Before the crowd shouts "Light the Star" on Saturday, Castle Rock firefighter Jay Allen and three other firefighters will have climbed the Rock in harnesses and screwed in the last bulbs on the bottom half of the star. They do it on the day of the event, as a final check. Allen told CBS Colorado that the switch-on is low-tech. When the crowd gives the signal, "one of the keepers flips the breaker."
That breaker opens the season. When the star comes on at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, the Town's Christmas tree and downtown decorations come on with it. They stay lit until January 23, the same day the star's season ends with the National Western Stock Show in Denver. Every holiday event on the Town's calendar falls between those two dates. It all starts with a handful of firefighters and a star that has been lit every holiday season since 1936.
Four keepers, 100 bulbs, and a climb most people shouldn't try
The star went up near the end of the Great Depression. Community leaders built a 40-foot star on top of the Rock to bring in travelers and to give the town some hope. The Castle Rock News-Press reports that it was first lit in the 1936 holiday season and has been lit every year since. It has 100 bulbs, and Castle Rock Fire and Rescue maintains it.
Four firefighters do that work as the "Keepers of the Star," and Allen leads the team. In the CBS Colorado report, he described the work as a year-round job of replacing worn wire and sockets. During the season the keepers take turns watching the star, and when a bulb burns out they try to replace it quickly. The crew has also made structural upgrades an engineer recommended and has started switching some of the incandescent bulbs to LEDs. In some years the star has worn special colors. Orange and blue bulbs went up when the Broncos made the Super Bowl.
The keepers climb with gear and training. The rest of us should stay on the trail. The Town of Castle Rock says it does not maintain the scramble to the summit. Climbing isn't generally illegal, but the Town discourages it and warns that the Rock has sheer drops of 50 feet or more. Downtown has a better view of the star anyway, because the star is built to be seen from below.
A lawn gathering that grew to nearly 49,000
McHugh plans the event with the Castle Rock Chamber. He told the News-Press that when he brought his own kids years ago, Starlighting was a gathering on the lawn in front of the county building. There were a few vendor tents and maybe up to 1,000 people. Last year nearly 49,000 people came.
The star at the center of the event is still maintained by four people. Around it is a festival the Chamber works on most of the year, with the main push starting after the Fair Parade in early August. This year the Chamber expects more than 115 sponsors and nonprofits and more than 100 volunteers. Volunteers do everything from serving drinks to cleanup to working as Santa's helpers. McHugh told the paper that the nonprofit booths go back to the event's original purpose of giving local organizations a chance to get in front of the public.
The firefighters have their own part of the day too. The Castle Rock Professional Firefighters will hold their 90th Annual Chili Supper at Fire Station 151, serving beef chili, nachos, hot dogs, drinks and desserts. Tickets are sold for the supper.
Saturday, November 21, hour by hour
Festivities run from 2 to 6 p.m. in Historic Wilcox Square and Festival Park. Admission is free, and purchases at Chamber booths are cashless.
| Time | Where | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| 2:00–4:15 p.m. | Festival Park | Santa Claus visits |
| 2:00–4:45 p.m. | Main Stage, 4th & Wilcox | The Biff Gore Band plays live |
| 2:00–5:30 p.m. | Four stages downtown | Live entertainment, including local youth and school choirs and dance studios |
| All afternoon | 4th Street just west of Wilcox | Kids Zone with face painting, a petting zoo, games and a Humvee |
| All afternoon | Fire Station 151 | 90th Annual Chili Supper, ticketed |
| 5:00 p.m. | Main Stage, 4th & Wilcox | Ceremony with FOX31's Kirk Yuhnke, Great Day Colorado's Denise Plante and DCSO's Deborah Takahara |
| About 5:30 p.m. | The Rock | Star lights, then fireworks if weather and conditions permit |
Volunteers hand out LED candles through the afternoon for guests to hold at 5 p.m. As part of the traditional ceremony, someone reads "Castle Rock," the poem resident Helen Lowrie Marshall wrote in 1966, and then Biff Gore leads the crowd in "Silent Night." Food trucks and four Chamber beverage tents serve hot chocolate, spiked hot chocolate, beer, wine and water.
Getting downtown when the core is closed
With a crowd that size, the streets close early. From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., these blocks are shut to traffic:
- Perry Street between 5th and 2nd
- North Wilcox Street between 5th and 3rd
- 4th Street between Jerry and Perry
- 3rd Street and 2nd Street between Wilcox and Perry
The 2026 event map also warns that cars parked on or near the train tracks will be towed.
Free shuttles run from early afternoon until 8 p.m. from three lots.
- AdventHealth Castle Rock, Alexander Parking Lot, 2352 Meadows Blvd., drops off at 5th and Wilcox.
- Douglas County High School, South Building, 2842 Front St., drops off at 5th and Wilcox.
- Douglas County Fairgrounds, Lot 5, 500 Fairgrounds Drive, drops off between South Street and Phelps Street.
Return shuttles leave from the same spot where they dropped you off, so board the one marked for the lot where you parked. If you'd rather park downtown, try the Encore Parking Garage at Perry and South or the Douglas County Parking Garage at 3rd and Jerry. The Town keeps a downtown parking map that's worth pulling up before you leave home.
Nine weeks on the star's clock
Once the star is on, the Town's Season of the Star calendar runs until it goes dark. The 40-foot tree is already up in Festival Park, and every event below is free to attend.
- Downtown trolley rides, Mondays and Tuesdays, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., November 23 through December 29. The Castle Rock Downtown Alliance runs the Town Trolley on a figure-eight loop past the holiday lights. It reaches each stop about every 12 minutes. Stops are at the Encore Parking Garage entrance on South Street between Wilcox and Perry, at the west crosswalk near Third and Perry, and at the Douglas County School District lot entrance on Sixth Street.
- Festival Park Starlight Market, Friday, December 4, 3 to 8 p.m., and Saturday, December 5, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 300 Second St. More than 40 vendors sell crafts, art and specialty items, alongside roasted nuts, tamales, salsa, food trucks and live holiday music.
- Reindeer Games, Saturday, December 5, 1 to 4 p.m., at the Amphitheater and Millhouse at Philip S. Miller Park, 1375 W. Plum Creek Parkway. The event has live reindeer, hot chocolate, crafts and photos with Santa.
- Storytellers and S'mores, Saturday, December 12, 5 to 7 p.m., back in Festival Park. Santa reads holiday classics from a giant storyteller's chair, there's a drop-off for letters to Santa, and marshmallows are roasted on site.
December 5 is the busiest day. The market's second day and Reindeer Games happen at the same time, about two miles apart.
Three new tables to work into the season
A few places opened this fall, in time to be part of a holiday night out.
- Border Burger Sports Bar opened September 30 at 810 New Memphis Court, in the former Trifecta building. It has three floors, with a bar and cigar lounge on the top floor.
- Peak Pizza opened October 28 at the Outlets at Castle Rock, 5050 Factory Shops Blvd., Suite 660. It's a locally owned pizzeria with an arcade and about 50 seats, which makes it an easy stop with kids after a holiday shopping trip.
- Dunkin' opened its first Castle Rock location October 24 at 1185 Aloha St. It's open daily from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., early enough to grab coffee before claiming a spot downtown on Saturday morning.
Jay Allen told CBS Colorado that seeing the star lit as he drove down the hill into town was his sign that he was home. For many families here, that view is part of what Castle Rock means. If you're thinking about what your place under the star is worth, or where your family goes next, The Hoffman Group is glad to talk it over. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll see you downtown on the 21st.
