Coeur d'Alene's Holiday Lights Reach the Lake Before They Reach Sherman Avenue

Most people in Coeur d'Alene mark the holidays from the night the switch flips on Sherman Avenue. This year that's Friday, Nov. 27. But the lake gets the season first. The North Pole cruises start sailing out to the lights on Nov. 13, two weeks ahead of the parade, and they cost less in those two weeks than they will for the rest of the season.

The boats start running Halloween nights on Oct. 23, and they run on and off until January. If you plan your late fall around the cruise calendar, you can catch the lights early and cheaper, still make the parade, and fill the evenings in between at downtown places that weren't open last December.

The lights open on the water on Nov. 13

The Coeur d'Alene Resort runs its first stretch of holiday cruises as Santa's Sneak Peek Week, from Nov. 13 through Nov. 25. The Resort's holiday page calls it "the same lights, same Santa, same MAGIC" and bills this year's display as "Santa's NEW North Pole." Lake Coeur d'Alene Cruises describes a floating North Pole with a 60-foot LED Christmas tree, Santa reading each child's name from the Nice List, and fireworks to finish.

Every Sneak Peek cruise lasts 40 minutes. They leave at 4:30, 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., and boarding opens half an hour before each one inside the Resort Plaza Shops at 115 S. Second St. The prices are where the early dates pay off.

The operator calls Sneak Peek Week 25% off. Its listed fares include taxes and fees, and the discount can't be combined with other offers. For two adults and two kids ages 6 to 12, an early cruise comes to $71 at those listed fares, about $20 less than the $91 it costs once the regular season starts the day before Thanksgiving. The operator also pitches those early weeks as a way to "skip the crowds" and warns that tickets sell out fast.

The same boats carry Halloween first

Before the lights, the Resort's fleet spends late October on Halloween. Haunted Harbors cruises run nine straight nights, Friday, Oct. 23 through Saturday, Oct. 31. Each cruise lasts 40 minutes on a decorated boat, and the Resort's Halloween page pitches them to families and "Halloween lovers of all ages."

Spirits on the Lake is the 21-and-over version, with eerie décor and festive cocktails on a 40-minute late-night cruise. It runs only four nights: Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31.

Back on land, the Resort fills the rest of Halloween week:

• Taphouse Trick or Trivia, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6 to 8 p.m. at Taphouse Unchained, with Third Degree Entertainment hosting and prizes for costumes
• Beetlejuice After Dark, Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 to 10:30 p.m., a screening of the original film at the heated lakefront Blu infinity pool
• Monster's Ball, Oct. 31 from 8 p.m. into the early hours of Nov. 1, with $40 tickets listed on the Visit Coeur d'Alene event page

When the last Halloween cruise docks on Oct. 31, the boats have less than two weeks off before the North Pole cruises begin on Nov. 13.

The two weeks between the boats and the parade

The lake starts its holiday season on Nov. 13, and Sherman starts on Nov. 27. The fortnight in between is mostly local and mostly small. The first weekend of November leads off with the Rebel Junk Holiday Market at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, with more than 100 local vendor booths. The next afternoon, Saturday, Nov. 7, the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association holds its annual Wine for the Holidays tasting and shopping event from 1 to 6 p.m.

Nov. 13 has two things on it. The 2nd Friday ArtWalk, a year-round event that runs 5 to 8 p.m., falls on the same evening the first Sneak Peek cruise leaves the Resort Plaza Shops. So the first night of the holiday lights is also a gallery night, a few blocks from the dock.

You'll also have a few rooms downtown that weren't open last holiday season. River & Rye opened Aug. 5 at 422 E. Sherman Ave., where Crickets used to be. According to the Coeur d'Alene Press, owners Jessi and Chad Waldher bought the building in September 2025, took it down to the studs, and split the 7,000-square-foot space to fit a full kitchen on the Sherman side and a second bar. Chad Waldher told the paper it's a craft cocktail bar inspired by Ernest Hemingway's travels and his ties to Idaho. Jessi described the room this way:

"It's a 21-plus crowd and very much like date night — like girls' night out — a little moody."

The Press also reported that a separate back section of the building is set aside for a new concept the owners haven't announced yet.

Three blocks north, The Patriot Bar opened Oct. 3 at 406 N. Fourth St. after almost two and a half years of planning, volunteer work and construction. The Press reported that VFW Post 889 runs the bar, all of its revenue stays with the Post, and about 300 combat veterans vote on where the money goes. The building also has an upstairs event center that seats 200. For breakfast before a downtown Saturday, the Press listed Crescent Moon Bakery at 315 E. Walnut among the area's new openings in its Sept. 13 business roundup.

Nov. 27, when the season moves to Sherman

The 34th Annual Lighting Ceremony Parade is the one night the season shifts from the water to the street, and it shuts down part of downtown to do it. This year's theme is Santa's Workshop. Here's the Downtown Association's schedule for Friday, Nov. 27:

1. 1 p.m. Any car still parked on Sherman Avenue along the route has to be moved.
2. 3 p.m. Sherman closes to all traffic from Northwest Boulevard to Eighth Street.
3. 4 p.m. Barricades go up along the route and parade entries line up east of Eighth Street. The Downtown Association also lists every entrance and exit to Sherman between First and Eighth Streets as closed for the event.
4. 5 p.m. The parade leaves Eighth and Sherman and heads west to Government Way, just short of Northwest Boulevard.
5. Right after the parade Carols and a fireworks countdown on The Coeur d'Alene Resort lawn, then more than 1.5 million lights switch on across downtown.

No cars can leave Sherman until the pedestrian crowd clears, and the Downtown Association tells drivers to use Fourth and Seventh Streets on the way out.

The lake has its own version of the night, too. A 90-minute lighting-ceremony cruise leaves at 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 27. Tickets are $49.25 for adults, $38.25 for youth and free for children 5 and under.

The day after, downtown starts its December run. The Downtown Association's Elf on the Shelf runs Nov. 28 through Dec. 20. The North Pole cruises keep going at regular prices through Jan. 3, 2027, and with that, the lake's season ends about five weeks after Sherman's starts.

If you're hosting family this season and want help building a weekend around the lights, the cruises or a walk down Sherman after the switch flips, the team at Dream Homes Idaho knows downtown's calendar month by month and is glad to share it. Find Your Idaho Dream Home, and enjoy the lights from the water first.