"Coolidge Park offers perfect views of the river for the Lighted Boat Parade and the fireworks show as well as amenities like the Ellis Carousel," River City Company president and CEO Emily Mack told WDEF when the move was announced in late September.
For more than 40 years, the Friday after Thanksgiving has meant crowds at Ross's Landing on the south shore. This year Reindeer on the Riverfront and the 46th annual Lighted Boat Parade come to Coolidge Park on Friday, November 27. If you live on the North Shore, that means the city's biggest free holiday evening is happening a short walk from home. It also lands on a night when Frazier Avenue already has its own events planned. And the construction schedule behind the move suggests this may not be a one-year detour.
Why the parade can't go back across the river yet
The move comes down to a construction fence. River City Company, the private nonprofit that guides downtown development, announced on October 2 that it had passed its $25 million private fundraising goal for a rebuild of the riverfront around Ross's Landing, the Times Free Press reported. The plan adds two restaurants, sports courts, public restrooms, an upgraded pier and more waterfront recreation. The riverfront between the Market Street Bridge and the Olgiati Bridge on Highway 27 will be closed while the work happens.
The project is called Riverfront Parks NEXT. Its plans also list a signature play zone, multi-use courts and art beneath Highway 27, shade trees, native planting and flexible lawns for events. The City of Chattanooga's project page has physical work slated for November. River City Co. expects the project to be "substantially completed" by late spring 2028. In March, WDEF reported an estimate of about 18 months of construction, with reopening in the second quarter of 2028.
Put that next to the organizers' own wording. Chattanoogan.com describes the relocation as temporary, with the event returning to the south shore "after the Riverfront Park upgrades are completed in 2028." The day after Thanksgiving in 2027 comes well before a late-spring 2028 finish. If the schedule holds, the North Shore is likely hosting next year too. Organizers haven't announced a 2027 location, but the math points that way.
The design also includes a dock improvement at Coolidge Park. WDEF reported that this work would not require the park itself to close.
The evening, hour by hour
The event is free and runs from 4 to 8 p.m. River City Company lists live reindeer, free photos with Santa, a hot cocoa bar, mini-train rides, face painting, balloon animals and holiday music. Chattanoogan.com adds the Chattanooga Elf, the Grinch, Elsa from Frozen, illuminated giant puppets by Playful Evolving Monsters, food and holiday art vendors, and drinks for guests 21 and older.
Here is the night in one grid, including what's happening a block away on Frazier Avenue:
| Time | Coolidge Park | Nearby on the North Shore |
|---|---|---|
| 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. | Live reindeer | Ellis Carousel open, posted daily hours 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Pictures with Santa | |
| 6:00 p.m. | Verre Noir's Victorian Masquerade Night Market opens on Frazier Avenue | |
| 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. | Lighted Boat Parade | Carousel's posted closing time is 7 p.m. |
| 8:00 p.m. | Fireworks | Night Market listed until 10 p.m. |
Erwin Marine Sales coordinates the boat parade. WDEF reported that the boats will loop between the Market Street Bridge and the Veterans Memorial Bridge. River City Company credits the Southern Belle and Erwin Marine Sales as presenters of the parade and fireworks.
The carousel is the timing detail families will want to plan around. The city lists the Ellis Carousel at 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and Visit Chattanooga lists rides at $1. Neither listing mentions special hours for November 27. Going by the posted schedule, the carousel works best between the reindeer and Santa photos, before the boats arrive.
Frazier Avenue already had plans for that night
Verre Noir, the shop at 36 Frazier Ave., has listed a Victorian Masquerade Night Market for November 27 as part of its 2026 Night Market series on Frazier Avenue. The listing for that date says 6 to 10 p.m. Elsewhere, the same page says markets generally run 7 to 10 p.m., so check with the shop before you set your evening around the earlier start. Either way, the market keeps going well after the fireworks end at 8. Anyone not ready to head home can walk a block over and keep the evening going.
The NorthShore Merchants Collective also runs a Holiday Window Treasure Hunt. Its event page bills the hunt as the 11th annual and gives a run from November 21 through January 6, though it doesn't say which year those dates are for. Here's how it works. You pick up a Heart of Chattanooga Passport at a participating shop, find the hearts hidden in shop windows, and get a stamp or sticker inside each one. Then you turn in the completed final page with a cash donation. The minimum is $2 and $5 is suggested, and proceeds benefit Northside Neighborhood House. Three NorthShore gift baskets valued at $400 each are up for grabs.
The participant list reads like a map of the neighborhood. It includes Clumpies, Four Bridges Outfitters, Almanac Supply Co., Plum Nelly, In-Town Gallery, AVA, Chattanooga Theatre Centre, Wake-n-Bakery, River Street Deli, Sushi Nabe, Learning Express, Zi Olive, Nooga Paws, Locals Only and Verre Noir. If that November 21 start applies this year, the hunt will be six days old when the parade crowd arrives, and every one of those visitors will walk past the decorated windows.
There's also something newer to eat that night. Zeekz House of Gyros opened October 3 at 129 N. Market Street, taking over a space that had been a salad restaurant, according to the Times Free Press.
Getting there when the crowd is coming to you
The North Shore has hosted a crowd this size before, and the earlier advice still applies. When the Moon River festival filled Coolidge Park in 2023, organizers and city officials told attendees to leave their cars across the river because parking in North Chattanooga would be limited, the Times Free Press reported.
This year, that walk from downtown is back. The Walnut Street Bridge reopened October 3 after its 18-month restoration. The work included new yellow Alaskan cedar decking, fresh paint, and repaired or replaced steel, the Times Free Press reported. The paper put the restoration's cost at $52 million. November 27 is set to be the bridge's first big holiday crowd since it reopened.
The event page links to Northshore and Southshore parking maps. As of this writing, organizers haven't announced street closures or a dedicated shuttle. For North Shore lots, the Chattanooga Parking Authority posts these everyday rates:
- Coolidge Park lot, 99 River St. $0.75 for up to 30 minutes, up to $3 for two hours. No longer-stay rate is posted.
- Renaissance Park lot, 54 Manufacturers Rd. $1.50 for up to 30 minutes, $11 for more than three hours.
- CARTA Northshore Garage, 305 Frazier Ave. $3 for up to an hour, $11 for more than three hours.
- CARTA South Garage, 1362 Market St. Free for up to an hour, $12 for more than three hours. This one makes sense if you'd rather park downtown and walk across the bridge.
Those rates are for ordinary days, so check them before you go.
Transit can help, but timing matters. CARTA's free Route 34 Northshore Express Shuttle runs Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., so its last trips come before the boat parade starts. Route 33 has Coolidge Park and Northshore stops on its map. Its published Friday schedule runs 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., with buses about every 15 minutes. That should cover the trip home after the fireworks.
The rest of the season on this side of the river
The parade is the biggest night, but it falls in the middle of a full calendar. Starting with the day after this post goes up:
- October 30. Verre Noir's Dark Moon Faire Night Market on Frazier Avenue. The same night, Chattanooga Theatre Centre hosts its Stage Fright Cabaret at 7:30 p.m., then a Halloween dance party from 8:30 to 10:30.
- November 6 to 22. See Rock City at Chattanooga Theatre Centre.
- December 4 to 20. Harry Connick Jr.'s The Happy Elf at the Theatre Centre.
- December 18. Verre Noir's Winter Solstice & Krampus Night Market, listed 6 to 10 p.m.
Through all of it, the south shore riverfront that used to host the city's holiday night is expected to be behind construction fencing until 2028.
Big events move foot traffic, and a temporary change like this one can shape how a block feels for a season or two. If you own on the North Shore and want to know how the next couple of years of riverfront construction could figure into your home's value, Marcus Holt Homes can walk you through it calmly and in plain numbers. Request a free home valuation, then go enjoy the fireworks from your own side of the river.
