The Town of Swansboro will light its Christmas tree at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, at Olde Towne Square. That is twelve days before Thanksgiving. Thirteen days after the lighting, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, decorated boats will come into the harbor for the Team Chevrolet of Swansboro Christmas Flotilla.
Both of downtown's signature holiday evenings fall in November this year. The flotilla's organizers describe the boat parade as the evening that kicks off the holiday season. By the time December arrives, both evenings will be over.
That leaves two weekends of evenings downtown, with a stretch of ordinary weekdays between them. Since the Bear Island ferry stopped running in late October, Hammocks Beach State Park has a full slate of programs to fill those weekdays.
November 14 belongs to the shops, and the tree lighting sits inside it
Swansboro by Candlelight is put on by the Swansboro Downtown Merchants & Restaurants. The Town's tree lighting is one stop on the night's schedule. According to the Only In Onslow event listing, the evening runs from 5 to 9 p.m. in Historic Downtown Swansboro, with luminaries along the streets, decorated shop windows, ribbons and bows, and refreshments from downtown businesses.
The merchants have run it this way for at least a decade. A 2016 StarNews report counted 32 participating businesses that year. The organizers tell people to walk the storefronts, so the evening is built around browsing rather than a stage show.
Here is what the listing publishes for the evening:
- 5 p.m. Swansboro Dance Studio performs scenes from its Nutcracker Ballet.
- 6 p.m. The Annual Town of Swansboro Christmas Tree Lighting at Olde Towne Square.
- During the 5 to 9 p.m. event Live entertainment in Olde Towne Square, plus wine tastings at Bake Bottle & Brew and The Gray Dolphin.
The Nutcracker scenes start an hour before the tree lighting. Families with dancers in the Swansboro Dance Studio production will want to be downtown by 5. The listing gives the event location as Downtown Swansboro, 102 West Church Street.
The same Saturday starts at 9 a.m. at Hammocks Beach
Candlelight is not the only thing on the calendar for November 14. Hammocks Beach State Park runs Birding Basics that morning from 9 to 10 a.m. The park is at 1572 Hammock Beach Road. You can spend the morning there and still have most of the day free before the shops light up at 5.
Birding Basics is part of a fuller November lineup, and the timing helps explain it. The park's ferry to Bear Island runs April through October, and this year's last trips were the Friday-through-Sunday runs ending October 25. Once the ferry stops, the park's programs carry the month. The NC State Parks page for Hammocks Beach lists these programs for the first three weeks of November:
| Date | Day | Program | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 10 | Tuesday | Owl Prowl | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 14 | Saturday | Birding Basics | 9 to 10 a.m. |
| Nov. 15 | Sunday | Upcycle Your Recycle | 2 to 3 p.m. |
| Nov. 17 | Tuesday | Night Sky Naked Eye | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 19 | Thursday | Reading the Water | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Nov. 20 | Friday | Reading with a Ranger | 10 to 11 a.m. |
The two evening programs, Owl Prowl and Night Sky Naked Eye, both run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., later than any other program on the list. The park is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in November, and the visitor center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from September through May.
Reading with a Ranger on Friday, November 20, is the last program on the list before Thanksgiving week. After that, the calendar's attention shifts back to the harbor.
November 27 moves the holiday crowd to the water
The flotilla is the second bookend, and it follows a different plan from Candlelight. Candlelight spreads people along the storefronts for four hours. The flotilla gathers everyone at the waterfront for one short window. Per the Swansboro Festivals flotilla page, the evening details for Friday, November 27, are:
- Start time: 5 p.m., with Santa visits, hot cider, cocoa and treats.
- Boats on the water: Lit boats enter the harbor around 6 p.m. and circle for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Parking: The Ward Farm fields behind the Hampton Inn, with a shuttle to Town Hall and a short walk downtown from there.
- Accessible parking: At Town Hall, with a golf cart shuttle to the waterfront.
The boats circle for 20 to 30 minutes. If you arrive at 6:30 from the shuttle line, you may catch only the tail end. Onslow County's tourism listing describes the viewing as gathering along the waterfront overlooking the White Oak River. When WCTI covered the 2024 flotilla, it reported crowds along the waterfront and hayrides carrying people from the Municipal Park and Recreation Center into downtown.
Street closures for 2026 have not been posted yet. Last year's notice still shows how much of downtown the evening takes up. For the 2025 flotilla, all of Front Street and Church Street closed from 3 p.m. until about 9 p.m. Water Street closed from NC 24 to Broad Street, and Main Street closed from Elm Street to the water. Elm Street ran southbound only and Walnut Street ran northbound only. Vehicles, personal golf carts, scooters and bicycles were kept out of the event area. If this year follows that pattern, anyone who lives or works on those blocks should plan to be parked by mid-afternoon on the 27th. Check the organizer's page for the 2026 version before then.
The Main Street Dock replacement is still in permitting
The Main Street Dock was closed to pedestrians and boaters after a February 2025 inspection found it unsafe. The Town put the cost of demolition, replacement and related work at $170,164. Swansboro was awarded a coastal management grant for that full amount on August 25, 2025. The Town manager's August 2026 project report says staff were preparing a major CAMA permit application and expected grant contract documents in spring 2026. That report gives no start date for construction. Check with the Town about the dock's status before you plan around it for this year's holiday events.
The newer section of waterfront is at Bicentennial Park. Its boardwalk extension and public day dock were finished and received a certificate of compliance on April 23, 2025. This is the second holiday season with those boardwalk additions in place. Your usual spot on the waterfront may have moved since the last flotilla you watched.
Your November at a glance
Here is the month from the day this post goes up:
- Tuesday, Nov. 10: Owl Prowl at Hammocks Beach, 5:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Birding Basics at 9 a.m., then Swansboro by Candlelight from 5 to 9 p.m., with the tree lighting at 6.
- Nov. 15 through 20: Four more Hammocks Beach programs, ending with Reading with a Ranger on Friday morning.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: Thanksgiving.
- Friday, Nov. 27: The Christmas Flotilla, with shuttles from Ward Farm and boats in the harbor around 6 p.m.
Whether you're downtown for the luminaries on the 14th or on the waterfront for the boats on the 27th, the team at NC Coastal Team loves watching Swansboro start its season this way. If you have questions about life on the White Oak River, or you're curious what your home near downtown is worth, we're happy to talk after the tree is lit.
