Last December, the Friday before the Boat Parade of Lights belonged to Havasu Riviera. The 2025 listing in RiverScene Magazine placed the dock glow party there on Dec. 12, the night before more than 50 lit boats ran the Bridgewater Channel.
This year, both nights are at English Village. The parade's organizers have partnered with London Bridge Resort's 12 Days of Christmas, and the official parade site now lists Friday, Dec. 11 as Dock Glow Night and Saturday, Dec. 12 as the parade, both as evenings by the water in English Village. The partnership puts the lights, the ice rink, Santa, the decorated boats and the parade's home base at the same address for most of the season, and that changes how a December in town gets planned.
One village, three kinds of nights
The resort's season has three layers, and each runs on a different schedule.
Start with the lights. According to London Bridge Resort's October 14, 2026 announcement, the Festival of Lights starts Nov. 27 and runs nightly through Jan. 10, 2027, from 6 to 9 p.m. More than 750,000 lights cover the resort's village, and an animated display synced to holiday music plays every 30 minutes.
The 12 Days of Christmas runs Wednesday through Saturday, Dec. 2 to Dec. 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Kokomo area at 1477 Queens Bay. Those nights bring Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Grinch, s'mores around the fire pits, Letters to Santa, food vendors and an ice rink. When RiverScene covered the resort's 2024 holiday setup, the programmed nights ran Wednesday through Friday. The 2026 schedule adds Saturdays.
The boats arrive on the second weekend of December.
These schedules overlap differently through the week. The lights stay on Sunday through Tuesday and keep going for more than two weeks after the 12 Days ends on Dec. 23. Anyone who wants the light show without the Santa line has plenty of evenings to choose from.
| Date | What happens | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Grand opening, Festival of Lights Swim Race, switch-on | London Bridge Resort | Lights 6–9 p.m. nightly from here |
| Wed.–Sat., Dec. 2–23 | 12 Days of Christmas | Kokomo area, 1477 Queens Bay | 5–8 p.m. |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Dock Glow Night | London Bridge Resort docks, English Village | Evening, until 9 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Boat Parade of Lights | Bridgewater Channel, under London Bridge | Parade at 6 p.m. |
| Through Sun., Jan. 10, 2027 | Festival of Lights | Resort village | 6–9 p.m. nightly |
The season opens with a swim race. On Nov. 27, swimmers race beneath the holiday lights, and the winner takes a cash prize and flips the switch that lights the village for the season.
Friday, Dec. 11: the boats sit still
Now that Dock Glow is at the resort, the boats spend Friday on the London Bridge Resort docks, decorated and lit. That is the night to walk up close before they head out on Saturday. Dock Glow also falls on a 12 Days night, so the village activities run at the same time. The parade site lists the ice skating, s'mores, crafts, face painting and Naughty and Nice drinks for the adults across both evenings.
Go Lake Havasu's parade guide suggests not skipping Friday. It calls Dock Glow low-key but full of holiday activity and a chance to talk with the people who designed the boats. Watching the parade is free. The same guide notes that the ice rink and the food and drink vendors may cost extra.
For a family planning a full evening at the resort, London Bridge Resort's Merry Moments package includes one hour of ice skating for a family of four and a $100 food and beverage credit that can be used around the resort, including on s'mores kits and the Naughty and Nice Bar.
Saturday, Dec. 12: picking a spot along the channel
With the festivities based in English Village, the Saturday choice is between watching from the village and watching from one of the free public spots along the channel. The parade starts at 6 p.m., and the boats travel through the Bridgewater Channel and under London Bridge. According to the resort's announcement, Jack FM will broadcast live during the parade with information on the boats as they pass.
Go Lake Havasu lists these as top viewing spots, and the first four also have free parking:
- English Village, 422 English Village, at the center of the weekend's activity
- Rotary Community Park, 1400 Smoketree Ave.
- London Bridge Beach, 1340 McCulloch Blvd. N
- Lake Havasu State Park, 699 London Bridge Rd.
- Bridgewater Channel beaches, a viewing area without a listed parking lot
The guide recommends arriving early or using rideshare or public transit.
The parade's ground rules on that page shape what to bring. Wood-burning fires are not allowed on any beach, but propane fire pits are allowed at all parks. Dogs are not permitted on the white-sand beach, children must be with an adult, and everyone carries out their own trash. Boaters should know that mooring along the Bridgewater Channel beaches ends at 4 p.m. on parade day, when law enforcement begins sweeping the channel to clear it.
The State Park spot has a new neighbor
Lake Havasu State Park offers something no other viewing spot does. Go Lake Havasu says the park provides limited free access to its viewing area through the gate across from Paseo Del Sol, the entry to Windsor Beach, starting at 4 p.m. It also supplies a limited number of designated wood fire pits, with the wood and the fire control handled by the park.
That same park is now where the Freedom Bridge begins. The City's Freedom Bridge & Roadway Improvement Project page shows construction started Oct. 19, 2026, with Ames Construction as contractor and completion planned for April 2028. During the week of Nov. 2, crews were building a drill pad on the mainland side so a rig could drill shafts for the bridge's piers and abutments. The City's estimated schedule puts bridge construction and utility work from November 2026 through December 2027. Today's News-Herald reported that the first work was crews removing fence posts inside Lake Havasu State Park along the future Freedom Avenue alignment.
Anyone planning to watch from Windsor Beach should check the City's project page for the latest weekly update before heading out. It is the same page that tracks the work as it moves into the drilling phase.
For anyone putting a boat in the parade
Entering a boat takes two sign-ups, a refundable fee and a firm deadline. Go Lake Havasu lists the process this way:
- Submit the official Parade of Lights Google Form, linked from the parade site.
- Reserve your spot through the Parade of Lights Eventbrite page.
- Pay the $100 registration fee, which is returned when you check in at the captains' meeting.
- Get everything in by Dec. 5, 2026, when submissions close.
JJ Gibbs organizes the parade and is the contact listed on the parade site, at (928) 486-7063. Entered boats are the ones tied up at the London Bridge Resort docks for Dock Glow on Friday, so the Dec. 5 deadline also decides who is on display the night before.
One more resort date before the switch flips
London Bridge Resort hosts a fundraiser before the lights go on. The 17th annual O'Christmas Tree event is Sunday, Nov. 22, with lunch, tree and wreath auctions, and raffle prizes. Tickets are sold through Women With Willpower, according to its Go Lake Havasu listing.
Once the Festival of Lights goes dark on Jan. 10, the next big shared weekend moves up McCulloch Boulevard. The Lake Havasu Area Chamber of Commerce hosts Winterfest on Feb. 6 and 7, 2027, in the Downtown Havasu District.
Hosting family over the holidays and want a hand planning a parade-weekend evening, or thinking about how a home near the channel fits your life all year? The local team at Lisa Turner knows these docks, parks and side streets well and is glad to help. Contact Our Lake Havasu Real Estate Experts.
