop's first holiday season at Derby Street. Children need a free ticket, and the donuts cost extra.
The last date matters most for late planners. The December 23 Santa Stroll falls on a Wednesday morning, nearly three weeks after Christmas in the Square and after every other dated event in this post.
Where the Two Calendars Meet
Two days carry most of the overlap between the two schedules.
Sunday, December 6 has both Hingham's menorah lighting, with its new Community Center follow-up, and Derby Street's Santa Brunch at Legal Sea Foods from 11 am to 1 pm. Since brunch reservations are limited, booking early is the main planning step for that Sunday.
Saturday, December 12 stacks two Santa events back to back at Derby Street: Shopping with Santa at Vineyard Vines from 11 to noon, then the Santa Stroll from noon to 2. It also falls inside the stretch of December Saturdays the HDA lists for downtown hayrides and pop-ups. On that day, a family could see Santa at Derby Street around midday and still head downtown later for the Saturday festivities.
Laid out by week, Hingham's season looks like this:
- Week of November 16: the Hingham Holiday Fair and the St. John's Holiday Boutique, both Saturday the 21st
- Week of November 30: Christmas in the Square on Friday the 4th, then the menorah lighting and Santa Brunch on Sunday the 6th
- Week of December 7: Mom's Night Out on the 9th, Polar Express Storytime on the 11th, and two Santa events on the 12th
- Week of December 14: Donuts with Santa on Monday the 14th and a Santa Stroll on the 19th
- Week of December 21: the final Santa Stroll on Wednesday the 23rd
Downtown's Santa arrives on one fixed Friday. For a second visit, or a first one after the Square's Friday has passed, the dates to watch are at Derby Street.
After nearly two decades of Decembers here, I know the season has a lot of moving pieces. If you have a question about this year's holiday calendar, or about the town around it, Pamela Bates is always glad to talk Hingham. Let's Connect.
