Downtown Dazzle and E.L.F. Each Began as One Person's Idea, and Both Are Still Growing

Rochester's biggest December light events are newer than many residents assume. The Downtown Dazzle parade first rolled in December 2024. The drive-thru lights at Chester Woods Park first opened in December 2025. Neither one came from a city department. Each began with one person who saw something Rochester lacked and kept pushing until it existed.

That origin matters this season, because both events still depend on the same thing that started them. Volunteers run them, local businesses pay for them, and the money they raise goes back out to local causes.

A City With Plenty of Parades and No Holiday Parade

Before 2024, Rochester had no lighted holiday parade. Brad Trahan, who has lived in Rochester for more than 42 years, organized the first one. He told the Post Bulletin the idea wasn't entirely his own. Nearby cities already held holiday lights parades, and if Owatonna's could draw thousands of people, he reasoned, Rochester's could too.

"I believe in our downtown and I know people will want to come out and see this."

That is how Trahan put it to the Post Bulletin ahead of the first parade. In the same interview he gave a second reason, one specific to a city built around Mayo Clinic: "We live in a community where there's going to be a lot of people not home for the holidays. This will hopefully brighten their holidays while they're here."

The first Downtown Dazzle ran on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. It was the first parade Trahan had ever planned. Moving a lit-up procession along public streets meant working with Rochester Public Works and the Rochester Police and Fire departments, along with more than 70 volunteers who watched intersections and alleyways along the route. Reports of the first year's size differ a little. KTTC counted 40 floats, while the Post Bulletin put it at about 45.

Either way, the second year was bigger. According to KTTC's October 2026 report, the December 2025 parade had about 60 illuminated units and more than 70 community volunteers. Participants included local students, athletic teams, businesses, schools, community organizations, public safety agencies and media partners.

The Same Kind of Start, Out at Chester Woods

The county's light festival started in a similar way, through a different route. Zach Puza is a building maintenance supervisor for Olmsted County. In 2020 he went looking for holiday light displays to visit with his sons and found that seeing several in one place meant a drive out of the area. "I like to go see lights with my sons, but wanted something closer to home," he told the Post Bulletin. According to Friends of Chester Woods, he grew up somewhere with a large holiday light show, and nothing like it existed around Rochester.

He held onto the idea for several years. In 2024, at a county function, he mentioned it in passing to Olmsted County Parks and Trails Director Karlin Ziegler, who encouraged him to write it up as a formal proposal. "He thought it was something that we kind of needed in the area and was super excited to spearhead it," Ziegler told the Post Bulletin. "He created a committee of volunteer employees from the county to help get it up and running."

The format came from the site itself. Puza proposed using the Chester Woods campground and having local businesses each sponsor and decorate a campsite. That gave businesses a way to advertise while paying for the event. The committee met on lunch hours and after work, and Puza said getting businesses on board took a lot of door knocking. The result was the Employers of Olmsted Light Festival, or E.L.F.

Just before opening night, the Post Bulletin reported that sponsors were finishing 17 displays with at least 51,000 lights for the first year. Decorators included Davey Tree, formerly Maier Tree & Lawn, along with Olmsted County 4-H and The Meadows Center for Mental Health Services. Visitors voted for their favorite display, and ELCOR Construction won the first annual E.L.F. award.

Two First Years, Side by Side

Set next to each other, the two events have the same structure. One person had the idea, volunteers carried it out, and local organizations paid for it.

E.L.F.'s first-year totals are large for a campground loop run by volunteer county employees. Friends of Chester Woods reports that about 20 sponsors took part, more than 7,000 cars came through, and estimated attendance topped 24,000. The event collected more than 4,800 pounds of food for area food shelves and over $23,000 in donations, which were split between Channel One and United Way. The Olmsted County Parks and Trails newsletter repeated those figures in its Spring 2026 recap.

Downtown Dazzle pays its own costs first. Its organizers say proceeds go to The Salvation Army of Rochester after covering police and traffic control, insurance and sanitation, and that arrangement continues in 2026.

Why Both Events Still Rely on Volunteers and Sponsors

Both events are built by the people who show up for them. Downtown Dazzle's roughly 60 units in 2025 came from businesses, schools, teams and community groups. E.L.F. came together after Puza's volunteer committee persuaded businesses to pay sponsorship fees for campsites they would decorate themselves.

Both are still open to new participants. Olmsted County's E.L.F. page invites businesses and organizations to sponsor a campsite and asks individuals and groups to volunteer, with a sponsor form and a contact email for the planning committee. The Downtown Rochester listing for Downtown Dazzle gives Trahan's contact information for anyone who wants to take part.

Trahan sounded pleased with the second year when he spoke to KTTC this fall. "The response from the Rochester community has been incredible," he said. "Our goal has always been simple: bring people together, create something fun and family-friendly, and let people experience the magic of the holiday season in downtown Rochester." Friends of Chester Woods ended its E.L.F. recap with plans to grow: "We look forward to watching this event grow in the coming years."

Planning the 2026 Season Around Them

Both new events sit alongside older downtown traditions. Here is the season in order, with the details confirmed for 2026 so far.

1. Here Comes Santa Claus, Friday, Nov. 27, 2:30 to 7 p.m. The day after Thanksgiving, downtown programming spreads across the Historic Chateau Theatre, the Residences of Old City Hall, Peace Plaza and the Galleria at University Square. The schedule keeps last year's lineup of Mrs. Claus' Workshop, Santa's Rescue, the Peace Plaza tree lighting and Santa photos. The Chateau has had a busy fall as a performance venue, so this is another chance to go inside.
2. Downtown Dazzle, Saturday, Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m. The third annual parade is free and uses the same route as the past two years. The route is nearly a mile long. It starts at the Rochester Public Schools Edison Building, runs east on Sixth Street Southwest from Sixth Avenue to First Avenue Southwest, then turns north toward Central Park. In the first year, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at Central Park on a parade float.
3. E.L.F. at Chester Woods Park, weekends in December. The county lists the festival for weekends in December, with free admission, but has not yet published exact 2026 nights or hours. Last year it ran Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 5 to 9 p.m., Dec. 5 through 21, 2025. Check the county page for this year's schedule before you drive out. Bringing a non-perishable food item or a freewill donation is how the food shelf total grows.
4. Holiday Craft & Gift Show, Dec. 11 to 13. Rose Craft Shows brings its holiday show to the Mayo Civic Center Exhibition Hall at 30 Civic Center Dr SE. For a ticketed night out, the Mayo Civic Center also hosts Wizards of Winter on Nov. 29 and, as KTTC reported, The Oak Ridge Boys: Christmas 2026 on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.

Downtown Dazzle falls on the first Saturday of December this year. Last year E.L.F. opened on the first weekend of December as well, so the parade and the drive-thru could land on the same weekend again. The parade starts at 5:30 p.m. and E.L.F. stayed open until 9 p.m. last year, so a family could see both on one evening if the county keeps its 2025 hours. Downtown businesses on and near Second Street SW are an easy stop for dinner before the parade.

If you are planning a move, hosting family through the holidays or thinking about how your own home fits into the city's next chapter, Michelle Kalina would be glad to talk it through with you. Request a private White Glove consultation.