Old Town Fort Collins Fits Its Whole Holiday Kickoff Into One Friday Night

At 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, the first ticketed shoppers can walk into Northside Aztlan Community Center at 112 E. Willow St. to look over work from more than 40 potters. By 6:30 p.m., a few blocks away, a countdown in Old Town Square switches on the downtown holiday lights. Galleries and shops on the First Friday Art Walk stay open until 9.

Three different organizers run those events. The Northern Colorado Potters' Guild runs the market, the City of Fort Collins runs the lighting, and the Downtown Development Authority runs the art walk. Their hours still overlap in a way that lets you do all three on foot in a single evening. A fourth program, the DDA's Old Town Spree, starts five days earlier and links the shops along the way. Planning the night goes better when you know where each one starts and where it hands off to the next.

Sunday, Nov. 1 starts the Spree

Old Town Spree begins at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 31. Spend $10 or more at a participating downtown business and you get at least one code card, while supplies last. You enter the codes online. No purchase is needed, though, because the official rules also describe a free way to request a code by mail. Each person can submit up to 500 entries. Four $100 gift cards are drawn every Monday from Nov. 2 through Dec. 28, and three extra $50 cards go out on Nov. 10, Nov. 24 and Dec. 15. Five $250 grand prizes are drawn on Jan. 5, 2027.

The participating list is mostly the downtown names you already know: Old Firehouse Books, Happy Lucky's Teahouse, Hearne's Footwear and Clothing, Mountain Fly Shop, Old Town Spice Shop, Downtown Ace Hardware, Odell Brewing Company, Kilwins, Walrus Ice Cream and the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. Keep the list in mind, because many of these shops are also on the Nov. 6 art walk.

That same Sunday, Old Town Square hosts the Día de los Muertos Celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. It has mariachi and folklórico performances, community and cultural booths, local vendors, activities for all ages and a traditional ofrenda. Alianza NORCO runs its ticketed Muertos Crawl from Old Town Square during the same afternoon, 1 to 4 p.m. It includes stops at local businesses, tastings, bites, altars and displays, and raffles, with tickets listed at $20 to $35. Buy anything at a Spree shop that afternoon and you've collected your first entry before the holiday lights go up.

Friday afternoon starts on Willow Street

The Holiday Pottery Market opens to everyone at 3 p.m. on Nov. 6. The two hours before that are early entry, which requires a ticket. Those tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 30, the day after this post goes up. The guild's listing describes mugs, plates, bowls, pitchers, vases, sculptures and ornaments, and the market runs for three days.

Friday is the longest day and the only one that runs into the evening. Its 8 p.m. close comes well after the lights go on, so you can shop the market before the ceremony or swing back to it afterward.

Mid-afternoon, the streets around the square close

The streets around Old Town Square start closing while the pottery market is in its first hours. The city's event page lists closures starting at 3 p.m., and its Oct. 13 announcement gives 3:30 p.m. According to the announcement, these stretches close:

• Walnut Street between College Avenue and Mountain Avenue
• The 200 block of Linden Street, between Walnut and Jefferson
• Mountain Avenue in both directions between College Avenue and Remington Street
• Remington Street between Mountain Avenue and Oak Street, with access to the parking garage kept open

"No Parking" signs go up 24 hours ahead of time. Cars left in the signed areas are towed to Northside Aztlan Community Center at 112 E. Willow St. That's the same building where the pottery market is open until 8 p.m.

The city points drivers to three garages: Old Town Garage at 209 E. Mountain Ave., Civic Center at 120 N. Mason St. and Firehouse Alley at 165 Chestnut St. It also encourages people to ride MAX, carpool, walk or bike, and it's adding bike racks on the north side of Walnut Street.

5:30 to 7 p.m. in Old Town Square

Guerrilla Fanfare Brass Band plays the Old Town Square stage from 5:30 to 7 p.m. At 6:30, city representatives say a few words and lead the countdown. The ceremony is free, and Fort Collins Connexion is this year's sponsor. The City of Fort Collins, the Downtown Development Authority and the Downtown General Improvement District pay for the lights together.

Parks and Recreation Director LeAnn Williams described the moment in the city's announcement:

"There's a moment right when the lights switch on when you can feel the whole square take a breath and smile."

New this year, The Gardens on Spring Creek is building a light installation just for downtown in Oak Street Plaza. Visitors can stop to see it, take photos and learn about the gardens' Garden of Lights event. Oak Street Plaza is also on the way to several art walk stops, which leads into the last part of the night.

6 to 9 p.m., the art walk

The First Friday Art Walk is a free, self-guided tour from the DDA, running 6 to 9 p.m. It starts half an hour before the countdown and continues for two hours after the band finishes. If you went to the pottery market earlier, look up Smokestack Pottery at 119 E. Lincoln Ave. and Petrichor Collective Studios at 131 E. Lincoln Ave., Suite C. The larger art spaces on the list include Museum of Art Fort Collins at 201 S. College Ave., the Global Village Museum of Arts & Cultures at 200 W. Mountain Ave., Suite C, and the Center for Creativity at 200 Mathews St. Bas Bleu Theatre Company at 401 Pine St. and Wolverine Farm Publick House at 316 Willow St. are on it too.

This is where the Spree comes back in. These art walk stops also appear on the Old Town Spree participant list, so a $10 purchase at any of them during the walk can earn you a code card while supplies last:

Codes collected that night go toward the Monday, Nov. 9 drawing for four $100 gift cards, and then the Nov. 10 drawing for an extra $50 card.

One way to string the evening together

1. Start at Northside Aztlan Community Center on Willow Street. Arrive at 1 p.m. with an early entry ticket, or anytime after 3 p.m. without one.
2. Park in one of the three garages or come by MAX or bike before the closures begin in mid-afternoon.
3. Be in Old Town Square by 6:15 to catch Guerrilla Fanfare and the 6:30 countdown.
4. Walk to Oak Street Plaza to see the Gardens on Spring Creek installation.
5. Spend the rest of the evening on the art walk until 9, buying from Spree shops as you go. If you'd like a second look at the pottery market, go back before it closes at 8.

After Nov. 6

The pottery market keeps going on Saturday and Sunday mornings. On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Global Village Museum of Arts and Cultures and NoCo Creative Network host the Holiday Art Mart from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with local makers, interactive activities and free hot drinks. Downtown's Shop Small post promotes Small Business Saturday on Nov. 28 and suggests daytime shopping followed by an evening walk under the lights. Away from downtown, the city's Holiday Artisan Market fills the Fort Collins Senior Center at 1200 Raintree Drive on Nov. 27 and 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, with more than 100 artisans and crafters and free entry. The downtown lights stay on every night through Feb. 14, 2027. The Spree runs through New Year's Eve.

Living within walking distance of Old Town Square means nights like Nov. 6 are a few blocks away, and that's worth something when you sell. If you'd like to know how your Fort Collins home compares in today's market, Todd Sledge and the team will put the numbers together for you with no pressure. Get a free, no-pressure home valuation.