On Friday, November 13, the Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink opens at Downtown Park near Inspiration Playground, at 100 100th Ave. NE. For the next two weeks, Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 8th stays an ordinary street. The Bellevue Collection's holiday programming hasn't started, and Snowflake Lane is still fourteen nights away. The rink runs 67 days, through Monday, January 18, 2027. It is presented by Symetra and produced by the Bellevue Downtown Association.
Most of what happens between now and early January is free or cheap. The organizers have also published exactly when it gets more expensive, and those dates line up across venues. The season's best value is on Monday-through-Thursday evenings between mid-November and December 17.
The rink publishes its prices by date
The rink's admission page sets four prices, all including skate rental. Which one you pay depends on the calendar, not on demand.
| Tier | Days it applies | Price with rental |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapskate Mondays | Mondays, except December 18 to January 3 | $12 |
| Weekday | Tuesday to Thursday, except November 25 and 26 and December 18 to January 3 | $16 |
| Weekend | Friday to Sunday, plus Wednesday, November 25, and Thursday, November 26 | $22 |
| Holiday | Every day from December 18 to January 3 | $24 |
A day in the holiday window costs $24, twice the $12 Monday price. The first Cheapskate Monday is November 16, three days after opening day, and opening day itself is a Friday at the $22 weekend rate. The season also ends on a Monday, so January 18 should fall back to the $12 tier once the holiday window has closed.
A session lasts 75 minutes. The current booking screen for weekend and holiday dates shows start times every 15 minutes from 3:30 p.m. through 9:45 p.m. For regular skaters, the season pass costs $189 with rental included. It allows unlimited skating with no blackout dates and no reservations, and it can't be transferred or refunded. At weekend prices, the pass pays for itself on the ninth visit, since nine $22 sessions come to $198. If your skating would mostly happen during the holiday window, it pays off on the eighth visit. Not needing a reservation also matters most on the nights when timed slots are hardest to get.
The BDA says the rink is open every day of the season, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. It also promotes themed nights, free skating lessons and concessions, and its season announcement gives no dates for the themed nights.
Thanksgiving week is the first price change
The first change comes on Wednesday, November 25, not on Black Friday. The rink charges weekend prices on the Wednesday and Thursday of Thanksgiving week. So Tuesday, November 24, is the last $16 weekday until the following week.
Black Friday, November 27, is when the rest of the neighborhood's holiday season starts. Visit Bellevue lists Snowflake Lane every night from November 27 through December 24, 2026, at 7 p.m. It's free and runs along Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets, between Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square. Last year the run opened on November 28. This year's first night is one day earlier on the calendar, and both years open on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
The show is large. The BDA's 2026 audition call asked for more than 300 cast and crew. The cast includes Jingle Belle and Snow Belle dancers, Snow Flurries color guard spinning six-foot silk flags, a drumline, stilt walkers, costumed characters and float drivers. Each show runs from 7 to 7:30 p.m.
How Snowflake Lane works once the street closes
The Snowflake Lane FAQ describes a show of about 25 minutes. Where you can stand depends on which side of Bellevue Way you're on.
- Before the street closes, everyone stays on the sidewalks on both sides.
- After it closes, the Lincoln Square side, to the east, opens a viewing area in the street behind blue cones. The Bellevue Square side, to the west, stays sidewalk-only, and no one can stand in the street there.
- Plan to arrive early, and on weekends at least an hour before the 7 p.m. start, according to the FAQ.
- Parking is free at Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square and Bellevue Place. The Collection recommends the Bellevue Place garage under the Hyatt, entering from NE 10th Street.
On opening night, the parade is followed by the Wintergarden Tree Lighting at Bellevue Place. Santa lights a 30-foot tree, and his arrival brings photos, holiday music, cookies and cocoa. The BDA's holiday listing still shows the tree lighting on November 28, which was last year's date. The Bellevue Collection's page, updated in late October 2026, gives Friday, November 27.
Santa photos also start November 27 at the Snowflake Lane Factory, on the second level of Bellevue Square's Center Court. Every visit needs a reservation, even if you aren't buying photos. The Collection asks guests to arrive no more than five minutes before their time slot.
Free concerts in Center Court on weekday mornings
While Snowflake Lane fills the evenings, Bellevue Square's Center Court hosts free live performances on weekday mornings. Most are school music groups, at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. The schedule posted so far runs through December 11:
- Tuesday, December 1: Evergreen Middle School Orchestra, then Choir
- Thursday, December 3: Eastlake High School Chamber Orchestra, then International Ballet Theatre
- Friday, December 4: Chestnut Hill Academy Choir, then Eastlake Carolers
- Monday, December 7: Pine Lake Middle School Orchestra, both sets
- Tuesday, December 8: Timberline Middle School Choir and Orchestra, then HanShan Voice Performing Arts
- Wednesday, December 9: International Ballet Theatre, then Bear Creek Choir
- Thursday, December 10: Cottage Lake Elementary Glee Club, then St. Louise School Choir
- Friday, December 11: Maywood Middle School Orchestra, then Hollywood Hill Elementary Choir
Starting Thursday, December 3, the same court also has the Season of Celebrations, an interactive display of traditional elements and symbols from the season's celebrations.
Where the weeknight discounts line up
A few miles east along Main Street, Garden d'Lights at Bellevue Botanical Garden, 12001 Main St., runs from November 28, 2026, through January 3, 2027. General admission is $10 for ages 11 and up and free for children 10 and under. Entry runs from 4:30 to 9 p.m., and the lights go out at 9:30. Admission drops to $5 on November 30 through December 3 and December 7 through 10, with entry from 4:30 to 8 p.m. and lights out at 8:30. December 8 is a ticketed sensory-friendly night.
Each of those $5 dates falls on a Monday through Thursday, before December 18. On the same nights, the Downtown Park rink charges $12 on the Mondays and $16 on the Tuesdays through Thursdays. Monday, December 7, has a Pine Lake Middle School Orchestra set in Center Court that morning, a $12 skate at Downtown Park, and $5 entry at Garden d'Lights until 8 p.m. If you skip the paid photos, Snowflake Lane at 7 p.m. costs nothing on any of those nights.
Starting Friday, December 18, every day at the rink is $24 through January 3. Garden d'Lights has no more $5 nights after December 10. Snowflake Lane's last show is Christmas Eve, a Thursday.
Old Bellevue announces its holiday events later
Main Street runs on a different schedule. The Old Bellevue Merchants Association describes Winter Lights on Main Street and the main avenues as an annual feature, and its description gives no 2026 start date. Its Jingle Bellevue page still shows the 2025 program: Santa photos, letters to Santa and cookie decorating on three December Saturdays, the 6th, 13th and 20th. The Downtown Bellevue Network holiday guide notes that these supporting events are announced each fall. If this year follows 2025, Main Street's events would land on Saturdays, the same days the rink charges $22, and the third Saturday would fall inside the holiday window. Until the association posts its 2026 schedule, the 2025 dates only show the pattern. They aren't confirmed for this year.
The season's other dates are already set: the rink opens November 13, prices change on November 25 and December 18, and Snowflake Lane begins on November 27.
If your plans for the coming year include a home near Downtown Park or Old Bellevue, the Conway Florence Team can tell you how these streets feel from November through January, and what that means for timing a sale or a search. Request a Confidential Consultation.