Bowie's Holiday Season Runs Through Health Center Drive
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
Last December 6, carolers sang outside the Bowie Senior Center at 4 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus pulled up on a Bowie Volunteer Fire Department truck. Smash Up Burger and Stony Man Coffee served food and hot chocolate, a "snowball fight" started at 6, and the city lit its tree at 7. Admission was free, and the Bowie Food Pantry collected canned goods at the door.
The City of Bowie's 2026 calendar keeps the holiday season close to that same building. Both of this year's handmade holiday markets are booked at 14900 Health Center Drive. The city's other holiday events are concentrated in two more places: the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts on Annapolis Road and a short stretch of Chestnut Avenue in Old Town Bowie. If you're planning November and December weekends, those three addresses cover nearly everything on the city calendar.
The Bowie Senior Center hosts both handmade markets this season, two weeks apart.
| Date | Event | Hours | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Nov. 21 | Holiday Arts & Craft Market | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Handmade work from local artisans: jewelry, pottery, textiles, glass, photography, baked goods, woodwork, wreaths |
| Friday, Dec. 4 | Holiday Craft Fair | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | A Senior Center craft fair, open to the whole community |
The City of Bowie calendar bills the November 21 market as a showcase for local artisans and crafters. It falls on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, so it's a good chance to pick up a wreath or a baked-goods tray before family arrives. The December 4 fair is on a Friday morning, which works best for anyone with a flexible weekday.
Then there's the tree lighting. The city hasn't posted a 2026 date or location on its December calendar yet. Last year's version was a full evening at this same building: caroling, a fire-truck arrival, kids' crafts while waiting for Santa, food and warm drinks from local vendors, and the lighting at 7 p.m. Until the city announces this year's plans, that's a description of 2025, not a promise for 2026. Check the city calendar as December gets closer.
The Senior Center has the daytime shopping. The Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, at 15200 Annapolis Road, has the evening and matinee performances. Every holiday show on its schedule falls between December 11 and December 20.
December 12 is the busiest day on the list, with a 2 p.m. chorale concert and an 8 p.m. BRENCORE show in the same building. The $12 chorale tickets go on sale November 10, so put a reminder on your phone if you want to see it.
"A Christmas Carol" is the easiest show to fit into a family schedule. It has three performances across two weekends, and two of them are Sunday matinees. You can find details on the Bowie Center's event page.
Chestnut Avenue holds the season's smallest events. The Old Town Bowie Welcome Center, at 8606 Chestnut Avenue, sits on the 1929 Bowie Building Association site, right next to the railroad museum. Its exhibits cover Bowie history, and kids can try hands-on activities.
The Welcome Center has two free game nights coming up, both on Fridays:
The Whimsical Welcome will be serving at the November 20 night. It's a mobile coffee café that sells spiced batch brew and treats, and according to its own site, it launched during the 2025 holiday season.
The Bowie Railroad Museum is next door at 8614 Chestnut Avenue. It includes the 1872 station that the town grew up around, an interlocking tower, and a 1923 caboose. City museums switched to weekend-only public hours on June 1, 2026. A museum guide updated October 19 lists free self-guided visits on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with donations welcome. Confirm with the city before you go.
On a December Saturday, you could visit the museum in the early afternoon and catch the 4 p.m. "A Christmas Carol" matinee the next day without missing anything.
These events are part of a bigger effort to bring people back to Old Town. In October 2025, the City of Bowie and Inncuvate Community Development Partners launched "Crafted in Bowie," a plan to turn the old railroad blocks into a maker district. WTOP reported that the area had a few antique shops along its brick sidewalks, and that its one sit-down restaurant had closed. Inncuvate president Mark Lawrence told WTOP the plan was to bring people in through events:
"Events drive culture, drives community, and if we want to transform this area, that's what we need to do."
The same WTOP story described two planned spaces in buildings along the corridor. The Foundry would be a creative hub for artists and craftspeople, and The Stove House would be a shared commercial kitchen where food trucks and chefs could prep. Lawrence said he hoped both would be running within about a year. The Crafted in Bowie site still describes its first steps as plans: public art and streetscape work, a market and micro-festival series, pop-up showcases, and office hours for makers.
Some of that has already happened. In February 2026, the city held a design charrette for an Old Town revitalization plan and launched a fundraising campaign for a community mural. On October 3, the Old Bowie Arts on the Ave Festival brought local makers and artisans to Chestnut Avenue from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a City of Bowie video posted October 16 shows artists, vendors and a crowd along the street. This year Crafted in Bowie also received the Maryland Economic Development Association's 2026 Small Community Economic Development Program award.
For now, Old Town's holiday season is a game night with a coffee cart, plus weekend hours at a 154-year-old train station.
City Hall, at 15901 Fred Robinson Way, has three dates of its own that are easy to lose track of.
The season's last Food Truck Frenzy is Friday, November 6, from 4 to 7 p.m. at City Hall. It's the last city food truck night of the year.
Donations for Shop with a Cop are due Friday, December 4, between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Drop them off with Bowie Police at the same address. That's the same day as the Senior Center craft fair, so you can handle both on one Friday.
Toys for Tots donations are due Saturday, December 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The city lists five drop-off locations, and its December calendar has the details. That's also the day of the chorale and BRENCORE concerts, so the busiest day at the Bowie Center is also the city's last donation deadline of the season.
The 2025 holiday weekend also included Santa at the Old Town Welcome Center, with crafts, letters to Santa and photos, and a free holiday open house at Belair Mansion with live music by the local band Bedlam. Neither event is on the 2026 calendar yet. Last year, both landed on the same weekend as the tree lighting, so when the city announces this year's lighting date, check for those two as well.
Have family visiting this season, or relatives thinking about moving closer? The Dapo Group films and writes about Bowie's community life all year long, and we're glad to share how the city's calendar fits into everyday life here. Book A Discovery Call, and we'll help you see which parts of Bowie fit your routine, holidays included.
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