Blythewood's Holiday Calendar Runs Through 171 Langford Road

The Blythewood Farmers Market closed its 13th season last night. It ran every Wednesday from April 22 through November 11, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at Doko Meadows Park. The tents are gone, but the lawn stays busy. Over the next five weeks, two of Blythewood's three biggest holiday events come back to that same address, 171 Langford Road. The third, the Christmas parade, ends the season out on Main Street.

That makes holiday planning in Blythewood mostly a matter of picking which Saturday or Sunday to spend at the park. There are two exceptions: the Chamber's Thursday gala in Columbia, and the parade, which moves the season onto the roads you drive every day.

The market comes back for one Saturday

For nearly seven months the farmers market has been a Wednesday-evening habit, with live music, a children's activity and food trucks each week. The Holiday Artisan Market breaks that pattern. It's on a Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., so you get daylight hours instead of an after-work window.

This year is the seventh annual market, and the organizers explain the timing plainly:

"We always have this special Saturday market the weekend before Thanksgiving, so you can be sure to buy all your collards, sweet potatoes, and bakes goods before company comes."

So the date tells you how to use it. Bring the Thanksgiving grocery list, and bring the Christmas list too. The organizers also point to ornaments, teacher gifts and handmade pieces for gifting and decor. Teacher gifts are the sleeper item here. With Thanksgiving break days away, Nov. 21 is your last relaxed weekend to buy them before December fills up.

Parking is the same as on market Wednesdays. Doko Meadows has paved parking and is handicap accessible, according to the market's visitor page.

Eight days later, the same lawn lights a tree

The Town of Blythewood has its 2026 Christmas Tree Lighting tentatively set for 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29, at Doko Meadows Park in front of Town Hall. That's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so it lands while out-of-town family may still be here. Because the date is tentative, check the Town's page that week.

The Lake Murray Country event listing has pre-ceremony music starting at 4:30 p.m., followed by music, a live dance performance, refreshments and a visit from Santa. If you have kids who'll want to see Santa, get there for the 4:30 start. You'll find parking on the same paved lot you used for the market eight days earlier.

The evening also has a giving piece. "Fill the Sleigh" collects donations for Christian Assistance Bridge, known locally as CAB. CAB provides emergency food along with help on utilities, transportation, eviction and prescription costs for Blythewood and nearby ZIP codes. The Town lists its office at 126 Blythewood Road.

CAB's food donation page includes a list for its Thanksgiving and Christmas boxes, and much of it overlaps with what you'll already be buying for your own table:

• Stuffing mix, one or two boxes
• Instant mashed potatoes and gravy packs
• Canned sweet potatoes or yams
• Cranberry sauce
• Cream of mushroom soup and fried onions
• Pie supplies such as pumpkin, evaporated milk and pie crust mix, or a cake or brownie mix
• Cornbread or biscuit mix

Buy a second can of yams and a second box of stuffing while you shop for your own holiday meal, then set them by the door for Nov. 29. CAB's main page also keeps a running list of everyday needs, last updated July 28, 2026. It includes rice, peanut butter and jelly, canned vegetables and beans, diced tomatoes, canned SPAM and canned fruit. Look at it before you shop, since a food pantry's shelves change from month to month.

December 3 is the one date that leaves town

The Greater Blythewood Chamber's Annual Holiday Gala is Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at 8910 Farrow Road in Columbia. It's the only weeknight on the calendar and the only event held outside town limits. If you own a business or work with the Chamber, this is your evening. For everyone else, it makes a quiet break between the park events and the parade.

December 13, the season moves onto the roads

The Town of Blythewood Christmas Parade steps off at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, along Main Street, Blythewood Road and Boney Road. This year's theme is "Santa's Toyland!" The Town says the parade goes on rain or shine.

The events at the park are easy to work around. The parade is harder, because it shuts down the streets you use to run errands. The Town lists these roads as affected in whole or in part that day:

1. Oakhurst Road
2. Main Street
3. Blythewood Road
4. Boney Road
5. McNulty Street

If you have a Sunday-afternoon errand along any of those roads, do it before lunch or wait until evening. The Town plans to post its 2026 parade information packet on the same page closer to the date, and that's where staging details and timing will appear.

To enter a float or sponsor the parade, note that both applications close Nov. 30, 2026, the day after the tree lighting. The Town's page has a banner saying applications haven't opened yet, plus links to both forms. Check it soon. Scout troops, church groups and neighborhood teams building a "Santa's Toyland" float have a short window, and Thanksgiving week falls in the middle of it.

Last year's parade ran on the same three roads at the same 2:00 p.m. start, with Miss Blythewood USA Carlisle Cooper as grand marshal, according to WLTX's December 2025 events roundup. The route and start time haven't changed, so if you watched from a favorite curb last year, it should work again.

Where to eat after the parade

Blythewood Road is on the parade route, and so is Blythewood's newest sit-down restaurant. Beer Hunter Southern Grill opened its doors on April 21, 2026, at 135-A Blythewood Road, The State reported. WLTX places it beside KJ Market. This is its first holiday season in town. Since the street outside will be closed for part of the afternoon, plan to walk in once the parade is over rather than drive.

For something quicker, the Wendy's at 142 Community Road is now open. Its official location page lists dining room hours of 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. daily. That covers an early breakfast before the artisan market and a late stop after the tree lighting.

WLTX has also reported plans for an Old Timey Meat Market in a new strip near Doko Manor. With the Wednesday market closed until next season, a butcher shop near the park would fit right into a town whose calendar already centers on Langford Road.

Having family in town for the parade, or getting your home ready for a spring listing while the house is decorated? Mackenzie Robertson lives and works in this calendar too, and she's happy to talk through your plans over coffee before the Dec. 13 road closures. Schedule a Free Consultation and let's find a time that works around the holidays.