Carriages, Trains and Christmas Exhibits: Planning Your Holiday Season in Downtown Lebanon

The Lebanon Horse-Drawn Carriage Parade falls on one Saturday this year, December 5. Downtown Lebanon's holiday season starts four weeks earlier and runs until New Year's Eve. Most of it happens on the same short stretch of South Broadway. If you live here, the parade is the biggest event of the season, but it's one of many chances to enjoy it.

Here's the 2026 calendar, from the first craft table to the last museum day, so you can choose which days to spend downtown.

The season is built on one stretch of Broadway

You can see why everything fits together by looking at the addresses. The Golden Lamb is at 27 S. Broadway. The Village Parlor is at 22 S. Broadway. The Harmon Museum is at 105 S. Broadway, and the Beedle Log Cabin, where the museum holds its first-Saturday kids' crafts, is at 141 S. Broadway. Just off Broadway, the LM&M Railroad's North Pole Express boards at 16 E. South St.

So one trip downtown can cover two or three traditions. You could see a holiday exhibit, have dinner at a 223-year-old inn and catch an evening train, all without moving the car.

It starts November 7 with a cinnamon stick

The first holiday event on the Harmon Museum's calendar is Saturday, November 7, at 11 a.m. It's a free Family Fun on the Frontier craft where kids make a Cinnamon Stick Tree Ornament. The museum offers a new craft every first Saturday, and the Beedle Log Cabin page says those kids' crafts are free.

On Friday, November 13, the museum opens three holiday exhibits, all running through December 31 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

• Antique Christmas Ornaments
• Yuletide on the Town Square, which includes holiday events with reenactors
• A Mid-Century Christmas with Russel Wright

Regular admission at the Harmon Museum is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for ages 5 through 17. Kids under 5 get in free, and a family of four pays $20. So the date you pick matters. The museum's calendar lists FREE Second Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on November 14 and December 12, and both dates fall inside the exhibit run. November 14 is the day after the exhibits open. December 12 is the Saturday after the parade, when the carriages are gone and downtown is still decorated.

There's one more holiday program for adults. On Wednesday, December 16, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the museum's Lunch & Learn series presents "Yuletides from Lebanon's Past." Tickets are sold through the museum's event calendar.

The train runs on more nights than the parade

The North Pole Express is the LM&M Railroad's best-known holiday event. The 2026 season begins Friday, November 20. On the railroad's booking page, that first night has a 7 p.m. departure from 16 E. South St. The ride lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes, Santa and his elves ride along, and every child gets a souvenir bell and a holiday cookie. You can buy hot chocolate at the station and take it on board.

Published schedules show trains running in four stretches: November 20 to 22, November 27 to 29, December 3 to 6, and nightly from December 10 to 23. Weekend departures run from late morning into the evening. Weekday trains usually leave in the evening.

Here are the fares for the November 20, 7 p.m. train:

The LM&M Railroad's North Pole Express page lists coach fares "starting at" $40 and deluxe fares starting at $50. Those match the child and senior prices. A family with two adults will pay more per seat than the headline price. Fares can also change by date, so check the train you want before you plan around a number.

The December dates line up well with the rest of the calendar. Trains run the weekend of the parade, December 3 to 6, and every night the following week, including the evening of the museum's December 12 free Saturday.

December 5, hour by hour

The 37th Annual Lebanon Horse-Drawn Carriage Parade & Festival, presented by MANE, Inc. and the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce, fills downtown from morning until well after dark. Here's the day as the Chamber has posted it so far:

1. 10 a.m. The Christmas Festival and Market opens downtown with food trucks, local vendors, holiday shopping and photos with Santa. It runs until 8 p.m.
2. 1 p.m. The Daylight Parade.
3. 7 p.m. The traditional Candlelight Parade.

The festival hours cover both parades. That leaves six hours between the afternoon parade and the evening one, which is plenty of time to visit the museum, eat a meal, or ride an afternoon train if you've booked a weekend departure.

The Chamber hasn't posted the 2026 route yet. Right now the parade page links to a map labeled 2025 and says to check back for updates on entertainment, the route and festival details. The same page links a downtown public parking map and a 2026 shuttle map. Check those again the week of the parade. Last year's shuttle details may not carry over.

The Chamber is taking pre-orders for the 2026 Signature Ornament, made by BrickHouse Designs in Lebanon. Its page also has an online volunteer sign-up for day-of shifts.

Between the parades: where downtown eats and shops

The six hours between parades, and the evenings before and after train rides, are when downtown's restaurants and shops come in.

The Golden Lamb, 27 S. Broadway. This year has an extra milestone. The Golden Lamb is celebrating 100 years of family ownership in 2026, and it has welcomed guests since 1803. It's a restaurant, tavern and inn in one building. The kitchen cooks every meal from scratch and asks guests with dietary needs to call ahead of their reservation. On a day as busy as December 5, that call is worth making early.

Other places to eat:

• The Village Parlor, 22 S. Broadway, serves lunch, dinner and ice cream and is in its 57th year.
• Mae Ploy's Thai Restaurant, 11 S. Broadway, has served Thai food since 2019 and takes online orders.
• Lebanon Brewing Company, 20 W. Silver St., pours beer, cocktails and sodas and runs a kitchen.
• Doc's Place, 12 W. Mulberry St., offers casual-upscale dining with live music.
• Greenhouse Cafe, 105 E. Mulberry St., is a café and juice bar with fresh local food and craft cocktails.

Shops for your gift list:

• Blume Home, 9 S. Broadway: home goods, handmade goods and pastries.
• Brickhouse on Broadway, 15 N. Broadway: personalized gifts.
• Bailey Lane, 44 E. Mulberry St.: clothing and accessories.
• Lebanon Coin & Jewelry, 110 S. Broadway: a new shop that announced an October 31 grand opening with a 1 p.m. ribbon cutting. It sits on the same block of South Broadway as the Harmon Museum.
• Slightly North on Broadway Salon + Spa, 237 N. Broadway: recently opened, with salon, spa and boutique services under one roof.

Your downtown Lebanon holiday calendar

December 5 is the busiest day on the list, and the other eight dates give you the same downtown at an easier pace. If you can only fit in a few, a free Second Saturday at the museum, an evening train and a dinner reservation on Broadway will cover much of the season.

If you're seeing these streets with new eyes this season, maybe because you're thinking about moving here, moving up, or moving on, we'd love to share what we know about Lebanon and the neighborhoods around it. Lynn Schwarber and The Schwarber Team are glad to talk over coffee before or after the carriages roll by. Let's Connect.