Janssen Park's Lights Turn 30 This Winterfest. Here's How Mena's Holiday Weekend Comes Together

At Mena's first official park lighting in 1996, the grand marshals of the Christmas parade were Mickey and Minnie, brought from Disney World. The man who paid their way also paid for a $25,000 fireworks show. That was Jennings Osborne, and he had his own reasons for showing up big: Mena was about to become one of the towns that got pieces of his famous Christmas display.

That makes this December 30 years since the first lighting. On Friday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m., Janssen Park lights up again as the centerpiece of Mena Winterfest. Everything else that weekend is arranged around that moment, including the parade, the concert, the fireworks and the ice rink on DeQueen Street.

A Little Rock Display Found a Second Home in 1996

The lights got here because one local resident asked. Osborne's 1995 display at his Little Rock home was huge and drew controversy. After that he chose to scale back and share the lights with towns around Arkansas. Regina Walker, a Mena native and former Mena City Clerk/Treasurer, knew him through one of her brothers. Osborne also had ties to Mena, so she asked whether Mena could be one of the sites. According to the Polk County Pulse's 2016 history of the display, he was delighted.

His crew brought in the pieces and worked alongside the City of Mena Parks Department. The city upgraded the park's electrical service so it could carry the load. Osborne also supplied frames and lights for more figures, and that started a habit that stuck. Every year since, the Parks Department has designed and built displays of its own to add to the park.

So the display in Janssen Park today is mostly a local product. A gift from Little Rock got it started, and three decades of city crews have kept adding frames and figures. The Pulse wrote in 2016 that after each year's lighting, a steady stream of cars could be seen driving up and around the park's circle on any given night.

The Build Usually Starts About Now

The lighting ceremony comes at the end of weeks of work. The Parks Department's crews have historically started assembling the thousands of lights in late October and early November. That puts this week right inside the usual build window.

Four weeks separate the Nov. 6 First Friday from Winterfest's opening night on Dec. 4. Here is the downtown calendar between now and then:

1. Friday, Nov. 6, 5–8 p.m.: First Fridays at The Depot. 524 Sherwood Ave., free. Live music from Shades of Gray and DJ Wanda G, a chalk art contest, cornhole, a street dance, and food and local vendors. Hosted by the Mena Advertising & Promotion Commission.
2. Through November: display assembly in Janssen Park. This follows the Parks Department's longtime late-October and early-November schedule.
3. Friday, Dec. 4: Winterfest opens. Parade, concert, fireworks and the official lighting.
4. Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6: ice skating at the Old Armory, plus Santa, vendors and downtown business specials.

The November First Fridays event and Winterfest come from the same host. The A&P Commission is behind both, so the two read as connected chapters of the downtown calendar.

Friday Night Runs From the Street to the Park

Winterfest's opening night goes back to a decision made long ago. The Pulse reports that the A&P Commission started sponsoring the fireworks and the concert and joined the parade and the park activities into one annual Christmas festival. That is the reason the evening moves in a single direction, from the downtown streets into Janssen Park, without a break in the middle.

The 2026 Winterfest schedule on Visit Mena sets the order:

• 6:00 p.m. The Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade of Lights through downtown Mena
• 7:00 p.m. Downtown Christmas music concert at Janssen Park
• 7:30 p.m. Fireworks and the official Winterfest lighting ceremony, also at Janssen Park

The gaps are only 60 minutes and 30 minutes, so the night moves quickly. Someone watching the parade has an hour to get from the route to the park before the music starts. After that, the lighting comes 30 minutes later.

The parade route has its own recent history, and the railroad shaped it. In 2023 the Chamber said Canadian Pacific, the railway's new owner, had turned down requests to stop trains during parade hours. Every parade route in town had to change as a result. The route the Chamber announced that year started at The Crossing on North Mena Street, went down Mena Street, turned right onto Sherwood Avenue, turned right again onto Seventh Street, and turned left onto Port Arthur. It ended at Santa's Outback Barn in Janssen Park, on the Port Arthur Avenue side across from the Polk County Library. The Polk County Pulse carried the Chamber's announcement along with a route map.

The 2026 listing only says the parade runs "through downtown Mena." The 2023 route is the latest one the Chamber has laid out street by street. Anyone picking a curbside spot this year should check the Chamber's current route before settling in.

The 2023 route ended at the park, where the concert and lighting followed, so people walking in the parade finished right where the next part of the evening began.

Saturday and Sunday Move to the Old Armory

After Friday's lighting, Winterfest's weekend programming shifts to the Old Armory on DeQueen Street, where a skating rink is set up for the weekend.

Rink hours and cost, per the Winterfest listing:

• Saturday, Dec. 5, noon to 6 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 6, noon to 5 p.m.
• $10 per person, which covers 30 minutes on the ice

Sunday's session closes an hour earlier than Saturday's, so a late Sunday afternoon plan won't work. Each ticket is a 30-minute slot, which makes it easy to fit skating around other stops downtown.

The rest of the weekend happens on the same streets. Visit Mena lists visits with Santa, local vendors, and Winterfest specials at participating downtown businesses. Music from 80 Proof is part of the weekend's lineup too.

Santa has had a home base in the park for years. The Chamber's 2023 announcement put Santa's Outback Barn on the Port Arthur Avenue side of Janssen Park, opening right after the parade as a free service to the community, with extra dates later in December. The 2026 Winterfest page lists Santa visits but doesn't post separate Outback Barn hours. Families planning around photos should look for the Chamber's schedule as December gets closer.

What to Check Before Dec. 4

Some details for this year come from the organizers, not the event listing:

• Parade entries. The Chamber runs the Parade of Lights. In 2023, registration was handled through menapolkchamber.com and the Chamber office inside the Historic Train Depot at 524 Sherwood Ave. That address is also home to The Depot, where First Fridays is held. That year's entries had a theme, were judged in categories such as Best Church Float and Best Horse, and had a registration deadline set a few days before the parade. Anyone thinking about entering a float this year should get the 2026 rules from the Chamber directly.
• Vending. The Winterfest page includes a vendor section for local businesses and makers who want a spot on the weekend.
• The skating address. The Winterfest page gives the Old Armory address as 619 DeQueen St. in one spot and 601 Dequeen St. in another. Looking for the Armory itself on DeQueen Street is the simplest way to find it.

Winterfest opens on Friday, Dec. 4. The display that first lit in 1996 will light again that night, 30 years later, at 7:30 p.m. in Janssen Park.

If the build season in Janssen Park has you thinking about how Mena changes from one December to the next, or about where you'd like to be when the next one comes, the team at Doris Morris Real Estate knows this town's calendar as well as its streets. We'd be glad to share what we know and help you plan your next step. Let's Talk Strategy.