"If you go in there and go around Highlands, you can't miss it, because it's got enough light to light up the whole town." Mayor Bruce Wahl said that last December about a single house display called "Orchestra of Lights," at the Town Council meeting where it was named the 2025 Brightest Beacon, as The BayNet reported.
In December, Chesapeake Beach's main attraction moves off the shoreline and onto residential streets, and the Town's whole holiday calendar is built to send people there. This year the Town is adding a tree of its own to the lineup, but the big night still belongs to neighbors.
The Waterfront Closed for the Season
The bayfront has already started shutting down. The Dock, the outdoor restaurant and bar at Rod 'N' Reel, closed for the season after its "Sailors Goodbye" event on Oct. 11, according to the Southern Maryland Chronicle. That closure is seasonal. The Dock isn't gone.
Up the hill, the Chesapeake Beach Water Park is a construction site, and it will stay one through the winter. The Town's October 23 update says construction continues toward "a fully modernized and reimagined water park experience." The Southern Maryland Chronicle reported in September that the rebuild is in active construction, with a budget of about $19 million and a 2027 reopening target. Scheibel Construction is the general contractor, working with Paddock Pools, which built the original park.
If you walk to the Bayfront Boardwalk this season, the Town's latest stairway notice, updated Oct. 7, says the 15th Street stairs are temporarily closed because of loose handrails. The 14th Street stairs are the posted alternate route. Check the notice before you head out, since repairs may have finished by then.
That's the setting for November and December. The waterfront is between seasons, and the Town's two holiday events take place at Town Hall on Bayside Road and at Kellam's Field, with the evening's real destination spread across the neighborhoods.
The Two Dates
| Event | Date | Time | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Up the Town & Christmas Market | Saturday, Nov. 28 | 4 to 6 p.m. | Town Hall, 8200 Bayside Road | Free |
| Holiday Lights Tour | Saturday, Dec. 12 | 5 to 9 p.m. | Departs Kellam's Field Complex, 3825 Gordon Stinnett Ave. | Free |
The market falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which makes it easy to fit in while family is still in town. The tour comes two weeks later, giving decorated houses time to finish their displays.
Nov. 28: Town Hall Gets Its Own Tree
The Town calendar lists local vendors, holiday activities and visits with Santa at this year's market. It also calls out one addition: "New this year, join us for a special tree lighting ceremony."
That's a real change in format. When the Southern Maryland Chronicle previewed the 2024 holiday season, Light Up the Town was a market with local vendors, a school orchestra, crafts and a firepit, ending with the mayor lighting the town. The volunteer fire department sold Christmas trees on the side. Before this year, the closest thing to a Town-owned showpiece was the switch being flipped. Now there's a tree lighting ceremony to anchor the evening.
Two weeks later, the attention shifts from Town Hall to the decorated streets.
Dec. 12: A Shuttle Route Built Around Front Yards
The Holiday Lights Tour runs on the Town's holiday shuttle. It leaves from Kellam's Field and travels "through Chesapeake Beach's beautifully decorated neighborhoods," and riders vote for their favorites in the Barbara "Jo" Finch Brightest Beacon on the Bay Contest.
So the people riding the shuttle are also the judges. The Chronicle's 2024 roundup described the same setup, with community judging during the tour and riders voting on contest entries. That year the trolley left Kellam's Field at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. This year's calendar lists a 5 to 9 p.m. window, so the evening starts later than the first 2024 departure. The departure schedule inside that window will be on the Town's Holiday Lights Tour page.
The Town also tends to make the winners easy to find afterward. The BayNet reported that Chesapeake Beach "usually posts the addresses of the winning homes on its website," which lets you drive the route on your own once the votes are counted.
What Wins, and Who Has Entered
The contest has more categories than one top prize. In 2025, "Orchestra of Lights" took first overall, with what The BayNet described as glowing tinsel and lights in every color. "Merry & Bright on Hart Lane" came second, and "One Year Membership of the Jelly of the Month Club" placed third. The display names are part of the fun.
Winners were also named in these categories:
- Brightest Community
- Winter Wonderland Award
- Most Magical Holiday Home
- Festive & Fun Favorite
- Santa's Favorite Shop
- Best Use of Holiday Spirit
- Merry & Bright Masterpiece
- Brightest Business
Brightest Business has gone to the same entrant two years running. Rod 'N' Reel won it in 2025, The BayNet reported, and Southern Maryland News reported the resort won it in 2024 too. That year's overall winners had names like "O Holy Bright" and "Twinkling Lights & Festive Nights." In each of the past two Decembers, the resort's lights placed it among the winners, well after its outdoor bar had closed for the season.
The Town thanked participants in a Facebook post after the 2025 awards, quoted by The BayNet:
"Your creativity, holiday spirit, and dazzling displays truly lit up Chesapeake Beach and captured the magic of the season. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated, toured the lights, and voted—this tradition continues to shine because of our amazing community."
That post thanks three groups: the people who decorated, the people who rode, and the people who voted.
Getting Your Own Display on the Route
If you'd rather be on the tour than riding it, here's how the contest has worked in past years. In 2024, residents could enter a home, a boat or a business, and the deadline was Dec. 9, ahead of a Dec. 14 tour, according to the Chronicle's roundup. Boats are a nice touch in a town with this much shoreline. A lit-up hull at a slip counts the same as a lit-up porch. For 2025, the Choose Calvert event listing told people to register through Town Hall.
In late October, the 2026 entry form, deadline and categories weren't yet posted on the Brightest Beacon contest page. With the tour on Dec. 12, any deadline will likely fall in early December if it follows the 2024 pattern, but that's an inference. The Town hasn't announced it. If you're planning a display, call Town Hall at 8200 Bayside Road before you start running extension cords.
Planning the Night of Dec. 12
A good way to fit the evening together:
- Eat early. The Dock is closed for the season. Rod 'N' Reel lists its main restaurant at 4160 Mears Avenue, but check winter hours before you go.
- Get to Kellam's Field, 3825 Gordon Stinnett Ave., with time to spare. The tour runs 5 to 9 p.m.
- Ride and vote. The votes cast on the shuttle decide the Brightest Beacon results.
- Drive the Highlands afterward if the route skips it. That's where the mayor pointed people to find last year's winner.
Kellam's Field also sits near Fishing Creek and the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail. Volunteers planted native species funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust there on Oct. 17 to help stabilize the creek bank. A daylight walk on the trail is an easy way to start the day before the tour.
If your own house ends up on this year's route, or the lights got you thinking about what a Chesapeake Beach home would look like decorated for the holidays, I'd be glad to talk. At The Beckman Group, we spend a lot of time on these streets, Hart Lane and the Highlands included. Let's Connect — Book an Appointment, and I'll see you at Kellam's Field on Dec. 12.
