DecemBRRR Dazzle brings the tree lighting, fireworks over Lakefront Park and Santa photos on Friday, December 4. By then Prior Lake's main holiday shopping will already be over, and both of its turkey trots will have been run.
The season gets going during three days in the third week of November. A small-business boutique at The Wilds, the Dakotah! Turkey Trot and the City of Prior Lake's own Holiday Market all fall between Thursday, November 19 and Saturday, November 21. Thanksgiving week then adds a second round of events. If you plan around the tree lighting, you'll miss most of them.
Two Turkey Trot Deadlines Come Before November
The Dakotah! Sport and Fitness Turkey Trot is set for Saturday, November 21, 2026, and the organizer's page says the 5K is sold out. Race day is still weeks away. There are still a limited number of spots in the Kids Half-Mile Fun Run. Parents and guardians can run with their children without registering.
The other turkey trot has a deadline at the end of the month. The Gobble Gait 5K at Cleary Lake runs on Thanksgiving morning. The adult price on Race Roster is $39.44 through October 31 and then rises to $44.79 from November 1 through race day. Both prices include mandatory charges. Runners under 18 pay $25. The lower price ends on Halloween.
The season also gets a smaller start the day before Halloween. The city's Candy Crawl runs Friday, October 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's a daytime trick-or-treat for Prior Lake's youngest residents. It starts at City Hall, 4646 Dakota St. SE, where city departments hand out treats, and then moves on to participating downtown businesses.
The Three-Day Stretch
These are the events from Thursday, November 19 through Saturday, November 21:
- Thursday, November 19, 4 to 8 p.m. The Wilds Holiday Boutique brings more than 30 small businesses to the remodeled ballroom at The Wilds Golf Club, according to the Prior Lake Events listing. It lists Bring It! Accessories as the organizer.
- Saturday, November 21, 8 a.m. The Dakotah! Turkey Trot 5K starts from the west parking lot of Dakotah! Sport and Fitness. The closed course runs over the rolling hills of The Meadows at Mystic Lake in the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Packet pickup starts at 6:45 a.m., and the Kids Fun Run starts at 8:45 a.m. Packet pickup is at 2100 Trail of Dreams NW.
- Saturday, November 21, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The City of Prior Lake's Holiday Market fills Club Prior at 16210 Eagle Creek Ave. with handcrafted goods and one-of-a-kind gifts.
On Saturday morning the two events overlap. The 5K starts at 8 a.m. and the market opens at 9, so a runner from the morning race can make it to Eagle Creek Avenue with most of the market's seven hours still ahead.
The two shopping events have different setups. The Wilds boutique is an evening event in a golf club ballroom, run by a local business with more than 30 vendors. The Holiday Market is a daytime event the city runs in its own building. According to the Prior Lake News Compass, the city accepts no more than four vendors of any one type, to cut down on competition between vendors and keep the selection varied. That cap matters for shoppers. Even if the room is full, you won't find a dozen tables selling nearly the same thing.
Vendor applications for the city market were due October 1.
Why the City Put Its Market in Club Prior
The building helps explain why the city's market feels different from the boutique. The city describes Club Prior as an activity center for older adults. It has about 6,000 square feet of space for social activities and shares the building with the Prior Lake Library. The Prior Lake News Compass reported that Club Prior's programs moved to another city building for three months in 2024 while the space was renovated and expanded. This November, the expanded space will host a citywide shopping day.
Club Prior's own programs also stretch the holiday week back one more day. On Wednesday, November 18, the city hosts "An Evening of Mah-Jongg" at Club Prior from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It's free, and the city provides snacks, drinks and a limited number of game boards. Put it on the calendar and the busy stretch runs four days, from Wednesday evening to Saturday afternoon, with the city's building used on both ends.
Thanksgiving Week Brings a Second Round
The three-day stretch is the first round. Thanksgiving week brings a second, in different parts of town:
- Wednesday, November 25, 8 to 11 p.m. Charlie's on Prior, at 3950 Green Heights Trail SW, hosts "Drinksgiving" with drink specials and live music from The Jake Nelson Band.
- Thursday, November 26, 8 a.m. The Gobble Gait 5K starts at Cleary Lake Regional Park, 18106 Texas Ave. The Prior Lake Events listing names the State Bank of Faribault's Prior Lake branch as the sponsor. Turkey-themed costumes are welcome, and runners register ahead on Race Roster.
- Saturday, November 28, all day. Downtown shops along Main Avenue and Dakota Street hold Small Business Saturday. Rhino Wine Bar stays open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with discounts.
- Saturday, November 28, 8 p.m. Hanson plays the Mystic Showroom at Mystic Lake.
The two halves of the month match up. Each has a turkey trot and a shopping day. The first trot is on the SMSC golf course the Saturday before the holiday, and the second is on the Cleary Lake trails Thanksgiving morning. The first shopping day is at the city's Club Prior, and the second is in the downtown shops along Main Avenue and Dakota Street. Anyone who missed the Dakotah! 5K can still sign up for the Thanksgiving-morning 5K at Cleary Lake. Anyone who skipped the Holiday Market can shop downtown a week later.
What Fills the Earlier November Weekends
The first two weekends of November mostly belong to the Mystic Showroom. Mystic Lake's Ladies Weekend has #IMOMSOHARD at 8 p.m. Friday, November 6, and KEM at 8 p.m. Saturday, November 7. Alter Bridge, with Tim Montana opening, plays at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 14.
Those are ticketed concerts on one stage. Most of the month's community events start the following Wednesday at Club Prior.
Where the Tree Lighting Fits Now
DecemBRRR Dazzle is still Prior Lake's biggest single holiday night. It runs Friday, December 4, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Lakefront Park, 5000 Kop Parkway SE, according to the City of Prior Lake. The night includes the tree-lighting ceremony, fireworks, Santa photos, ice carving and a bonfire.
By that Friday, both turkey trots, the boutique at The Wilds, the city's Holiday Market and Small Business Saturday downtown will all be over. The tree lighting comes after the town's November events, so a calendar built around it starts about two weeks late. Here's a working version for this year, with dates to save now:
- October 31: Last day for the lower Gobble Gait price.
- November 18 to 21: Mah-Jongg night, The Wilds Holiday Boutique, Dakotah! Turkey Trot and the Holiday Market.
- November 25 to 28: Drinksgiving, Gobble Gait, Small Business Saturday.
- December 4: DecemBRRR Dazzle at Lakefront Park.
If you'd like a hand planning your own calendar for the season, or want to talk about what's coming up in Prior Lake beyond these November dates, Eric Frank follows the south metro's community calendar all year and is glad to share what he knows. Let's Connect.
