Last year on Saturday, November 29, snow came down on Main Street while shoppers filled the stores. Santa sat in the Ness Museum, the farmers market was set up in The Riley Gallery, and vendor tables filled the Gunzburger gym. On the same morning, Pennsylvania's regular firearms deer season opened statewide.
That overlap is going to happen again. The Pennsylvania Game Commission lists the 2026 regular firearms season as Nov. 28 through Dec. 13, and November 28 is the Saturday after Thanksgiving this year. Coudersport Main Street holds Christmas in a Small Town on that Saturday every year. So the town's biggest shopping day and the first day of rifle season land on the same date.
Coudersport's holiday weekend runs Friday night to Saturday afternoon, with one more date a week later. The Saturday's layout is what shapes the day. Vendors spread across seven locations on and around Main Street, most of them inside shops, galleries and public buildings, so the Saturday plays out as a walk from door to door.
Three Dates, and How Firm Each One Is
Here's what's confirmed for 2026 and what's following last year's pattern.
| Event | Last year | 2026 status | Organizer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Festival of Lights, Courthouse Square | Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, 5–8 p.m. | Not yet announced. The day after Thanksgiving falls on Friday, Nov. 27 | Coudersport Area Chamber of Commerce |
| Christmas in a Small Town, Main Street | Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is Nov. 28 this year. No 2026 hours posted yet | Coudersport Main Street |
| Community Christmas Concert, Coudersport Consistory | Second annual | Confirmed for Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026, 7–9 p.m. | Coudersport Consistory and Rotary Club of Coudersport |
Only the concert has a published 2026 listing. The first two follow how the calendar falls, and their exact hours will come from the organizers. The Chamber is at coudersport.net and 814-274-8165.
Friday Night Starts on the Square
The Visit Potter-Tioga listing describes last year's Festival of Lights as an evening on Courthouse Square with holiday lighting, hayrides, refreshments and hot chocolate. Gingerbread displays were set up around the historic downtown, and shops stayed open for gift browsing. The Chamber runs it, and it ran three hours, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Friday is also the evening to look up. Coudersport Main Street paid for new downtown Christmas decorations and added more, the snowflakes in particular, according to the Potter Leader-Enterprise.
Saturday Spreads Out, One Building at a Time
The second day shows how the weekend is built. Last year's Main Street notice in Monarch Media listed seven places to find vendor tables, not a single street of booths.
- Gunzburger gym, at the Gunzburger Building on One North Main Street, where dozens of vendors set up with crafts, art and food
- First Street
- Cream 'n Sugar
- Momma Made
- The Riley Gallery, where the farmers market was set up
- Ness Museum, where Santa held court
- Coudersport Area Chamber of Commerce office
The same notice pointed shoppers to stores that run their own sales and giveaways that day: Coudersport Pharmacy, Hauber's Jewelry, Maureen Cracknell, Always in Bloom, the Artisan Center, Love, Evelyn and Sweet Aloe Things. Food trucks, music and wineries rounded out the list.
Main Street member Abby Rossman explained the timing to the Potter Leader-Enterprise:
"Christmas in a Small Town coordinates with Small Business Saturday. We bring the vendors (to the Gunzberger building) to get a good crowd."
The schedule is tied to Small Business Saturday, and so it lands on rifle opening day. The day still held up in snow. Monarch Media's recap of last year described a snowy day with busy shops. Vendors that day included Cora's Memory Lane, Reuning & Bradley Cider, Twisted Vine, and sellers offering homemade fudge, chunky knit blankets and goods from their Etsy shops.
The Potter County Artisan Center at 227 N. Main Street held its own Christmas Open House from 1 to 3 p.m. on that Saturday, with music, shopping and treats. If it runs the same way this year, the open house fills the last two hours of the Main Street event.
Main Street has one new neighbor since last year. Untouchables Speakeasy, a BYOB spot with a 1920s theme, opened on September 19 right next to Cream 'n Sugar. Monarch Media reported plans for music, karaoke, open mic nights, poetry and dancing. It hasn't posted any holiday-weekend hours, so check before planning around it.
Where Saturday's Money Goes
Coudersport Main Street organizers say all proceeds from Christmas in a Small Town and the fall Wine Walk go back into the community. Member Cori Wagner and Rossman listed the uses for the Potter Leader-Enterprise: flower plantings, benches and tables, veterans' flags, scholarship funds, and support for Santa's Secret Shop at Coudersport Elementary. The group also puts up the flag in CARP Park and gives an "Open" flag to each new business that opens downtown.
So the Saturday helps pay for things downtown has all year, from the benches and tables to the veterans' flags. Rossman told the paper that "Main Street is trying to make a comeback and we need local shoppers." The same article noted several new storefronts on Main Street, most of them owned by women.
Anyone who wants a table can call Cori, the vendor contact listed in last year's notice, at 814-558-2898.
A Week Later, the Consistory
The Third Annual Free Community Christmas Concert takes place Saturday, December 5, 2026, at 7 p.m. at the Coudersport Consistory, 111 2nd Street, with a cookie reception after. The concert is free. A separate pre-concert reception runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, only a limited number are available, and they were listed as available beginning November 1, per the Visit Potter-Tioga event page. The Coudersport Consistory and the Rotary Club of Coudersport are the sponsors.
Reception seats are limited, so anyone who wants one should check with the sponsors now. The concert falls on the second Saturday of rifle season, which runs through December 13.
What Filled the Rest of Last December
The rest of the 2025 calendar came from other organizers.
- Silent Night, Sparkling Lights. The Coudersport Community Kitchen started a holiday light tour with 13 decorated homes in the borough and nearby. Maps were available at seven local businesses, and voting in three display categories ran December 6 to 12, according to Monarch Media.
- North Country Voices. The choir's "A Light for All Nations!" was listed for a Sunday, December 7, at 3 p.m. at Coudersport Alliance Church on Route 49, with refreshments and a free-will offering, in the Potter Leader-Enterprise community calendar.
No 2026 dates have been announced for the light tour or the choir.
Planning the Weekend of November 27–28
Based on the published pattern, here's how the long weekend lines up. Friday evening brings lights, hayrides and gingerbread on Courthouse Square. Saturday from mid-morning to mid-afternoon is a walk through seven vendor spots and the shops along Main Street, with Santa at the Ness Museum and the farmers market at The Riley Gallery, assuming the 2025 layout carries over. The Artisan Center's open house covers the end of the afternoon. Rifle season opens that same Saturday morning across the state.
Hours and locations for 2026 will come from the Coudersport Area Chamber of Commerce and Coudersport Main Street. Check with them before you lock in the Friday and Saturday plans. The December 5 concert is the only date already on the books.
At MVR Coudy, our home office is in Coudersport. If you have questions about downtown or a property in Potter County, give us a call. Call Now and Talk to a Local Agent.
