Christmas in the Park lights up for the 40th time on Tuesday, December 1, at 5 p.m. That evening has the most going for it of any night this season. From 6 to 8 p.m. that night, the Vigo County Public Library is paying for every Holiday Express ride, so the miniature train past the decorated shelters is free. Four days later, the first Saturday of December puts a 5K, Santa photos and the downtown Christmas parade on the same day. For households in Deming Estates, whose wooded lots sit just a short drive from the park, picking the right night is easy.
Forty Seasons of Shelters Built by Neighbors
The 2025 display was the 39th, which makes this year's lighting ceremony the 40th annual Christmas in the Park, as the City of Terre Haute Parks and Recreation Department lists it. A 2023 feature in the Tribune-Star reported that First Financial Bank and the Terre Haute Parks Department started the tradition, and that it was free to visit.
The Parks Department doesn't decorate the shelters itself. That same Tribune-Star piece said community groups fill 19 of them. Entry was free as long as a group followed the rules and had its display ready by December 1, and organizations waiting for a spot joined a list kept by the Parks Department. Last season's lineup matched that pattern. WTWO/WAWV reported that Mayor Brandon Sakbun counted 19 businesses, nonprofit organizations and 181st Intelligence Wing groups in the 2025 competition.
The 2025 results, as WTWO/WAWV reported them, went like this:
- First place: FCC Terre Haute
- Second place: Terre Haute Fire Department
- Third place: League of Terre Haute, which also won People's Choice
- Also in the top six: Heart to Heart Hospice and Terre Haute Cheer University
In the 2023 Tribune-Star feature, Christina Crist, executive director of Team of Mercy, explained why her organization keeps coming back:
"Showing up and participating in events like this is the definition of commUNITY. It's also a great tradition. Families going through Deming Park and taking train rides each year is a tradition. We want to be a part of what makes our commUNITY phenomenal."
The fact that local groups build the displays is why opening night counts. Every shelter is brand new on December 1, and that evening is when the public first gets to weigh in on them.
Tuesday, December 1: Lights at 5, Free Train From 6 to 8
The City lists the 40th lighting ceremony for 5 p.m. at Deming Park, which sits at Fruitridge Avenue and Ohio Boulevard. An hour later, the Holiday Express starts boarding at Kaufman Station. The library's event listing says the library covers tickets that evening. Its December calendar has the ride running from 6 to 8 p.m., open to all ages. The ride on the Spirit of Terre Haute miniature train passes the decorated shelters, and the library invites riders to vote for their favorite in the People's Choice Award.
The City's calendar also lists Santa Pics at 6 p.m. on December 1. Lights, a free ride, a ballot and Santa all fall in the same three-hour window on a Tuesday, when most visitors from across Vigo County are at work or school until late afternoon. If you live in Deming Estates, you can be in the park a few minutes after dinner.
Here's why the free ride matters. Visit Terre Haute's 2025 holiday guide listed Holiday Express tickets at $1. The 2023 Tribune-Star feature said the profits from those $1 rides went to the organizations assigned to each night that year, a list that included Heart to Heart Hospice, the Wabash Valley Master Gardeners, Team of Mercy, the Terre Haute Fire Department, the Symphony League and the Terre Haute Humane Society. On the 40th opening night, the library is picking up that cost for everyone.
Saturday, December 5: Three Crowds in One Day
The first Saturday of December is when Christmas in the Park gets busy, and this year three separate events land on it.
| Time | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:40 a.m. | 1-mile Reindeer Romp for youth | Deming Park | $20 |
| 10:00 a.m. | 5K run and 5K walk | Deming Park | $25 |
| 5:00 p.m. | Santa Pics | City calendar listing | Per City calendar |
| 6:00 p.m. | SMWC Light Your Way Christmas Parade | Starts at 5th Street and Wabash Avenue | Downtown |
The morning race is sponsored by Chick-fil-A, and RunSignup lists it as benefiting Clothe a Child, which gets 50% of the proceeds. Registration for all three distances closes at 10 a.m. on race day. Deming Estates households have an easy run to the start line, and the race brings runners and their families into the park well before the lights come on.
That evening, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and Miracle on 7th Street put on the Light Your Way Christmas Parade, which the college says draws more than 10,000 people a year. The parade runs downtown, but its crowd has a way of ending up at Deming Park. Visit Terre Haute's 2025 holiday guide warned that Holiday Express lines got long after the parade. If you drive downtown for the parade and then head back east for the train, you'll be heading back at the same time as everyone else.
Saturday works best for the race and the parade. Tuesday works best for the shelters, the train and a ballot with a shorter line.
What Follows Through the Second Weekend
Once the opening week is past, the park's December schedule gets lighter. These are the remaining dates the City has posted:
- Sunday, December 6: Santa Pics at 5 p.m.
- Monday, December 7: Santa Pics at 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 8: Christmas in the Park Judging Night at 9 p.m. at the Torner Community Center in Deming Park
- Saturday, December 12: Santa Pics at 5 p.m.
- December 23: Kids Christmas Cookie Extravaganza for ages 5 to 12, 1 to 3 p.m. at Deming Park
Judging night is the second date to circle. In 2023, the Tribune-Star reported that three community leaders judged every display, with prize money from $2,000 for first place down to $500 for honorable mention, plus a $100 People's Choice award, all of it going to the winning organizations. If you rode on December 1 and voted, the results tie back to the shelter you picked. If you can't make it in the first week, the 2025 season gives a sense of the pace. The Holiday Express ran nightly from 6 to 8 p.m. through December 21 last year, and the lights stayed up through December.
Even so, the 40th season has one Tuesday when the displays are brand new, the train is paid for, and the crowd from the first Saturday hasn't shown up yet. For Deming Estates, that Tuesday is under three weeks away, and the park is only a few minutes from home.
Living near a park with 40 years of December tradition is part of what a Deming Estates address offers, and it's the kind of local detail Andrew Southard includes when he prices and markets homes in the neighborhood. If you're curious what your home near Deming Park is worth this season, Get Your Free Instant Home Valuation.
