Clarkson's Holiday Season Opens Over One Long Weekend. Here's How the Four Days Line Up

Where does Clarkson's holiday season begin this year? At Clarkson Community Church, 1880 Lakeshore Road West, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 26, when Christmas in the Village starts. Over the next three days the season works its way north to Orr Road and up Clarkson Road North.

Three groups run these four days. The Clarkson Village BIA hosts Thursday. The Friends of the Museums of Mississauga, a volunteer society, handle Friday and Saturday morning. The City of Mississauga's museum staff take Saturday afternoon and Sunday. None of the venues is big, and that shapes everything about planning the weekend. The places that fill up are a log cabin and a ticketed time slot, and you book those two weeks ahead.

Thursday starts in a church hall on Lakeshore

The Clarkson Village BIA's listing for Christmas in the Village 2026 gives the essentials: an annual event, free, 5 to 8 p.m. on November 26, at the church on Lakeshore Road West. More details are still to come from the BIA, which takes questions at [email protected].

The village opening the weekend makes sense this year, because the main street has changed since last December. Food Basics opened at Clarkson Village Shopping Centre, 1865 Lakeshore Road West, on July 9, 2026. insauga reported that the new supermarket covers more than 32,000 square feet. That means a full grocery run now sits on the same short stretch as the Thursday event. If you're hosting family that weekend, one stop on Lakeshore can cover the event and the shopping list.

The church on Thursday is the only venue of the four with no tickets and no time slots. From Friday on, the schedule depends on bookings.

Friday moves to the log cabin at Bradley Museum

Bradley Museum, at 1620 Orr Road, is built around a two-storey saltbox farmhouse dating to 1830. On Friday, November 27, from 3 to 7 p.m., the Friends of the Museums of Mississauga hold Family Holiday Photos with Santa in the site's log cabin.

The Friends group gives the main reason to plan ahead on its upcoming events page: tickets were set to go on sale on Eventbrite on November 1, and the event sold out last year. The Eventbrite listing covers the rest:

• Price: CA$15 per ticket.
• What you get: one 4x6 printed colour photo of your family with Santa, taken by a professional photographer.
• No digital files: none are provided, but you're welcome to bring your own camera.
• Extra prints: $5 each, cash only on site, because there's no debit or credit.
• The wait: you book a time slot, but there may be a short wait outside the cabin while the photo before yours finishes, so dress for the weather.

The Friends group describes the appeal in that listing as "an opportunity to avoid line ups at the mall but also to support a good cause." Proceeds go to the Friends of the Museums of Mississauga to support educational museum programs. The cabin holds one family at a time, and that's the reason for the booked slots. Bring cash and warm coats.

Saturday is for pets, then the craft tables

On Saturday, November 28, the Santa photos come back to Bradley for pets. Paws 'N Mr. Claus runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Friends group says its Eventbrite details for this event will be updated closer to the date, so check the Friends of the Museums events page for the booking link.

From 1 to 4 p.m. the same afternoon, the City's Saturday Family Fun at Bradley runs drop-in crafts and games. The two overlap between 1 and 3 p.m., so on Saturday the grounds have pets lined up for photos and children at the craft tables at the same time.

Saturday Family Fun doesn't end with the long weekend. The City lists it every Saturday through December 19, on December 5, 12 and 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. If the Santa slots are gone, Bradley still runs every Saturday until the week before Christmas, with no ticket.

Sunday goes up Clarkson Road to Benares

Benares Historic House is at 1507 Clarkson Road North, north of the village. On Sunday, November 29, from 1 to 4 p.m., the City runs Sunday Family Fun at Benares, with drop-in crafts and games in the same format as Bradley's Saturdays.

Benares also keeps going after the weekend. Sunday Family Fun is listed for December 6, 13, 20 and 27, 1 to 4 p.m. December 27 falls two days after Christmas, which makes it handy if you have family visiting between the holidays.

Put together, the City's two museums offer free weekend afternoons from late November to the end of the year, Saturdays at Bradley and Sundays at Benares. The Friends of the Museums photo events sit on top of that, and they're the only part of the weekend with a limited number of spots.

Fitting a Rattray Marsh walk around it

Rattray Marsh Conservation Area is on the lake side of Clarkson, and late November is a good time to walk it between events. In its October 30, 2026 park advisory, Credit Valley Conservation listed Rattray Marsh as open during operating hours.

Parking is the detail to plan around. The CVC parks FAQ says Rattray Marsh has no parking lot of its own, and street parking in the surrounding area isn't permitted. CVC directs visitors to Jack Darling Memorial Park at 1180 Lakeshore Road West instead. The trails include boardwalk and decking, according to CVC's Rattray Marsh page, and CVC's visitor rules warn that boardwalks are slippery when wet. After a late-November rain, wear boots with good grip.

Construction is also worth knowing about on the way to the Jack Darling lot. Peel Region is replacing a watermain and a large sanitary sewer along Lakeshore Road between Jack Darling Memorial Park and Elmwood Avenue. The work is scheduled to run into spring 2028, with temporary closures and detours around Wesley Avenue and Park Street West. That stretch is east of the park. Coming from Clarkson Village, you can reach the lot without driving through the work zone.

The four days, start to finish

1. Thursday, November 26, 5 to 8 p.m. Christmas in the Village, Clarkson Community Church, 1880 Lakeshore Road West. Free.
2. Friday, November 27, 3 to 7 p.m. Family Holiday Photos with Santa, Bradley Museum log cabin, 1620 Orr Road. CA$15 on Eventbrite. Extra prints are cash only.
3. Saturday, November 28, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Paws 'N Mr. Claus, Bradley Museum.
4. Saturday, November 28, 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday Family Fun, Bradley Museum, drop-in.
5. Sunday, November 29, 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday Family Fun, Benares Historic House, 1507 Clarkson Road North, drop-in.

Of the five, only the Friday Santa slots come with a sellout record from last year, and the Friends group scheduled them to go on sale November 1.

At the Peterson Team, we love the weekends when Clarkson's holiday season happens in its own historic buildings. If you'd like to talk about where your family's next chapter fits in this part of the lakeshore, book a conversation with the Peterson Team.