The lights in Mike Wallace Park start long before December. In the 2017 season, Kitsap Daily News reported that Port of Kingston staff member Steve von Marenholtz began designing and welding the steel wire frames for new light sculptures in March, nine months before Santa switched them on. That year's new pieces were a jack-in-the-box and a sailboat. Volunteers started wiring them in September.
This year the switch flips at 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, during Kingston Cove Christmas. After that, the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce says the Port's display stays up for the rest of December and through January. The ceremony gets the attention. The weeks after it are when most people see the lights.
A Sculpture Garden Built in the Port's Own Shop
The display goes back to 2009. In 2017, Port facilities manager Raymond Carpenter told Kitsap Daily News he had worked on it since the beginning. The same article set out who did the work that season:
- Steve von Marenholtz, a Port employee, designed and welded the new sculpture frames
- 13 volunteers wired new sculptures and repaired the lights on older ones
- Seven Port staff members put the display up, with help from the Kingston High School Honor Society, then in its third year on the job
Carpenter told the paper:
"All told, it probably takes a thousand hours [of staff and volunteer time] from start to finish."
The work is split between two organizations. The Port is responsible for the lighted sculpture garden, and the Chamber coordinates the events on festival day. The Chamber's events fill a weekend or two. The Port's part, the one built over spring, summer and fall, is the one that stays up all winter.
Two Thousand on Opening Night, Thirty Thousand Over the Month
Kitsap Daily News reported two crowd figures in 2017, and comparing them shows where the season actually happens. For the 2017 lighting, organizers expected about 2,000 spectators. Community Beautification Committee volunteers baked free cookies for that many. For the previous December, Port staff estimated that about 30,000 children and adults had toured the park over the month. Carpenter added that groups had driven in from as far away as Bellingham for the lighting.
Those are two different years and two estimates, so the comparison is rough. Even so, the lighting accounted for a small share of the people who saw the display. Most of the month's visitors came on ordinary evenings, after the crowd and the boat parade had gone.
The 2026 opening day already has its outline. Kingston Cove Christmas runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on December 5, based at Mike Wallace Park, 25864 Washington Blvd. So far the Chamber has listed:
- Sunday, November 29: the hometown holiday market kickoff
- Saturday, December 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: the Village Green Handmade Holiday Market
- Saturday, December 5, 5 p.m.: Santa arrives and the Port of Kingston display is lit, with live music
The Chamber also notes that Port Gamble holds its own holiday kickoff events the same weekend, so the whole north end gets busy at once.
What the Lighting Has Looked Like in Past Years
Last year's schedule followed a familiar pattern. Visit Kitsap's listing for December 6, 2025, ran festivities in Mike Wallace Park from 3 to 8 p.m. and described hundreds of unique light sculptures across the park and on boats. The Kingston Cove Yacht Club's notice for the same day put the lighting at 5 p.m.
The 2017 account gives the longer history. Santa arrived on a North Kitsap Fire & Rescue engine, a tradition the paper said went back at least 25 years, to when the event was called Kingston Country Christmas. Once the park was lit, the decorated boats in the marina lit up and left the harbor to parade. Nancy Langwith, then vice commodore of the Kingston Cove Yacht Club, told the paper the club had been running the lighted boat parade "since forever." In 2017, the DEK Kiwanis ran a free Santa's workshop at the Kingston Cove Yacht Club, 25878 Washington Blvd NE, next to the marina park.
All of that happens on one afternoon. The sculptures are there for the following weeks too.
Walking the Park on an Ordinary Night
In 2017, the display had 600 luminary sculptures, more than 500,000 lights and three-quarters of a mile of rope lighting on trees, railings, pathways and bushes, plus a 40-foot tree. The sculptures included a giant turtle, a rocking horse, flowers and a sea serpent with loops big enough for children to walk under. Several pieces were animated. Lighted masts and boats in the marina finish the scene.
The Port reworked the collection each year, adding new frames and redoing older sculptures. On a quiet night you can stop at a single piece and look at how the wire and bulbs are put together. On opening night, the crowd mostly sees the overall glow.
Families who come back during the season have had more to do than look. In 2017, children 14 and under could pick up a Santa's Scavenger Hunt form at the Port office or a local business, find nine sculptures in the park, and collect a prize from each participating shop. Those shops included Little City Candy & Gifts, Sweet Life Cakery, Firehouse Theater, The Kingston Ale House and the Kingston Bookery.
Parking for the Second Visit
Parking at the Port is the main logistics question for a weeknight visit. The Port of Kingston parking page lays out the options:
- Free two-hour spaces. These sit in a marked zone for people visiting the Port, Mike Wallace Park or downtown businesses. The Port enforces the limit. A Kingston Cove Yacht Club notice for the 2025 event also pointed to free two-hour spaces along Washington Boulevard near the gazebo.
- Numbered paid spaces. Short stays cost $3.49 an hour, and a standard vehicle costs $12 for 12 hours. If you're catching a ferry, the Port asks you to use these instead of the two-hour zone, since ferry delays are common.
- Paying by text. The lots use T2 Mobile Pay. Text the location code posted on the nearby sign to 25023 and you'll get a payment link, plus a reminder before your time runs out.
- After hours. The Marina Office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that, you can leave a voicemail at 360-297-3545 with your space number, plate, arrival time and planned hours, and staff will call back during business hours to complete the payment. The Port says you won't be ticketed or towed as long as you leave that information.
Two hours covers a walk through the park and a short stop nearby. If you're planning a full dinner afterward, a numbered space avoids the time limit.
Dinner After the Lights
The Chamber's own suggestion for the season is to wander through the lights with a cozy cocktail or some live music, then have dinner at one of Kingston's walkable restaurants, breweries or lounges. Two spots on State Highway 104 are a short walk from the park:
- The Kingston Ale House, 11225 NE State Hwy 104, lists Saturday kitchen hours until 10 p.m. and a late-night bar menu until midnight.
- Cellar Cat, 11253 State Highway 104 NE, lists Saturday hours from 3 to "9-ish" p.m. and live music from about 6 to 9.
Holiday hours can change, so check each business's website before you go. To share your photos, the Chamber asks people to tag the Greater Kingston Chamber and use #kingstonlights.
At Mark Middleton Real Estate, we pay attention to the parts of north Kitsap that run on volunteer hours and months of preparation, because they shape how a place feels to live in. If you're thinking about your own next chapter near the Kingston waterfront, request a private consultation.
