From Wednesday, December 2, through Tuesday, December 8, the St. James Service Club puts on "Celebrating the Holidays." The week includes a reception at Members Club, a two-day festival at the Homer E. Wright Event Center and a tour of five decorated homes. A free tree lighting at Woodlands Park opens the same week, and the club's holiday luncheon follows on December 9. One $40 all-inclusive ticket covers the reception, festival and tour, and the club's ticket page says that ticket is "FOR ST. JAMES RESIDENTS ONLY."
Only residents can buy that ticket, and the money it raises goes to groups across the county. The Service Club says 100% of the week's net proceeds go to grants and scholarships for Brunswick County nonprofits. The week is planned by neighbors and paid for by neighbors, and most of the money is spent outside the gates.
The week, in order
These are the dates as the Service Club lists them for 2026:
- Sunday, November 1, through Saturday, November 21: Cindy's Angels, the club's holiday gift drive. Angel trees go up in the clubhouses on November 1.
- Tuesday, December 1: Giving Tuesday, when the club asks for year-end donations.
- Wednesday, December 2, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Holiday reception at Members Club, catered by Troon.
- Wednesday, December 2, 4 to 6 p.m.: The 2nd annual Merry & Bright Festival of Light tree lighting at the Woodlands Park Amphitheater.
- Thursday, December 3, 1 to 5 p.m., and Friday, December 4, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Holiday Festival at the Homer E. Wright Event Center.
- Monday, December 7, or Tuesday, December 8, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.: Holiday Home Tour, one day per ticket.
- Wednesday, December 9, doors at 10:30 a.m.: Holiday luncheon and membership meeting at Members Club.
Events 3, 5 and 6 are covered by one ticket.
One ticket, three events, and a choice of day
The all-inclusive ticket costs $40. It covers the Members Club reception, both days of the Holiday Festival and one day of the Home Tour. The Celebrating the Holidays 2026 page lists the ticket twice, once as a Monday ticket and once as a Tuesday ticket. Both include the same reception and both festival days. The difference is the tour day, so you pick that day when you buy.
Tickets are sold through Zeffy, at the Monday, December 7 listing and the Tuesday, December 8 listing. Zeffy shows an optional contribution prompt at checkout. The club explains how to change that amount or opt out: open the dropdown, choose "Other," and enter a custom amount or $0. The club's page says online sales "are now underway" and that "tickets will go FAST."
Three other ways in come at different prices and with different rules:
| Entry | Price | Who can buy | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-inclusive ticket | $40 | St. James residents | Reception Dec. 2, festival Dec. 3 and 4, home tour Dec. 7 or Dec. 8 |
| Festival-only ticket | $10, cash or check only | General public, at the door | Both festival days |
| Merry & Bright tree lighting | Free, no ticket | The St. James community | Dec. 2, 4 to 6 p.m., Woodlands Park |
| Holiday luncheon | $26 per person | Members and nonmembers | Dec. 9 at Members Club |
If friends from Wilmington or a visiting sister want to come, the festival is the event they can attend. The $10 door ticket is good for both days. The home tour and the reception are only available through the residents-only ticket.
The tour sells the ticket
The festival is open to the public, but the home tour is the part with limited space. This year's tour has five homes. The Holiday Home Tour page has descriptions of each one. The addresses aren't in the printable brochure. The club sends them on each buyer's e-ticket receipt. You can visit the homes in any order during either window, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2 to 5 p.m., which leaves a midday break for lunch.
The 2025 version was bigger and cheaper. The club's 2025 ticket page lists a $35 ticket, six homes plus the Chapel, and in-person ticket pickup, and it says that year sold out. For 2026 the price is $40 and the tour has five homes. The tour has sold out before. In December 2015, the StarNews reported that all 800 available tour tickets had been sold. The 2026 pages don't say whether this year's tickets are gone. The club's advice is "Don't delay."
What's inside the event center on December 3 and 4
The festival is where the ticket money and the public's money come together. It's also where most of the volunteer work is on display. The 2026 festival page lists:
- Sleigh Café for a treat and a seat
- Joe's Bake Shoppe, the festival bakery under a new name
- Artisan demonstrations by local makers
- Festival of Trees, with trees decorated by St. James neighbors and community groups
- Kris Kringle Market, with handcrafted goods from St. James artisans
- Special Friends' Dog Biscuit Sale
- Silent auction and raffles
- Holiday bows made by the club's "Bow Elves"
The bakery is the one change this year. The booth used to be the Season of Hope Bakery. The club has renamed it Joe's Bake Shoppe after Joe Castagnola, a longtime Service Club member who led the bakery for years. If you have bought pie or cookies at that table before, look for the new name on the sign.
Ticket holders show their e-ticket email receipt at the Community Center entrance. Everyone else pays $10 at the door, in cash or by check. The State Port Pilot's write-up of an earlier festival, which the club has posted on its site, described decorated trees, craft demonstrations, raffles, baked goods and a visit from Santa at that year's festival. It also reported the same $10 door price.
The free events have their own asks
Two parts of the week cost nothing to attend. Each one still asks for something.
The Merry & Bright tree lighting at the Woodlands Park Amphitheater on December 2 is free, and no ticket is needed. It has a DJ, a countdown to the lighting, cocoa, cookies and caroling. The club is also collecting canned soup to "'soup' up Santa's Sleigh," with a specific request:
Please NO tomato or chicken noodle as the SOIICF Food Pantry already purchases these types for distribution.
The club asks for hearty soups such as Campbell's Chunky or Progresso, and everything collected goes to the SOIICF Food Pantry. The pantry already buys the basic soups, so donations are most useful when they're the kinds it doesn't buy.
Cindy's Angels starts a month earlier. The Service Club has run an angel tree project for more than 30 years. It's named for Cindy Kirwan, who chaired it for many years, and it provides holiday gifts for children, teens and seniors. The Cindy's Angels page lists the partner organizations as Brunswick Senior Resources, Brunswick Family Assistance and the Boys' and Girls' Home of Lake Waccamaw. Tagged gifts are due at the neighborhood drop points by Saturday, November 21. The club also takes money to fill wishes no one picked and to cover last-minute needs.
Where the $40 goes after December
The week is a fundraiser, and the club has published where the money goes. For fiscal year 2025–26, the Service Club says it gave more than $170,000 to 37 nonprofits serving Brunswick County. The 2026 grant recipients list includes many organizations with ties to Southport and Oak Island:
- J. Arthur Dosher Memorial Hospital Foundation
- Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter
- Oak Island Water Rescue Team
- Friends of the Library–Southport and Oak Island
- Brunswick Little Theatre
- SOIICF–Food Pantry and SOIICF–Day4Hope
- Brunswick Senior Resources
- Brunswick Search & Rescue
- Stepping Up for Arts, through the Artisans of St. James
The full list also includes Brunswick County Habitat for Humanity, the Brunswick County Literacy Council, Lower Cape Fear LifeCare, New Hope Clinic, Paws Place Dog Rescue and Smart Start of Brunswick County. The club doesn't publish how much each recipient received.
The giving adds up over time. The club's history page dates its organizing meeting to March 12, 1997, and says 79 members joined in the first year. Today the club says it has more than 340 members and has donated more than $3 million since 1997, counting cash and in-kind gifts. So the Festival of Trees, the soup bins and the bow table are all part of the same fundraising effort.
The club's next general meeting is Thursday, November 12, at 9:30 a.m. at the Homer E. Wright Event Center. It was moved from its usual date because of Veterans Day. The December 9 luncheon at Members Club is $26, and the club says nonmembers are welcome.
If you're working out which tour day to pick, or you're planning around visiting family that week, the team at Vic's Picks is glad to share what we know about the St. James calendar. We live and work here too, and we'd be happy to help you plan a good December. Contact Us anytime.
