New Albany's Tree Lighting Moves to Rose Run Park, and the Amphitheater Gets a Rink

Last November, New Albany lit its tree in Market Square. On Sunday, November 23, 2025, Santa arrived at 3 p.m. Horse-drawn carriages circled the square before dusk, and children dropped letters into the big red mailbox at the library. At about 5:40 p.m., Mayor Spalding led the countdown, and a holiday drone show followed the lighting. The City's own listings from 2022 and 2024 put the event in the same place, in front of the library.

This year the tree is somewhere else. On October 13, the City of New Albany announced that the November 22 Holiday Tree Lighting will be held at Rose Run Park for the first time. The same day, New Albany's first outdoor ice rink opens at the Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater. Most of the season's time now belongs to a rink that is open four days a week until the end of February, and the lighting ceremony becomes the short opening event.

Half an Hour at the Tree, Fourteen Weeks on the Ice

The plainest way to see the change is to set last year's schedule next to this year's.

On the City's Holiday Lighting Festivities page, the 2026 ceremony starts at 5 p.m. with carols led by a children's choir, followed by a countdown with Santa and the Mayor. Hot beverages and donuts are free. The Market Square event ran three hours. The Rose Run Park ceremony is listed at thirty minutes, which makes the evening a short walk from the skating to the tree instead of an afternoon in one spot.

The rink is a different kind of commitment. November 22 to February 28 runs about fourteen weeks. Under the posted hours, the rink is open 25 hours in a regular week. One tree-lighting afternoon used to be the whole season. Now the City has a venue it can program every weekend through the winter.

The Rink Runs on a Thursday-to-Sunday Week

The posted hours mean a weeknight visit has to fall late in the week:

• Monday through Wednesday: closed
• Thursday and Friday: 5 to 9 p.m.
• Saturday: noon to 9 p.m.
• Sunday: noon to 8 p.m.

The City says hours will expand during winter break and on holidays. Admission is $15 per person, and the City says that price includes skate rental and all activities inside the amphitheater.

The opening weekend sets up a pattern that repeats two weeks later. On November 22, the Santa Skate runs from noon to 4:30 p.m. with festive music, photos with Santa, letters to the North Pole and jingle bell decorating. On December 6, a Hanukkah-themed skate runs during the same hours, with a skating dreidel, dreidel decorating and traditional games for chocolate coins. At 5 p.m. that day, the community Menorah Lighting begins at Rose Run Park. Rabbis lead traditional blessings, a children's choir performs, and hot beverages and kosher donuts are free. On both dates the rink stays open until 8 p.m., so skating continues after the ceremony ends.

So both holiday lightings now follow the same format: a ticketed afternoon on the ice, a short free ceremony at Rose Run Park, and the rink open into the evening.

Rose Run Park Is the Stage the Format Needs

The new location works because of where Rose Run Park sits. The City describes it as the Village Center's central park, a greenway that links Market Square with the school learning campus and the civic and cultural buildings around it. The Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater is at 170 E. Dublin-Granville Road, next to the McCoy Center on the campus side of the corridor. That puts the rink and the tree on the same walkable spine. The old location was Market Square, at the other end of that greenway.

According to the City, Phase I of the park was completed in 2020. It includes an event plaza, a bridge over the stream bed, a library garden, a wooded glen and trail with kid-friendly recreation, and a bike hub. CityScene has written about the Raines Crossing bridge and promenade, creekside nature play, and a planned birch walk linking the library garden to the creek. An event plaza in the middle of a park that already joins the library and the McCoy Center is a natural place for a ceremony scheduled between skating sessions.

The amphitheater itself opened to the public at its dedication on August 31, 2021. Until now it was a warm-weather venue. A rink through February 28 gives it a second season.

The park is still growing. The City says Phase II is underway between Village Hall and the Police Department. It includes a Veterans Memorial and is expected to be finished in late fall 2027. According to the Phase II project page, plans include a heroes walk, a contemplative plaza, a Gold Star family sculpture and a water feature, and a two-acre land donation made the expansion possible. This year's tree is the first holiday event on ground that will keep changing for at least another year.

Dinner is close by. The City's Village Center DORA page, updated in September 2026, says the district covers parts of both Rose Run Park and Market Square. Participating merchants include BrewDog at 97 E. Dublin-Granville Road, Rusty Bucket at 180 Market Street, Hudson29 and Mellow Mushroom at 260 Market Street, and Bendi Wok N' Bar at 160 W. Main Street.

The Calendar Was Already Changing Before the Tree Moved

The rink and the tree are not the first changes to the City's seasonal calendar this fall. On September 29, the City moved trick-or-treat from Halloween to tonight, Thursday, October 29, from 6 to 8 p.m., rain or shine. The City cited significant community feedback and said the new date matches the longstanding recommendation of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. It also said New Albany will use MORPC's recommended date from now on, so the night will follow that guidance in future years instead of falling on October 31 by default.

Between tonight and the tree lighting, the calendar is busy:

1. Friday, October 30, through Sunday, November 1. New Albany Middle School Theatre presents The Little Mermaid Jr. at the McCoy Center, Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Details are on the McCoy Center calendar.
2. Saturday, October 31. The Columbus Metropolitan Library's New Albany Branch hosts a family Halloween Bash from 10 a.m. to noon, with storytimes at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m.
3. Friday, November 6. The City's Veterans Day Breakfast starts at 8 a.m. at New Albany Country Club. The speaker is Dennis Keesee of the New Albany Plain Township Historical Society.
4. Saturday, November 7. Two events fall on this date. Healthy New Albany's indoor farmers market meets at the Philip Heit Center from 9 a.m. to noon. It runs on the first Saturday of each month from October 3, 2026, to April 3, 2027. That evening, the City's Diwali Celebration runs from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Hinson Amphitheater, with food trucks and vendors starting at 3 p.m.
5. Tuesday, November 10. The New Albany Community Foundation holds its annual benefit, Remarkable Evening, according to the New Albany Chamber's community calendar.
6. Saturday, November 14. The library hosts a Seasonal Puzzle Exchange from 10 to 11 a.m.
7. Thursday, November 19, through Saturday, November 21. New Albany High School Theatre Department stages Come From Away at the McCoy Center, at 7 p.m. on November 19 and 20 and at 2 and 7 p.m. on November 21. Tickets are through CAPA.
8. Sunday, November 22. The Santa Skate runs from noon to 4:30 p.m., the tree lighting at Rose Run Park runs from 5 to 5:30 p.m., and the rink stays open until 8 p.m.
9. Tuesday, November 24. The McCoy Center shows a free screening of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 7 to 10 p.m. No ticket is required.

The Diwali Celebration on November 7 is the last listed evening on the amphitheater stage before ice goes in. Fifteen days later, the same venue hosts the Santa Skate and then stays open as a rink four days a week through February 28.

A walk to Rose Run Park, the McCoy Center and the Market Square restaurants is part of what makes a Village Center address what it is. If you'd like to know how that shows up in your home's value, Deborah Parris can prepare a free valuation based on recent sales near the Village Center. Request Your Free Home Valuation.