Now Snowing Runs on a Clock: Picking Your Hour in Celebration This Season

The 28th annual Now Snowing opens on Market Street on Saturday, November 28, 2026, and runs through December 31. Snow falls at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 PM every night of that stretch. Admission and parking are free, according to the Experience Kissimmee event listing.

Add it up and the season comes to 34 nights with four snowfalls each, or 136 scheduled snowfalls in all. A visitor driving in from Orlando or a hotel near Walt Disney World probably gets one of them. If you live a few blocks from Market Street, the event works more like a timetable. The questions are which hour, which night, and whether the weather holds.

The Schedule Hasn't Moved

Year to year, the 2026 schedule looks almost the same as the last one.

The 2025 dates and times come from Gotta Go Orlando's 2025 event announcement. The 2026 figures come from the Experience Kissimmee listing.

The opening date moved up one day, but the opening slot stayed put. Thanksgiving falls on November 27 in 2025 and November 26 in 2026, so both seasons start on the Saturday right after the holiday. The calendar shifted and the pattern did not.

That steadiness is useful. Families who had out-of-town guests in town for opening weekend last year can plan the same weekend this year, and the snow times you remember from last December still apply.

The 2026 event is presented by Lexin Capital, with Celebration Town Tavern and Experience Kissimmee as partial sponsors.

Opening Night Runs on a Different Schedule

The first night of the season is the one night that doesn't follow the usual routine. November 28 is also the Tree Lighting Ceremony, and the Celebration Town Center event page places it at 701 Front St. The page lists hours of 5 PM to 9:30 PM and says festivities start at 5:30 PM. It promises live entertainment, carolers, photos with Santa, local vendors and holiday treats. It does not give the exact time the tree lights up.

For a reference point, Orlando Insider Vacations' 2025 guide put last year's lighting at 5:50 PM on November 29, ten minutes before the first snowfall. If 2026 runs the same way, the tree will light up about 10 minutes before the first snowfall on opening night. On the other 33 nights, the 6:00 snowfall starts the evening on its own.

The Four Hours Aren't the Same

The Experience Kissimmee listing gives the nightly event window as 5:30 to 9:30 PM. Inside that window, each snowfall lands at a different point in the evening.

1. 6:00 PM. The first snowfall comes half an hour after the event opens. It fits a family with young children who need to be home and in bed early, or a dinner reservation afterward on Market Street.
2. 7:00 PM. This one sits in the middle of the dinner hour, so it works for anyone eating before or after.
3. 8:00 PM. This works for a later dinner, with time left to walk the lakefront before the last snowfall.
4. 9:00 PM. The final snowfall comes half an hour before the event wraps up at 9:30.

Since the snow falls every hour, one snowfall can follow another. Arrive at 5:30, catch the 6:00 snow, have dinner, and you can be back on Market Street for the 8:00. The organizers' 2026 announcement presents free admission and parking as making it "easy for families to return again and again throughout the holiday season."

The snow is the anchor, and a list of other attractions fills the time between snowfalls. The 2026 announcement names Charles Dickens-style strolling carolers, photos with Santa, horse-drawn carriage rides, train rides, synthetic ice skating and a Snow Village. In 2025, the carriages and the Celebration Express train ran along Front Street by the lake, and the 2025 guide pointed readers to Misty Blue Carriage Company for carriage details. The 2026 operating hours, prices and Santa schedule for these attractions are not yet published. Visit Celebration's listing for opening night still reads "Information Coming Soon!"

What Can Cancel the Snow

The schedule only holds when the weather does. The "snow" is a product often called Snoap. According to the 2025 Orlando Insider Vacations guide, it is non-toxic and biodegradable, the same kind of material used on film sets. That guide also says snowfall depends on the weather and won't run after heavy rain or when temperatures drop below 34°F.

Two cautions come with that. First, it is last year's guidance from a travel guide, not a published 2026 policy from the organizers, and no official wind or rain threshold for 2026 has been posted. Second, a cold December night in Osceola County can still be cold enough to matter, so the temperature limit is worth knowing.

Celebration Town Center lists Facebook, Instagram and X as its general social channels. The Experience Kissimmee listing gives a general contact number, 407-566-4007. Neither source calls these an official cancellation hotline. They are simply the published contact points for the event.

The 2025 guide also pointed out that the snow is wet and children will play in it, and it suggested bringing a change of clothes.

Last Year's Street Pattern

Living close by is only an advantage if you can get there easily. No 2026 road closure, parking or shuttle plan from Celebration Town Center or the residents' association had been published as of this writing. The most detailed description available is the 2025 Orlando Insider Vacations guide, which covered:

• Market Street closed to traffic during the event, since that's where the snow falls.
• Front Street partly closed around the lake, where the carriage rides and the Celebration Express train run.
• Parking in all open lots for free, plus on Celebration Avenue and some side streets.
• Permit zones with a warning that some areas are reserved for residents with parking permits and that other cars will be towed.
• Nearby lots at 851 Celebration Avenue, about a 6-minute walk to Market Street, and 510 Campus Street, about a 7-minute walk.

The same guide noted that the spaces closest to the center fill up first. This is how the event ran in 2025. It is not a confirmed plan for 2026, and the two lots above were described by a travel guide, not designated as overflow parking by the organizers.

Two Listings Disagree

One detail needs checking before you plan around the last week of December. Celebration Town Center's own event page lists 6 PM as the start in its description, but its event-details field shows 11 PM. The Town Center calendar card also lists 11 PM and ends the season on December 30.

The Experience Kissimmee listing gives December 31 as the final night, with snow at 6, 7, 8 and 9 PM. That matches the 2025 season, which also ended December 31. The 11 PM entry looks like a typo, since the organizers' own description says 6 PM. If you're counting on New Year's Eve for visiting relatives, confirm with Celebration Town Center as the date gets closer.

Christmas falls on a Friday this year and New Year's Eve on a Thursday, and December 31 is the one date the Town Center calendar card leaves off.

If you're hosting family this season and they start asking what it would be like to live within walking distance of the 6:00 snowfall, Abe Mendez can walk you through how homes near Celebration's town center are valued. A free home valuation is a calm first step, whether you're curious about your own home or just comparing options.