Lay Concord's holiday dates side by side and nearly every one turns out to involve books. The Concord Museum's main holiday installation is a forest of trees, each built around a picture book. The Concord Bookshop starts the season with a book fair. The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library hold their holiday sale in the first week of December. All three come together on Sunday, December 6, the same afternoon Santa rides a fire truck down Main Street to light the town tree.
Below are the dates, times and details that matter, in order. They begin this week and run through December 12.
This Week, Two Evenings at the Museum
The season starts before any trees go up. The Concord Museum has two evening talks scheduled for the first week of November. "Wildness and Henry David Thoreau" is on Thursday, November 5, from 7 to 8 p.m. "Joanne Freeman on the Revolutionary Era" follows on Friday, November 6, also from 7 to 8 p.m., at the Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike. Both fit the Revolution 250 programming the Museum has run all year, and both come two weeks before the building fills with story trees.
November 21 Opens Two Book Events on the Same Saturday
Family Trees: A Celebration of Children's Literature opens Saturday, November 21, and runs through January 3, 2027. The Museum describes "dozens of stunning story trees, handcrafted by talented local volunteers and community organizations," and each one decorates a single picture book in handmade ornaments. Visitors can walk the display, read in the galleries or follow a scavenger hunt.
The same morning on Main Street, the Concord Bookshop at 65 Main Street hosts the Concord Children's Center Book Fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shoppers can buy titles from teacher wish lists for the Center's classrooms, and a percentage of the day's sales goes to the Center. The Bookshop also takes online orders that day for anyone who can't come in.
Put together, opening day for the story trees is also a day for buying the books. A family could see a decorated Goldfinches tree in the morning and pick up the book on Main Street that afternoon, with part of the sale supporting a local classroom.
Planning a Family Trees visit
| Detail | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Run | November 21, 2026 to January 3, 2027 |
| Regular hours | Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Extra days | Open Mondays in December, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day |
| Closed | Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day |
| Adults | $20 |
| Seniors and students | $15 |
| Youth, 6 to 17 | $10 |
| Children, 3 to 5 | $5 |
| Age 2 and under, and Museum members | Free |
Tickets go on sale in November. Booking ahead is encouraged but not required. Family Trees raises money for the Museum's education programs, which the Museum says serve more than 17,000 students a year.
What's on the Trees This Year
The Museum has published the 2026 booklist, and it has a clear Concord accent. The most local title is Mrs. Podgers' Teapot by Louisa May Alcott, which puts a Concord literary name on one of the Concord Museum's own trees. Revolutionary Mary by Karen Blumenthal and Jen McCartney, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, ties the display to the Revolutionary history the Museum has featured all year.
Many of the other titles are about the natural world, which suits a town that also claims Thoreau:
- Goldfinches by Mary Oliver, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
- Dear Acorn (Love, Oak) by Joyce Sidman, also illustrated by Melissa Sweet
- The Weedy Garden by Margaret Renkl, illustrated by Billy Renkl
- Wind Watchers by Micha Archer
- Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler
- Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner
- Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee
- It's Winter by Renée Kurilla
Younger readers will spot familiar names too. The list includes When You Dream Big! by Peter H. Reynolds, Cat Nap by Brian Lies, A Snow Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead, Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora, Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney and Doggies by Sandra Boynton. For a seasonal pick there is Who Donut? A Holiday Mystery by Josh Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney. Families who read a few titles at home before visiting can turn the scavenger hunt into a game of naming each book from its ornaments.
Sunday, December 6, Hour by Hour
Most of the season's threads cross on the first Sunday in December. On this one afternoon, the Friends of the Library close their holiday sale, the Museum brings in the people behind the books and the Town lights its tree.
The Friends' Holiday Book Sale runs Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 6, in the Goodwin Forum of the Main Library, 129 Main Street. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Sale proceeds pay for library programs, museum passes, eBooks, large-print and audiovisual materials, and staff training. The library's December calendar also lists "The Art of Conantum" in the Commons Gallery and hallway display cases, a companion to "A Special Place to Live: Conantum at 75" in the Munroe Gallery. Both mark the 75th anniversary of the neighborhood the library calls Concord's first modern residential development.
Here is how the afternoon fits together:
| Time | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. | An Afternoon with Authors and Illustrators | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike |
| 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. | Friends' Holiday Book Sale, final day | Goodwin Forum, Main Library, 129 Main Street |
| 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. | Town Tree Lighting, with outdoor entertainment and decorated storefronts | Concord Center |
| 4:40 p.m. | Parade steps off | The Hunt Gym |
| About 5:00 p.m. | Tree is lit | Main Street |
At the Museum, the authors-and-illustrators event brings in local writers, illustrators and, the Museum says, "even some of the characters from the books featured in this year's installation." It ends at 3, just as the Town's program begins. The Concord Recreation Department's tree lighting page says Santa will come down Main Street on one of Concord's fire trucks to light the Town Tree.
A full afternoon could go like this:
- Arrive at the Museum at 1 to meet the authors and see the trees while the galleries are busy with the people who made the books.
- Head to the library before the sale closes at 4. Sunday is the last chance to pick up anything left.
- Find a spot along Main Street before the parade leaves the Hunt Gym at 4:40.
- Watch the lighting at about 5. The program ends at 6.
If the weather turns
The Recreation Department has a plan for bad weather. If there is soaking rain or snow heavy enough to plow, the decision to cancel the outdoor event will be made by 9 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. In that case, an indoor event will run in the Hunt Recreation Center from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on December 6, with activities still to be announced. The Museum and the library events are indoors either way, so the bookish part of the day can go on even if the parade doesn't.
December 12 Moves the Season Indoors
Six days later, the season moves into private homes. The Concord Museum's 2026 Holiday House Tour is Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is a self-guided tour of private Concord homes, which the Museum describes as "ranging from charming historic residences to stunning modern designs." Each home is decorated by local designers, florists and homeowners. The Museum's Guild of Volunteers presents the tour, and ticket sales support the same education and outreach programs as Family Trees. Tickets go on sale in early November.
The Museum's own listing suggests pairing the tour with holiday shopping and dining in historic Concord Center. That brings the season back to Main Street, where it started at the Bookshop three weeks earlier. Family Trees stays open through the tour weekend and past the holidays. Families who missed opening day or December 6 can still visit on any open day through January 3, including the Mondays in December when the Museum adds hours.
The Season at a Glance
- Thursday, November 5: "Wildness and Henry David Thoreau," Concord Museum, 7 to 8 p.m.
- Friday, November 6: "Joanne Freeman on the Revolutionary Era," Concord Museum, 7 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, November 21: Family Trees opens; Concord Children's Center Book Fair at the Concord Bookshop, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Friday, December 4, to Sunday, December 6: Friends' Holiday Book Sale, Goodwin Forum
- Sunday, December 6: Authors and Illustrators, 1 to 3 p.m.; Tree Lighting, 3 to 6 p.m.
- Saturday, December 12: Holiday House Tour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, January 3, 2027: Family Trees closes
The Holiday House Tour is a rare chance to see how Concord homeowners treat the details of their houses, from historic woodwork to modern light. If it sparks questions about your own home, whether that means its history, its character or its place in the town's market, Patty, David and Will at Levy RE Group would be glad to talk them through with you, quietly and at whatever pace suits the season.
