"On December 27, 1826, in a forgotten tavern on Main Street, people of the 'Village on Fever River' voted to adopt the name 'Galena' for the lead ore that brought prosperity to the region." That line comes from Mayor Terry Renner's proclamation declaring 2026 the City of Galena's Bicentennial Year. He signed it on December 27, 2025, which put the start of the year on the 199th anniversary of that vote.
So the 200th anniversary falls on a Sunday two days after Christmas, and the Galena Bicentennial committee has put its last event on that exact date. Galena isn't marking a founding or an incorporation. It's marking the day the town picked its name, and that pushes the end of this year's holiday calendar past Christmas into the quiet week before New Year's. Read that way, everything from mid-November on is a countdown.
November sets the pace across the county
The first weeks spread out across Jo Daviess County, with only one or two events on any given weekend.
The General's Christmas Ball comes first, on November 14 from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the DeSoto House Hotel. Six days later, on November 20, Galena Cellars holds its annual Nouveau Parade & Celebration. The event runs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with the parade at 2:30. The next morning, November 21, the Annual Galena Territory Holiday Market runs 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Galena Territory Association Owners' Club, 2000 Territory Drive.
Thanksgiving weekend moves outward. Stockton has its Festival of Lights & Living Windows on Friday, November 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. On Saturday, November 28, Elizabeth keeps Small Business Saturday going from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. That evening, Galena's Holiday Kick off: Galena's Jeep Jingle! runs 5 to 7 p.m. at 123 N. Commerce St.
If you're heading north toward the Wisconsin line this month, plan around road work. The Illinois Department of Transportation is resurfacing nearly four miles of Illinois 84 between U.S. 20 north of Galena and the state line. It announced daily lane closures and aimed to finish by the end of November.
December 5 stacks Elizabeth and Galena onto one Saturday
After a month of spread-out weekends, the calendar bunches up. Christmas in the Village of Elizabeth runs on Main Street Friday, December 4, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. That Saturday also holds three more events:
- Christmas at the Fort, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Apple River Fort State Historic Site, 311 E. Myrtle St., Elizabeth
- Galena Holidaze Festival, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 101 Green St., Galena
- Holiday Fire in the Sky, a free fireworks show from the Galena Downtown Business Association at 6:30 p.m., with the Galena River Levee listed as the best place to watch
The times line up well enough to do the whole day in order. Start at the fort in the morning, move to Elizabeth's Main Street before it wraps up at 3, then head into Galena for the end of Holidaze and the fireworks after dark.
One schedule overlaps that weekend. The City of Galena's 2026-27 trail closing notice closes the Galena River Trail and Galena Gateway Park for firearm deer season December 3 through 6. The levee walk before the fireworks still works. The longer riverside path does not.
Mid-December shifts to Bench Street and Main Street
The next stretch draws back into downtown Galena, mostly within walking distance of Turner Hall at 115 S. Bench St.
On Friday, December 11, Classical Blast performs its Dark Side of the Yule Holiday Concert at Turner Hall from 7:30 to 9 p.m. On Saturday, December 12, North Main Street holds Night of the Luminaria & Living Windows from 5 to 8 p.m., and the listing promises more than 5,000 candlelit luminaries. On Sunday afternoon, December 13, Tuba Christmas! fills Turner Hall from 2 to 3:30 p.m., and it's free.
That's the second weekend with a trail closure. December 11 through 13 is muzzleloader-only deer season, and the city's notice closes the Galena River Trail and Gateway Park for all three days. A Luminaria evening on North Main isn't affected. A morning walk along the river that weekend is.
The Saturday before Christmas brings back the small-scale events. The Snowflakes & Sweets Stroll runs on North Main Street from noon to 4 p.m. on December 19, with check-in at Galena Cellars, 111 N. Main St. The same morning, Country Christmas is listed at Shenandoah Riding Center from 10 a.m. to noon.
Eight days later, the bicentennial year gets its last Sunday.
Sunday, December 27: the birthday itself
The bicentennial committee calls the finale "Galena Turns 200!" Its About page says bicentennial events are free and open to the public. Here's the official schedule:
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 5 p.m. | Free concert | Inside Turner Hall |
| 5 p.m. | Birthday cake and sparkling grapes | Turner Hall |
| After dusk | Bicentennial Drone Show | Over the Galena River |
The Visit Galena listing names JP and the Midnight Idols as the live music and puts the drone show near Grant Park. In late December it gets dark early, so the drone show should follow the cake by about as long as it takes to walk from Bench Street down to the river.
The party also closes out a time capsule. The Galena Gazette reported that two capsules were started as part of the bicentennial. One stays at school. The other is to be buried after the year's final event, and the last items go in at the December 27 party. The Gazette listed some of what had already gone in: pennies, copies of the Gazette, programs from the kickoff, and Poet Laureate Ted Williams' poem "A toast to Galena's 200th year."
What stays in town after the 28th
Two pieces of the bicentennial year will still be there in January.
The first is the committee's 2026 Legacy Project, a multi-generational, all-inclusive playground at the northwest corner of Recreation Park. The Galena Gazette's coverage of the build lists a play tower with a net, a four-seat frame swing with different swing styles, and a sensory dome. For accessibility, the paths are poured rubber instead of mulch, and the universal carousel lets a wheelchair user roll right on. The equipment was also being moved closer to the sidewalk and parking lot. The ribbon cutting was planned for August 29 during the corn boil. The legacy project page says donors will be recognized on a commemorative plaque near the playground.
The second is the Alfie Mueller Historic Photo Gallery at the Galena Center for the Arts. The Gazette describes it as a permanent display of historic Galena photographs, with a computer for searching more images. If you're hosting family over the holidays, it's an indoor stop that still makes sense in January, when the luminaries are gone and the trails close again for late-winter antlerless and special CWD seasons from December 31 through January 3 and January 15 through 17.
When someone in the family starts asking what their place near Galena would be worth after 200 years of history on these streets, Bowen Conlon Real Estate can give you a straight, local answer, at your kitchen table or after the drone show. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll put real numbers behind the question.
