Near the end of the Duxbury Clipper's photo spread from last year's Holly Days, there's a picture with no Santa, pony or tap dancer in it. The Clipper's Josh Cutler is standing with his dog Daisy, waiting for the trolley. That photo gets closer to how the day works than any of the others.
The 21st Annual Holly Days is set for November 29, 2026, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The event's own site describes it as trolleys carrying people "through all of Duxbury's villages," with activities at every stop. Duxbury's shops sit in separate villages with no main street linking them, so the festival is built around the trolley. For one afternoon, the vehicle is what turns Hall's Corner, Snug Harbor, Millbrook and Island Creek into a single walkable town.
Nine stops, one loop
The 2025 program on the Holly Days site gives the clearest picture of the setup. Trolleys ran from noon to 4:15 p.m. and stopped at nine places.
- Brothers Marketplace
- Hall's Corner at Depot Street
- Girl Scout House
- ICO
- Snug Harbor
- South Shore Conservatory
- Millbrook Station at the Duxplex
- Alden House
- Duxbury Art Complex
Two more locations appeared on the program without trolley service. The American Legion offered crafts and hot cocoa, and the Duxbury Senior Center hosted an intergenerational puppet and music show at 1:30 p.m. Each village makes its own plans for the afternoon, too. The event site invites village shops, outside vendors and local nonprofits to take part, and each shop decides what it will offer. The program is organized by stop, and each stop's list is made up of the businesses and groups based in that village.
Hall's Corner does the heavy lifting
Last year's program wasn't evenly balanced. Hall's Corner had far more listings than any other stop, and it was where the day started. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at 1 Bay Road at noon with a performance by Driving Rhythm, the youth tap company from Pembroke School of Performing Arts.
Here's how the stops compared in the 2025 program:
| Stop (2025) | Listed participants or activities | One signature offering |
|---|---|---|
| Hall's Corner | about 22 | Santa photos at Duxbury Mortgage, 12 to 3:30 p.m. |
| Millbrook Station | 13 | Matchbox car racing at St George St Garage |
| ICO | 7 | Oyster craft and backyard party at Winsor House at ICO |
| Snug Harbor | 6 | Chowder in a bread bowl from French Memories and Snug Harbor Fish |
| Alden House | 1 program | Candle making, colonial craft and 18th-century reenactors |
The Hall's Corner listing reads like a directory of the village. Beehive Salon did hair tinsel, Cottons had a holiday treat, and Chestnut Street Grille ran ornament coloring. Reeds Jewelers raffled diamond stud earrings, Lark&Soul ran a snowman craft, and Duxbury Supply Co served hot cocoa with Jenn's Cookie Jar selling cookies there. Duxbury Youth Baseball sold hats and candy, the Duxbury Boosters raffled a Christmas tree, and the DHS Chorus sang from 1 to 2 p.m. The Lions Club ran its Lions Share Food Pantry donation drive at the same stop.
The Clipper's photos show how that density played out. At the Beehive tinsel station, owner Sue Casale wove tinsel into customers' hair, and the caption says the line "was very long for this service." The Clipper also photographed a child's first pony ride and called the Driving Rhythm dancers "a crowd favorite." Its photos show carolers among the hand-made raffle trees, too. Hall's Corner takes the crowd because it has the most storefronts close together, and the program builds on that.
The waterfront stops keep it smaller
The smaller stops still matter. They show a different side of Duxbury, with food and the harbor in place of a long list of shops.
At Snug Harbor, the 2025 program listed the Snug Harbor Chorus from 1 to 2 p.m. French Memories and Snug Harbor Fish teamed up on chowder in a bread bowl, Snug Harbor Wine offered holiday cheer, and the South Shore Smokehouse food truck was parked nearby. Coldwell Banker ran a house-ornament craft at this stop. Snug Harbor was also the one stop with trolley service running past 4:15 p.m., with extended runs between there and the Festival of Lights until 5 p.m.
At ICO, the program centered on the oyster business. Winsor House at ICO hosted an oyster craft and backyard party, and Raw Bar at ICO put on a holiday barbecue. The stop also had KidStrong games, a holiday activity from Consider The Lilies, cookie decorating and storytime at St. John's Church, and DIY wrapping paper with hot cocoa at Pilgrim Church. Island Creek's oyster ties showed up again this fall, when the Art Complex Museum hosted its first Oysters & Art: Shuckfest on October 10 with local oyster farms, artists and live music. The Clipper covered it.
Millbrook Station runs on small storefronts
Millbrook Station at the Duxplex had the second-longest list in 2025, and nearly every entry was a small business offering something small. Hardly Saints Donuts served hot cocoa. Far Far's gave out mini samples and Galway Girl offered tea and cookies. Benchwarmers had holiday slush, and Namaste Cafe and Fire & Stone both put out mini desserts. B. Home ran ornament making, Lewis Vaughn Interiors did DIY holiday headbands, Sable Boutique did glitter tattoos and Raven & Wolf made flower crowns. SoFit Training brought a fitness wheel to spin, and Bay Eye Center ran games and giveaways.
Several of those entries carried a "while they last" note, so arriving early made a difference here more than at most stops. Brothers Marketplace and the Duxbury Marketplace area had a similar spread in 2025. Mix It Up Kitchen handed out cookie samples, Booked. hosted a Brian Lee reading and signing, Doodledorf drew live doodle portraits, and Indigo House Gallery ran crafts. The Clipper photographed bakers Nancy and Melanie Day with Mix It Up Kitchen proprietor Cheryl Farhat giving out gingerbread cookies. It also caught the Friends of the Duxbury Library selling bundles of books to benefit the library.
The quieter stops add history and art
The last three stops on the list show how Duxbury's institutions take part. Each one picks an activity that fits what it does year-round. At the South Shore Conservatory, the 2025 program listed a Holiday Celebrate open dance rehearsal from 1 to 2 p.m., plus a kids' craft table with ornaments and letters to Santa. Alden House ran a program called "Mistress Alden Gets Holiday Ready!" with candle making, a colonial craft and 18th-century reenactors. The Duxbury Art Complex Museum brought out an Art Cart.
The Conservatory stop also mattered for logistics, which brings up the practical side of the day.
How the day worked on the ground in 2025
- Parking. The program recommended parking at the Steele Building, 130 St. George Street, and walking to the South Shore Conservatory trolley stop. It warned that every village has limited parking and noted that all parking was free.
- Hours. Trolleys ran from noon to 4:15 p.m., with service between Snug Harbor and the Festival of Lights running until 5 p.m.
- Giving. Organizers asked people to donate to Toys for Tots or the Lions Food Share Pantry. Duxbury Police and Fire ran the Toys for Tots drive at Brothers Marketplace.
- The scavenger hunt. People picked up a scavenger-hunt card at a donation stop, and a completed card gave a chance at the "golden ticket."
- The craft fair. The Girl Scout House hosted the Holly Days Craft Fair.
The extended trolley run ended at the Festival of Lights, which the Rotary Club of Duxbury calls its "annual Holly Days Festival of Lights event on the Town Green." Rotary's account of the 2025 festival describes Santa and Mrs. Claus lighting the Christmas trees and the Menorah with help from three young Duxbury residents. It also lists games, face painting, food and drink, the Duxbury High School Chorus, inflatables and a bubble "snow making machine," and notes that the festival went ahead despite the rain.
What the 2026 program will add
As of mid-October, the Holly Days site confirms the date and the village-trolley format for November 29, 2026. The stop-by-stop program on the site is still the one marked "2025 Event Details," with a participant list dated November 18, 2025. This year's route, hours, Santa schedule and shop lineup may all change. Treat everything above as last year's pattern and check the site's program page before you go.
The Clipper's coverage of the 20th year shows founder Anne Antonellis enjoying the day with volunteer Sue Grumwald. Year 21 falls on Sunday, November 29, and if last year is any guide, the first trolleys will leave at noon.
If you're planning your Holly Days afternoon and want to know which village to start in, or where a friend from out of town should park, I'm glad to help. I've spent years on these streets and love talking about them. Let's connect through Alice Pierce.
