"Saturday, December 12, 2026." That line sits at the top of the Cassina Garden Club's bake sale page, and it means the "Best Bake Sale in the South" is not on December 13, the date many holiday calendars still show. The Golden Isles holiday events page lists the sale on December 13. That was the 2025 date, a Saturday last year. This year December 13 is a Sunday.
This one-day difference reflects how the whole 2026 season is lining up. The dates that are firmly set come from organizers who post their own: Sea Island, the garden club, and the art markets at Postell Park. The events people think of as permanent fixtures, the Pier Village tree lighting and the golf cart parade, are still listed this October with dates that line up with last year's calendar.
A Bake Sale and a Festival Show the Pattern
The bake sale is easy to plan around once you have the right date. It runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hamilton Plantation historic tabby cabins and gardens on Gascoigne Bluff, 1195 Arthur Moore Drive. It is open to the public, and the Interpretive Cabin is open for tours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The tables carry homemade cakes, pies, breads and cookies along with toasted pecans, jellies and jams.
The Georgia Elvis Festival is less clear. The same Golden Isles holiday page gives two different date ranges for it in one entry. The heading says December 4 to 6, and the description below it says December 13 to 15 at Strickland Auditorium at Epworth By The Sea. The December 4 to 6 range matches the 2025 festival, which The Brunswick News reported was scheduled for those dates at Epworth. The festival's own website now lists 2027 headliners and carries Douglas, Georgia in its page title. Its hotel links point to Douglas stays for January 21 to 24, 2027, but the site does not state a festival date or main venue. As of October 10, no 2026 date at Epworth has been published.
Both cases follow the same logic. A recurring event with no fresh organizer post keeps showing up under last year's date, and the error only shows when you check what day of the week that date falls on in 2026.
Sea Island Has Posted Its Season
Sea Island Resort has the most detailed published calendar of anyone. Its Thanksgiving at Sea Island page names the year and runs November 24 to 29, 2026. It includes a holiday reception in The Cloister Colonial Lounge on Wednesday and a Thanksgiving Day 5k on Thursday morning, followed by a service in The Cloister Chapel. The resort's annual Christmas tree lighting falls on Friday, November 27, at 5 p.m. That puts Sea Island's tree lighting at least five days ahead of the Pier Village lighting on any date it might get this year.
The Christmas at Sea Island page is dated December 19 to 26, 2026. It describes more than 100,000 outdoor lights, 2,800 feet of garland and 95 Christmas trees, plus a life-size gingerbread house in the Solarium. The 24th Annual Reindog Parade is set for Wednesday, December 23, at 3:30 p.m. The regional holiday calendar describes the programming as being for guests and members. The resort publishes daily activity listings and a Santa schedule for the week.
Postell Park Is Confirmed Twice
On the public side of the island, the confirmed dates cluster at Postell Park. Glynn Visual Arts' Mistletoe Market is listed for Saturday, December 5, and Sunday, December 6, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. The listing describes it as an annual event with more than 60 juried artists and artisans. The St. Simons Market, which has been running since September 2025, has Postell Park dates on November 14 and 15 and again on December 19 and 20.
Glynn Visual Arts also lists its Holiday Market at the gallery at 106 Island Drive from November 28 through December 23, with Tuesday through Saturday hours. That listing contradicts itself on opening day. It calls November 28 a Saturday in one place and a Friday in another. November 28, 2026 is a Saturday, but confirming with the gallery before an opening-day visit is the safer choice.
Two weekends carry most of the public calendar, and each has a conflict built in.
| Weekend | Confirmed | Expected but unconfirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 5–6 | Mistletoe Market, Postell Park, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. both days | Christmas Golf Cart Parade, Pier Village, Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. per the regional calendar |
| Dec. 12–13 | Cassina Garden Club Bake Sale, Gascoigne Bluff, Sat. Dec. 12, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | Lighthouse Trolleys Christmas Tour of Lights, starting Dec. 13 on an undated schedule |
| Dec. 19–20 | St. Simons Market, Postell Park; Christmas at Sea Island begins Dec. 19 | None found |
The Village Traditions Are Still on Last Year's Pattern
The Pier Village Annual Christmas Tree Lighting is listed for December 2 at 6 p.m. on the Golden Isles holiday page. The region's fall and winter guide also gives December 2, 2026, with no time, and suggests a stroll down Mallery Street afterward. The 2025 lighting was on Tuesday, December 2, from 6 to 8 p.m., in Pier Village at 550 Beachview Drive. In 2026, December 2 is a Wednesday. The date may stay the same, but no organizer had confirmed it for this year as of early October.
The Christmas Golf Cart Parade has the same gap. The regional listing puts it at Pier Village on December 6 at 11 a.m. In 2025, December 6 was a Saturday. This year it is the Sunday of the Mistletoe Market weekend. Last year's lineup started at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Mallery Street ball parks, with a $20 entry fee by cash, check or Venmo to support the Youth Fishing Extravaganza. The Brunswick News has covered the parade rolling through Pier Village in the rain. Anyone decorating a cart would do well to wait for a 2026 entry announcement before counting on that Sunday morning.
The Lighthouse Trolleys Christmas Tour of Lights has a current operator page, but it has no year on it. It lists December 13 through 24, with 90-minute tours leaving from the St. Simons Fishing Pier at 6:30 and 7:00 p.m., and reservations required. A 2025 local listing gave departures at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. and prices of $30 for adults and $15 for children 12 and younger. The operator page lists no price, so the current fare will show at booking.
The St. Simons Lighthouse Museum has nothing on the December calendar yet. The Coastal Georgia Historical Society's events listing shows programs through November 18 and nothing in December.
How the Season Lays Out Week by Week
Laid out in order, the confirmed dates form a clear sequence:
- November 14–15. St. Simons Market at Postell Park.
- November 19–22. The RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club.
- November 24–29. Thanksgiving at Sea Island, with the tree lighting on Friday, November 27, at 5 p.m.
- November 28. The Glynn Visual Arts Holiday Market opens at 106 Island Drive and runs through December 23.
- December 5–6. Mistletoe Market at Postell Park.
- December 12. Cassina Garden Club Bake Sale at Gascoigne Bluff.
- December 19–20. St. Simons Market returns to Postell Park, and Christmas at Sea Island starts its December 19 to 26 run.
- December 23. The 24th Annual Reindog Parade at Sea Island, 3:30 p.m.
Three Village events sit around that sequence and still need confirmation: the tree lighting, expected on or near December 2; the golf cart parade, expected near the first weekend of December; and the trolley light tours, expected to start mid-month. The confirmed list is enough to plan a season around. The tree lighting and the parade are the two dates worth checking again after Thanksgiving, once their organizers post them.
If your December is split between the island and Atlanta, the senior team at JPW Realty is happy to help you plan which weeks to be on St. Simons. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll talk through the calendar and your plans for the island.
