After the October 10 screening at Juanita Beach Park, where does the City's giant LED movie screen go? It doesn't sit in storage until spring. It shows up again on December 11 in Peter Kirk Park, roughly two months after its last drive-in night. In the meantime, the Christmas Ship comes ashore at three different Kirkland parks, and each stop has its own date and hour.
Kirkland's public calendar from October through December keeps going. It moves from park to park, and the start time changes with each move.
October 10 is Juanita Beach's last screening until March
The Wheels & Reels drive-in series holds its last fall date this Saturday, October 10, at Juanita Beach Park, 9703 NE Juanita Dr. The movie is the PG-rated Hoppers. The lot opens at 6:00 p.m. and the film starts at 7:00 p.m. It costs $20 per vehicle, and you have to register ahead of time. The City runs it rain or shine with no refunds, and it doesn't allow RVs, limos, buses, tailgating or alcohol.
The City's Fall 2026 to Spring 2027 schedule lists one fall film. After that, the next date is March 13, when The Mandalorian and Grogu screens. Toy Story 5 follows on April 10 and Project Hail Mary on May 8. That leaves five months with no drive-in at Juanita Beach. Juanita Beach still has one more public evening this year, though, and it falls in December.
The screen moves downtown
Downtown, the season starts on October 24 with DÃa de Los Muertos at the Peter Kirk Community Center, 352 Kirkland Ave, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The City lists traditional activities, food and music. Parking at the community center is limited, so the City suggests the Peter Kirk Municipal Parking Garage under the Kirkland Library or street parking. For families with very young children, the Pee Wee Monster Bash runs October 30 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the North Kirkland Community Center, 12421 103rd Ave. NE. It's for ages 1 to 5 and costs $18 per child.
The LED screen comes back on Friday, December 11, for Reindeer and Reels at Peter Kirk Park, 202 3rd St, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The City calls it a "brand-new winter celebration." The program includes kids' crafts, food trucks, an outdoor screening of Disney's Frozen, appearances by winter princesses and live reindeer. The event is free. The City hasn't said why it added the event or whether it replaces anything.
One part of the downtown holiday calendar is still blank. As of this week, the Kirkland Downtown Association's events page shows no upcoming events. Last year, the Association's Winterfest Tree Lighting took place on November 29, 2025, at Peter Kirk Park Plaza. Nothing has been posted yet for 2026, including any ice rink dates.
The Christmas Ship's three Kirkland stops
The Argosy Christmas Ship Festival runs November 27 through December 23, 2026. A live choir performs on board for passengers and for anyone gathered on shore. In Kirkland, Parks and Community Services staff host a bonfire to go with each shoreline stop.
| Date | Shoreline park | Choir on shore | Sailing departs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, November 28 | O.O. Denny Park, 12302 Holmes Point Dr NE | 2:35–2:55 p.m. | Carillon Point |
| Saturday, December 12 | Juanita Beach Park, 9703 NE Juanita Dr | 5:35–5:55 p.m. | Kirkland City Dock |
| Friday, December 18 | Marina Park, 25 Lakeshore Plaza | 5:10–5:30 p.m. | Kirkland City Dock |
The O.O. Denny stop is the odd one out. It's in the early afternoon on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The choir on that sailing is Travelin' Lite, and kids on the 2:00 p.m. Carillon Point departure get Cookies with Santa. The other two Kirkland stops are after dark. Juanita Beach's stop falls on the next night after Reindeer and Reels, and Marina Park's is a Friday a week later.
The Juanita Beach stop on December 12 is the park's last scheduled public evening of the year. It comes two months after the drive-in and three months before the screen returns there in March.
Argosy and the City disagree about O.O. Denny
Argosy marks some shoreline stops with an asterisk. Its schedule explains the mark this way:
"Performance locations marked with an asterisk (*) have a planned public bonfire, lighting, or onshore event. Locations without an asterisk are still open places to gather and hear the choir, but no organized onshore event or bonfire is currently planned."
Argosy marks Juanita Beach Park and Marina Park with the asterisk. O.O. Denny Park doesn't have one. The City's Parks and Community Services page, though, lists a community bonfire there at 2:35 p.m. on November 28. Since the City hosts the bonfires, its page is the more direct source. Still, the two published schedules don't match.
The City also says any of its bonfires can be canceled for bad weather or a burn ban. It runs a Bonfire Hotline at 425-587-3345 for same-day updates. For the November 28 stop, a call that morning settles what the two calendars don't.
A closed stretch of the Cross Kirkland Corridor
Getting between these parks this fall involves one closure. Starting September 8, King County closed the Cross Kirkland Corridor between NE 52nd Street and 108th Avenue NE. Crews are repairing a damaged culvert that runs under the County's Eastside Interceptor Section 14 sewer pipe, building a retaining wall and stabilizing the nearby stream. In an October 7 update, the County confirmed the work is underway, called the site active and unsafe for pedestrians, and said a signed detour is in place. The sewer pipe itself was repaired in February. This closure covers only the culvert, the wall and the stream.
The County describes the job as a three-month full closure and expects the work to finish by winter. It hasn't published a reopening date. Three months from September 8 lands in early December, close to the Reindeer and Reels and Christmas Ship dates. That's an estimate. The detour applies until the County announces the trail has reopened.
December 12 on the Eastside shoreline
Kirkland's December 12 stop is one of three the Christmas Ship makes along the Eastside that day. The ship sings at Medina Beach Park from 2:35 to 2:55 p.m., at Juanita Beach Park from 5:35 to 5:55 p.m., and at Meydenbauer Bay from 8:40 to 9:00 p.m. On Monday, December 21, it stops at Yarrow Point from 5:35 to 5:55 p.m. and Luther Burbank Park from 8:40 to 9:00 p.m. The December 4 stop at the Mercer Island Beach Club is marked private.
All told, the Christmas Ship makes three Kirkland stops this season: evenings at Juanita Beach Park and Marina Park, and a Saturday afternoon at O.O. Denny Park, where the bonfire is worth confirming with the City's hotline on November 28. The drive-in screen returns to Juanita Beach on March 13.
Our team at Conway Florence Team follows Kirkland's park calendar the same way we follow its waterfront, one site and one date at a time. If you're weighing a move to a home near Juanita Beach, Marina Park or the Holmes Point shoreline and want to talk through how these seasonal patterns affect daily life there, Request a Confidential Consultation.