Valley Junction's Holiday Season Runs on Thursday Nights

From May through September, the Valley Junction Farmers Market ran on Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. The holiday calendar keeps that night. Sip & Shop runs on Thursdays this fall, and every Jingle in the Junction night falls on a Thursday too. The only big stretch that isn't on a Thursday is Small Business Weekend, which starts the day after Thanksgiving. If you live in West Des Moines and want to enjoy the Junction this season, you mostly need to keep your Thursdays open.

Here is the season in order, starting with Thursday, October 29.

The last Sip & Shop is October 29

The Historic Valley Junction Foundation planned this fall's Sip & Shop for three Thursdays: October 15, 22 and 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. That makes October 29 the final night on its current event page. The Foundation's event page lists participating stores and what each one is offering. Some offers are worth planning around:

• St. Kilda is serving a $50 three-course meal with wine pairings.
• Sassy's Boutique is giving a $20 coupon for every $100 you spend, good in November 2026.
• Cindy's Boutique has 20% off storewide. Good Day Treasures has 20% off uranium glass, plus hard cider.
• Memory Lane is hosting a Fireside Winery tasting. BW Outdoors is clearing out in-stock furniture.
• Happy DSM is sampling cocktail mixers, holding a drawing and donating 10% to the ALS Association Iowa Chapter.
• Coffee Cats and Spice & Tea Exchange are pouring seasonal drinks. Your CBD Store has samples.
• The Valley Junction Welcome Center is handing out bingo cards and taking 20% off Valley Junction merchandise.

Femme Revival is pouring fall mimosas and giving a gift with purchase. Tulip Bloom is running pop-ups and specials on fall decor. Bings, Low Toxy, Harlow + James, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and BW Outdoors are on the list too. Sassy's November coupon carries that night's shopping into the next part of the season.

Then the Thursday lights

The Foundation's February 2026 schedule also showed a Sip & Shop on November 5, but the current event page ends the series on October 29. If you're hoping for one more round, check valleyjunction.com before that Thursday. Jingle in the Junction starts its four-night run on November 19. All four nights are Thursdays, 5 to 8 p.m.

The Thursday pattern only breaks for Thanksgiving. The holiday takes the November 26 slot, and Small Business Weekend fills the four days right after it. You can see the dates on both the Foundation's event page and Travel Iowa's calendar. The last Jingle night, December 17, comes one week before Christmas Eve, which is also a Thursday this year.

What a Jingle night includes

The Foundation's 2026 sponsorship packet describes the event this way: more than 100,000 lights, free horse-drawn trolley rides, Santa and Mrs. Claus, ice carvings, carolers and musicians, and an entertainment area that changes every week. It covers the 100 through 300 blocks of Fifth Street and Railroad Park. The Foundation's current calendar describes three blocks of free entertainment along Fifth Street. The December listings give the location as 5th Street & Railroad Park, 401 Railroad Place.

The packet's numbers show how big a Jingle night is. The Foundation estimates 20,000 visitors for the four-night season. It estimates 110,000 for the 22-week farmers market. Divide each total by its number of nights and you get about 5,000 people either way. By the Foundation's own estimates, a Jingle evening draws about as many people in three hours as a summer market draws in four.

For reference, here is how last year's Jingle nights were set up. The 2025 tree lighting was at 6 p.m. at the West Des Moines Fire Administration building, 318 Fifth Street. Santa and Mrs. Claus were at the Foundation office, 137 Fifth Street, from 6 to 8 p.m. Trolleys loaded in Railroad Park, ice carving was next to Memory Lane at 208 Fifth Street, and food vendors set up on Maple Street. The 2026 locations may change, so check valleyjunction.com before you go.

The south end of Fifth Street matters more this year

Last year's layout put the tree lighting in the 300 block, at the far end of Fifth Street from Santa's spot in the 100 block. The Foundation expects that south end to matter more as new businesses open there. Its 2026 packet says so directly:

"With the addition of new businesses in the 300 block of 5th Street, Jingle in the Junction is only going to continue to grow for years to come."

St. Kilda Collective, a full-service restaurant at 333 5th Street, is in that block. It's also the restaurant behind the October 29 three-course Sip & Shop dinner. The newer openings have spread across the whole district, though. The Foundation's 2025 annual report counted 14 new business openings that year. It also counted 63 public events run by the Foundation and an estimated 1.2 million visitors to the district.

Where to eat between the lights

Jingle nights run from 5 to 8 p.m., so dinner fits before, during or after. These places are within walking distance of the route:

False 9 Social Club, 206 Fifth St. Cityview reviewed it in September and said it opened in March 2026 in the former Mitzi's space, which was a general store and deli before that. The name comes from a soccer position, and the owners show matches on the TVs. Cityview listed hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and described entrees under $18. It sits in the 200 block, between last year's ice carving spot and Santa's station.

Black Cat Ice Cream, 134 5th St. It's in the 100 block, near the Foundation office where Santa was stationed last year.

The district's award winners. The Foundation's annual report lists several 2025 Cityview "Best of Des Moines" winners from the Junction. Cooper's on 5th won Best Valley Junction Restaurant. Winchester Public House won Best Fancy-Pants Bar and Best Whiskey Menu. Bix & Co. won Best Local Sports Bar. For holiday shopping, Bing's won Best Local Gift Shop and Reading in Public won Best Local New or Used Book Store. Valley Junction itself was named Best Shopping District.

Parking on a crowded Thursday

The Foundation says parking in the district is free. There are more than 900 public spaces, with signs pointing to lots off Fourth and Sixth Streets. The city's construction updates page lists finished repair work on the 6th Street parking lot, and its 2025 lot repair program covered a public lot in the 200 block, west of the alley between Fifth and Sixth. On a night when around 5,000 people may come out, the lots a block off Fifth Street are the ones to aim for.

What's still being decided

Two longer-term items could change how the district looks in future seasons. Neither is settled.

West Des Moines City Council held workshops on May 4 and July 20, 2026, about design guidelines for the Valley Junction historic district. City staff presented one possible approach: firm, enforceable standards for designated historic properties and more flexible compatibility standards for the rest of the district. According to the city's project page, no changes have been adopted.

At 122 Fifth St., the former Longest Yard site, Business Record reported in May 2025 that developer Tom Baldwin's Forest Avenue Properties planned a two-story restaurant and bar building, to be run through his Dark Side of the Spoon group. At that point, the concept hadn't been chosen, and Baldwin was hoping to open in early 2026. The Go West Des Moines project listing still shows the 6,000-square-foot project as proposed.

If your holiday plans include Thursday nights in the Junction and you're also wondering what it would be like to live a few blocks away, the Knickerbocker Real Estate Team is happy to talk it through over hot chocolate on Fifth Street. Contact Us whenever you're ready, with no pressure.