Christmas on Broadway Shows Downtown Eagle at Its Busiest

At noon on Saturday, Dec. 5, Broadway in downtown Eagle closes to cars. It reopens at 10 a.m. Sunday, 22 hours later. For most of a day, the oldest commercial street in town is open only to people on foot, with a 5K, Santa photos, a lighted parade and a wassail tasting that only counts if you go into at least a dozen businesses.

That walking is what Eagle has spent 2026 trying to bring downtown. The streets around Broadway are now finished, the Downtown Development Authority is working on ways to fill empty storefronts, and the town has a schedule for what comes next. The holiday weekend is downtown at its busiest. Here's the schedule, and the work behind it.

The last downtown street was finished in October

Until this fall, Capitol Street was the rough edge of downtown. Vail Daily's coverage of the reopening described the street a year earlier as full of bumps and cracks, with no sidewalks, even though it's one of the town's major connecting streets. Construction started in April and ran from Grand Avenue to 5th Avenue. The town held a ribbon-cutting on Thursday, Oct. 8, and kids from St. Mary's Preschool, which sits off Capitol, were the first to ride bikes on the new pavement.

Most of the work is underground. According to Vail Daily, crews installed nearly 1,500 feet of new storm drainage and more than 1,000 feet of new water pipe on Capitol, plus another 600 feet of water pipe on 4th Street. Paving took 1,850 tons of asphalt. On the surface, the street now has sidewalks and paved parking.

Mayor Bryan Woods told Vail Daily the project was "a huge investment to downtown" and "really the last of our downtown streets that we wanted to finish." Town Manager Melissa Daruna said much of the work is something residents will never see, which is why the town wanted people to come out and celebrate it.

For December, this means the blocks around Broadway have finished sidewalks and parking for the first holiday season in years. It also means walking from a parked car to the parade route along Capitol is a different trip than it was last winter.

The holiday weekend, hour by hour

The Town of Eagle's Christmas on Broadway program on EagleOutside spreads the season over three days, with most of the events on Friday and Saturday.

A few details are easy to miss. Mountain Tots Preschool presents the Jingle Jog, and the organizers encourage costumes. Santa also poses for photos after the parade, so families who miss the 3 to 5 p.m. window still have a second chance. Parade float registration is open through the town. Entries are encouraged to carry holiday lights so they can be seen in the dark, and the rules are firm about safety: no fires, no flames, no propane.

The ARTwalk is the Friday half of the weekend. EagleARTS bills it as a chance to shop local for holiday gifts. Participating shops stay open late with pop-up artists and serve wassail for the Wassail Fest.

Wassail Fest only works if you keep walking

Of everything on the calendar, Wassail Fest depends most on downtown foot traffic. It has run since 2015, and the name comes from an Old English phrase meaning "be you healthy." To take part, you visit at least 12 participating businesses and vote for your favorite wassail. Circle-A Auto Repair and Hood Insurance Agency present this year's event. The Eagle Chamber's Wassailfest page carries the official details.

A dozen stops is a real walk, and downtown Eagle is small enough to cover it. The Downtown Eagle business directory lists the places in the core blocks, and they're useful to know whether or not they end up serving wassail.

Food and drink on Broadway

• Brush Creek Saloon, 241 Broadway
• Canela Coffee and Pastry Shop, 228 Broadway
• FOODsmith, 318 Broadway
• Red Canyon Cafe, 128 Broadway #1
• Yeti's Grind, 330 Broadway

Shops and galleries on Broadway

• Alpacas Yarn Shop and Mountain Pedaler Bike Shop, both at 106 Broadway
• EagleARTS, 120 Broadway
• ARTSPaCE workshop+gallery, 139 Broadway, Unit C
• Wishes Toy Store, 321 Broadway
• Everyday Outfitters, 330 Broadway
• Petals of Provence, 341 Broadway St. #B
• Vintage Green, 410 Broadway St.

Around the corner on 2nd Street

• Inner Light Juice and Flower Hound, both at 115 E. 2nd St.
• Mountain Market & Supply and Yoga Off Broadway, both at 112 W. 2nd St.
• Second Street Tavern, 127 W. 2nd St.

The 2nd Street businesses are part of a town evaluation scheduled for this quarter, which is where the holiday weekend connects to the rest of the calendar.

Why the town is working to keep people downtown

In late May, Vail Daily reported that when Slope & Hatch closed last winter, the owner posted online that the restaurant closed because Broadway lacked sustained, year-round foot traffic. The same story describes Eagle's commercial activity as split among several areas: historic downtown, which dates to the town's founding in 1905, the Eagle Ranch village core that started around 2000, and the businesses along Grand Avenue.

The town's response this year has been practical. A Town Manager report dated July 14, 2026 lists three DDA actions from June:

• Town Council approved an ordinance expanding the DDA boundary to include 22 town-owned properties, describing it as better positioning for reinvestment next to downtown and nearby commercial areas.
• The DDA pledged $10,000 toward a public EV charging grant application.
• The DDA prepared a recommendation for a Commercial Activation Rebate pilot inside the DDA district. Staff will ask Council for direction on it and on other incentives meant to reduce commercial vacancies and bring more business activity downtown.

Earlier, the DDA's May 19 meeting agenda listed $10,000 for Broadway activation and an item titled "Formation of an Arts District." A weekend built on an art walk, open-late shops and a tasting crawl is the kind of activity those agenda items describe.

What's on the downtown calendar after the parade

The town's five-year strategic plan sets target dates for the next steps. They are planning targets, not commitments, and several depend on funding the town hasn't secured yet. In order:

1. Q4 2026. The DDA evaluates closing 2nd Street to create a pedestrian and/or creative district, starting with conversations with business owners about who would take part. This is an evaluation, and no closure has been approved.
2. Q1 2027. The town negotiates the Brush Creek right of way.
3. Q2 2027. The town hires a funding strategy consultant to estimate costs and judge feasibility for the Grand Avenue project.
4. Q4 2027. The Grand Avenue scope is right-sized to match the funding strategy.
5. Spring 2028. Rides begin on whatever first- and last-mile transportation option the town chooses.
6. Q1 2029. Phase 1 of Grand Avenue construction is complete.

The strategic plan document lays out each step and the department responsible for it. Woods told Vail Daily the Grand Avenue Corridor Plan is a $70 million, long-term mobility project, and that finishing Capitol Street lets the town move on to it. He also said the town hopes to see Core Transit buses running on Capitol Street in a couple of years, though bus routes haven't been set.

That makes the first item on the list the one closest to home. The 2nd Street evaluation is scheduled for the same quarter as this year's parade, and it involves the businesses at 112 W. 2nd St., 115 E. 2nd St. and 127 W. 2nd St.

If you'd like to talk through how this year's changes downtown, from the finished Capitol Street to the plans for 2nd Street and Grand Avenue, fit into your plans in Eagle, Bloom Group Vail is happy to walk Broadway with you, on parade day or any other day. Request a market consultation and we'll set a time.