Thanksgiving Events in Boise, Idaho
Thanksgiving Day in Boise starts with the Boise Turkey Day 5K, which leaves Cecil Andrus Park beside the Capitol at 9:00am on November 26, 2026, for a $40 entry. By afternoon the Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees is open at the Boise Centre from 2 to 6 p.m. for $16, and two days later the free Boise Holiday Parade steps off at Jefferson and 10th at 10 a.m.
The nine events here divide less by date than by how much planning they ask. Four want you booked ahead: both Turkey Day 5Ks, Winter Garden aGlow's timed half-hour entry, and the Thanksgiving Buffet at The Riverside Grill, where reservations are required. Three need no booking at all: the parade, the Downtown Boise Holiday Tree Lighting, and Holidays on the Grove. A family deciding the morning of will do fine downtown on the free side, while runners and anyone set on a restaurant meal need to sort it out in advance.
Our picks
- Free outing with small children: Boise Holiday Parade. No tickets and no cost; it steps off at 10 a.m. on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and runs about an hour and a half, so bring chairs or blankets.
- Something to do on Thanksgiving afternoon: Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees. Open from 2 to 6 p.m. on the holiday itself, $16 for an adult at the door, with Santa, a LEGO display and a children's scavenger hunt. Bring a card: no cash in 2026.
At a glance
| Option | Adult Admission | Address | Event Type | Hours | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40source | 601 W Jefferson St, Boise, ID 83702source | Turkey trotsource | 9:00amsource | Book aheadsource | |
| $16source | 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702source | Holiday festivalsource | 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.source | Buy at the doorsource | |
| Freesource | Jefferson and 10th Street, Boise, ID 83702source | Paradesource | 10 a.m.source | Just show upsource | |
| Freesource | 827 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702source | Tree lightingsource | 5:00 PM - 6:00 PMsource | Just show upsource | |
| 827 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702source | Holiday marketsource | 5pm - 8pmsource | Just show upsource | ||
| 2355 Old Penitentiary Rd, Boise, ID 83712source | Holiday lightssource | 6 - 9 PM, timed entrysource | Book aheadsource | ||
| 2900 W Chinden Blvd, Boise, ID 83714source | Thanksgiving dinnersource | 12:00 PM - 8:00 PMsource | Book aheadsource | ||
| $40source | 619 Irving St, Caldwell, ID 83605source | Turkey trotsource | 9:00amsource | Book aheadsource | |
| $15source | 16200 N Idaho Center Blvd, Nampa, ID 83687source | Holiday festivalsource | 10:00am - 8:30pmsource | Buy at the doorsource |
What happens on Thanksgiving Day and what waits for the weekend
Four rows touch Thursday, November 26. The two Turkey Day 5Ks both start at 9:00am, and the Festival of Trees, which runs November 24 through 29, keeps short holiday hours that afternoon. The Riverside Grill buffet has run from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Thanksgiving in past years, but the hotel had not posted a 2026 date when this page was written.
The rest cluster on the days after. The Canyon County Festival of Trees runs Friday to Sunday in Nampa, the Downtown Boise Holiday Tree Lighting has fallen on the Friday evening in recent years (5:00 PM to 6:00 PM on the Grove Plaza), and Saturday brings the parade in the morning and the opening of Holidays on the Grove, which runs to December 20. Winter Garden aGlow opens in late November and carries on through December.
Registration fees versus gate prices
The $40 at the top of the Adult Admission column belongs to the two races, and it is a registration fee, not a door price. The race page warns it goes up after early October, so the cheapest way into either 5K is to register before then. The two festivals are the only rows that sell tickets at the door: $16 in Boise and $15 in Nampa, where cash is still taken and parking is free.
The Tree Lighting and Holidays on the Grove share one spot, 827 W Main St, but not one evening: the tree has been lit on the Friday after Thanksgiving, while the market opens the next day and ran on Wednesday evenings in 2025.
Staying in Canyon County instead
Two rows are in Canyon County. The Caldwell Turkey Day 5K is the same run as the downtown one, with the same organizers, fee and causes, starting at Memorial Park at 9:00am with a smaller field. The Canyon County Festival of Trees at the Ford Idaho Sports Complex in Nampa is a dollar cheaper than the Boise festival and raises money for Meals on Wheels in Nampa, Caldwell and Middleton.
The options in detail
Boise Turkey Day 5K
A Thanksgiving morning 5K run and walk that starts at Cecil Andrus Park beside the Idaho Capitol and finishes on Capitol Boulevard downtown. Organizers describe it as a whole family fun run rather than a race, and there is a separate kids' 5K for ages 12 and under. 2026 is the 16th year the event has benefited the Boise Rescue Mission and Camp Rainbow Gold, and runners are asked to bring canned food or volunteer as well. Entry is online and the price rises after early October, so signing up early is cheaper.
Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees
A six day holiday fair inside the Boise Centre where designer decorated Christmas trees are displayed and auctioned to raise money for Saint Alphonsus. Alongside the trees there are visits with Santa, an interactive LEGO display built by IdahoLUG, a children's scavenger hunt and a gallery of artwork by Boise School District students. The 2026 edition runs November 24 through 29 and it is open on Thanksgiving Day itself, though only from 2 to 6 p.m. Seniors get in for $5 on the Wednesday Senior Day, and the Festival is not accepting cash this year.
Boise Holiday Parade
A free downtown parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, in its 78th year in 2026, stepping off at Jefferson and 10th at 10 a.m. and running about an hour and a half. Organizers tell spectators to bring chairs or blankets and to arrive early for a good seat, and to dress for weather that has ranged from bitterly cold to unseasonably warm. Nothing is ticketed, which makes it the easiest thing on this list to turn up to with children.
Downtown Boise Holiday Tree Lighting
The evening downtown Boise switches on its holiday tree, a 45 foot spruce donated each year and strung with more than 5,000 lights on the Grove Plaza. The free hour long event includes a candle lighting ceremony, live holiday music from local band Payette, special guests and a countdown, and it doubles as the launch of the Women's and Children's Alliance Giving Tree program. It has fallen on the Friday after Thanksgiving in recent years. The Downtown Boise Association had not posted a 2026 date when this page was written, so check before you go.
Holidays on the Grove
A vendor market that fills the sheds on the Grove Plaza with local makers and food through the holidays, opening the Saturday after Thanksgiving and running to December 20. In 2025 it ran on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 8, with live performances and extra programming on weekends. It is new enough that the Downtown Boise Association keeps updating the schedule, and it has not posted admission or 2026 dates, so treat the times here as the pattern rather than a promise.
Winter Garden aGlow
The Idaho Botanical Garden's light display, now in its 30th season, wraps the garden paths in more than 850,000 lights and is the garden's largest annual fundraiser. Recent seasons have added a lodge style Yuletide Bar, a silent disco, a community gingerbread house exhibit, Santa on select nights and the return of the model trains. Entry is by timed ticket in half hour slots and the garden asks people to buy through its own site for the best price. It opens in late November and runs through December, but the garden had not published 2026 dates or prices when this page was written.
Thanksgiving Buffet at The Riverside Grill
A Thanksgiving Day buffet in the restaurant at The Riverside Hotel on Chinden Boulevard, a few minutes from downtown and right on the Greenbelt. Reservations are required and are taken by phone or through OpenTable. The hotel has run the buffet through Thanksgiving afternoon and evening in past years but had not posted a 2026 date or a price when this page was written, so call before you plan around it.
Caldwell Turkey Day 5K
The Caldwell half of the same Thanksgiving morning run as the Boise race, starting at 9 a.m. at Memorial Park in the middle of town. Same organizers, same entry price and the same causes: the Boise Rescue Mission and Camp Rainbow Gold. It is roughly a 30 minute drive west of Boise, which makes it the better option if you live in Canyon County or want a smaller field than the downtown Boise start.
Canyon County Festival of Trees
Canyon County's own festival of decorated trees, held in the Horse Park Arena at the Ford Idaho Sports Complex in Nampa over the Friday to Sunday after Thanksgiving, with a gala and live auction on the Monday. Money raised goes to the Meals on Wheels programs that feed seniors in Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton and the surrounding towns. General admission is cheaper than the Boise festival, is sold only at the door for cash or card, and parking is free. Add on events include Cookies with Santa on the Friday evening and Breakfast with Santa on the Saturday morning.
How we researched this
This page is built around the 2026 Thanksgiving weekend, and nearly every cell rests on a page from the organizer, the venue, or the race's registration platform; Winter Garden aGlow's hours come from a local events calendar, since the garden posts none between seasons. We left out events we could not tie to a page of their own: the Boise Rescue Mission's free Thanksgiving banquet had no live page, only news stories about past years, and Scentsy Commons' Point of Lights in Meridian has no page of its own. Zoo Boise is closed on Thanksgiving Day, and Bogus Basin never announces an opening date in advance. There is no date column on purpose, since in September 2026 four of the nine had not posted 2026 dates; each write-up says which dates are confirmed.
Three admission cells are empty because the source left them unsaid: the botanical garden had taken down its 2025 aGlow prices without posting 2026 ones, the Riverside Hotel has never listed a buffet price, and the Grove market's page never says entry is free, so we did not write a zero. The Tree Lighting and buffet rows lean on the organizers' 2025 and 2024 pages for hours and venue. Recheck dates, times and prices with each organizer in November.