The two weeks after Thanksgiving are the cheapest of Bellevue's holiday season. Between November 30 and December 14, a skate at the downtown ice rink and a walk through Garden d'Lights cost less than on any other night of the run. Once winter break starts, the same pair costs twice as much.
Two discounts produce that pattern. The Bellevue Downtown Association added $12 "Cheapskate Mondays" at its rink this year. Bellevue Botanical Garden runs $5 weeknights during the first two weeks of its light show. They overlap on the same Monday-to-Thursday stretch in early December, and the free events cluster on the weekends around them.
Two prices for the same night out
The Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink opened Friday, November 13, at Bellevue Downtown Park. It's one block south of Bellevue Square at NE 1st Street and 100th Avenue NE, near Inspiration Playground. It stays open every day through January 18, 2027, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Every ticket includes skate rental, and non-skaters get in free.
Garden d'Lights opens two days after Thanksgiving, on Saturday, November 28. It runs through January 3, 2027, at the garden at 12001 Main Street, and it's closed on Christmas Day. This is the show's 32nd year, with more than half a million lights. Kids 10 and under are always free.
Here's what one adult pays for a rink session and a Garden d'Lights entry on different nights, using each venue's published 2026 prices:
| Night | Ice rink | Garden d'Lights | Total per adult |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, Nov 30 or Dec 7 | $12 | $5 | $17 |
| Tuesday through Thursday, Dec 1–3 or Dec 8–10 | $16 | $5 | $21 |
| Weekend, Dec 4–6 or Dec 11–13 | $22 | $10 | $32 |
| Winter break, Dec 18 through Jan 3 | $24 | $10 | $34 |
A family of two adults on a winter-break Saturday pays $68 for the pair. The same family pays $34 on the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend. The kids' Garden d'Lights tickets cost nothing either way.
Why the overlap is so short
Each discount has its own end date, and they don't match.
Cheapskate Mondays run from November 16 through December 14, then come back January 4 and 11. The first one, November 16, was this past Monday. That leaves four Mondays before winter break: November 23 and 30, and December 7 and 14.
The garden's $5 nights only fall on Monday through Thursday of the show's first two weeks: November 30 to December 3, and December 7 to 10. So the nights when both venues are at their lowest price come down to two Mondays, November 30 and December 7.
Some fine print changes how those nights work:
- On $5 nights, the last Garden d'Lights entry is 8 p.m. and the lights go off at 8:30. On general admission nights, entry runs until 9 p.m. and lights stay on until 9:30. First entry is 4:30 p.m. every night.
- Tuesday, December 8, is the sensory-friendly night. All the lights are on, there's no live music, and attendance is capped at half capacity, or 200 guests per half hour. Tickets are required.
- At the rink, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Day itself, November 25 and 26, are charged the $22 weekend and holiday rate.
- Walk-up admission at the rink is limited, and the BDA recommends buying tickets ahead online.
For regular skaters, a $189 season pass covers any public session without a reservation. It can't be transferred or refunded. The rink is in its 29th season and draws more than 45,000 skaters a year. "For many families and friends, a visit to the rink is part of what makes the holidays feel like the holidays," BDA president and CEO Patrick Bannon told the Downtown Bellevue Network.
The free events take the weekends
Before winter break, the ticketed venues charge their highest prices Friday through Sunday. Most of downtown's free holiday programming lands on those same days or runs every night, so a weekend in Bellevue doesn't have to cost anything.
Snowflake Lane is in its 22nd year. The free parade starts at 7 p.m. every night from Friday, November 27, through Christmas Eve. It runs between Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square, from NE 4th Street to NE 8th Street. Greg Thompson Productions produces it locally, and most of the nearly 180 performers each night are students, playing toy drummers, jingle belle dancers and snow princesses. The Bellevue Collection told the Downtown Bellevue Network that the 28-night season draws close to 400,000 guests. That's useful to know before choosing opening weekend over a Tuesday in mid-December.
The rest of the free calendar, by date:
- Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Bellevue Farmers Market's Makers District Winter Gathering and Youth Makers Market, at 1717 Bellevue Way NE, features crafts made by young people.
- Friday, November 27. After the parade's opening night, Santa counts down to lighting a 30-foot tree at Bellevue Place Wintergarden. The evening includes music, cocoa and cookies.
- December 1–4 and December 7–11. Local school choirs and orchestras perform at Bellevue Square Center Court.
- December 3–24. "Season of Celebrations" plays on a 20-foot immersive screen in Center Court, showing how people around the world celebrate.
- Saturdays, December 5, 12 and 19, 1 to 3 p.m. The Old Bellevue Merchants Association holds Santa Saturdays on Main Street. It's free, with no tickets or reservations.
The school choir dates line up almost exactly with the garden's $5 weeks. On a Monday like December 7, one evening can include Center Court music, a $12 skate, the 7 p.m. parade, and the lights out on Main Street at $5 a person, as long as you arrive at the garden by 8.
The one major ticketed show that runs mostly outside the cheap window is International Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, at Meydenbauer Center Theatre from December 11 to 23.
What's changed along the parade route
The parade ends at Lincoln Square, and the Lincoln South Food Hall at 500 Bellevue Way NE has a different lineup this year. Great State Burger and King Leroy have closed their shared second-floor spot, the Downtown Bellevue Network reported on October 7. The same report named Dote Coffee Bar as their neighbor, and OAKBERRY, which opened in July, as the hall's newest tenant at the time.
Mean Sandwich, owned by Dan Crookston, has opened its second location in the food hall. Its website lists Bellevue hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Sandwiches were announced at $16 to $22. A 9 p.m. close leaves time for dinner after the 7 p.m. parade.
Other changes nearby:
- Rhone is open on Bellevue Square's first level.
- Wagyu House, an all-you-can-eat yakiniku restaurant in the former Din Tai Fung space at Lincoln Square North, is aiming to open by the end of 2026.
- Sea Creatures, chef Renee Erickson's restaurant group, has signed a lease at The Eight, 10770 NE 8th St. Erickson told the Downtown Bellevue Network the group was excited to join the Eastside community.
- Sunwell, a smoothie, matcha and coffee café, is preparing to open at 999 110th Ave NE.
After December 18, the math flips
Winter break pricing at the rink starts December 18 and lasts through January 3, at $24 a ticket. Garden d'Lights charges $10 on every night it's open from December 11 to its last night, January 3, and it's closed on Christmas Day. It stays open on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Discounts come back only at the rink, with Cheapskate Mondays on January 4 and 11. The rink stays open through January 18, well after the lights come down.
So if you're hosting out-of-town guests over the break, it's worth booking the rink and the garden now. Locals with flexible evenings have the two Mondays after Thanksgiving, November 30 and December 7, when a skate plus the lights costs $17 a person.
At PBNW Homes, we follow Bellevue's calendar the way we follow its market, down to the date. If you're thinking about how the season fits into a move to the Eastside or within it, we'd be glad to talk it through. Work With Us.
