"Whether you have deep roots in Northbrook or are new to the community, come be part of this special moment and help create a new piece of Northbrook history!" That line comes from the Northbrook 125 event page for the anniversary open house on Sunday, November 15. The moment it describes is a group photo. At 3:15 p.m. that afternoon, people will gather at Village Hall to restage a community photograph first taken in 1925.
Five days later, the village switches on its downtown holiday lights, and this year that event is billed as "the conclusion of Northbrook's 125 year." The last night of the anniversary is the first night of the holiday season.
A Birthday Built From the Regular Calendar
The community was formed as the Village of Shermerville in 1901 and renamed the Village of Northbrook in 1923, according to a Village of Northbrook newsletter archive. The newer name comes from the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River, which runs through town, according to the Northbrook 125 gallery.
Look down the Northbrook 125 events calendar and most of the list will be familiar to anyone who has spent a summer here:
- Flamingo Friday 125 kicked things off on June 5
- Grapes on the Green, June 20
- Fourth of July
- The Northbrook Grand Prix, July 23
- National Night Out, August 4
- Northbrook Days, August 5 through 9
- Shermerfest at Village Green Park, September 27
- The Northbrook Fire Department open house at Station 10, 650 Huehl Road, October 3
Shermerfest shows the approach well. It's the Historical Society's fundraiser and festival, with a classic car and truck show, the Cow Pie Moo-lette raffle and live entertainment. This year it ran under the 125 banner. The anniversary was added to events the village already holds instead of being built as a separate program, and that's why its final weeks look like an ordinary Northbrook November and December.
A Sunday and a Friday in November Close It Out
The anniversary calendar ends with two November events, five days apart.
Sunday, November 15, 2 to 4 p.m., Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane. The open house has music, birthday cake, Touch-a-Truck, historical displays and local artwork, plus the 3:15 p.m. photo. RSVPs aren't required, but the organizers say they're helpful, and there's a form on the event page. The 1925 photo was taken two years after the name change, so recreating it reaches back almost to the start of "Northbrook" as a name.
Friday, November 20, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Village Green Park, 1810 Walters Avenue. Illuminate Northbrook 125 offers free hot chocolate and a countdown to the holiday lights going on at 6 p.m. The event page also points people to downtown shopping and dining. The Village's own listing calls it the kickoff of the holiday shopping season and asks people to stay downtown afterward and support local businesses.
Illuminate isn't new. The Northbrook Chamber of Commerce described the 2025 version as a Hot Cocoa Stroll on November 21, 2025, run through a Chamber and Village partnership. The 2026 version has the same cocoa, the same lights and the same Friday-before-Thanksgiving slot, with a 125 on the postcard. The Chamber's Find It in Northbrook promotions page lists both November anniversary events next to its fall offers and says more offers are coming.
The Lights on Willow Road Get There First
The village's lights go on November 20, but the biggest light display in town opens a week before that. Willow Hill Lights, the drive-thru show at Willow Hill Golf Course, 1350 Willow Road, runs nightly from 5 p.m., Friday, November 13, through Sunday, January 3. This is its sixth season. The route is 2.5 miles long with more than 1.5 million LED lights, and you buy one ticket per vehicle for a date you pick.
Online admission is $40 for a standard vehicle and $100 for buses and limos. Tickets bought at the gate cost $10 more, so it pays to buy ahead. Patch reported last fall that the show has welcomed visitors since 2021. That makes it one of the few traditions on this list younger than most of the cars driving through it.
Willow Hill's season covers both of the anniversary's November events and keeps going well past the rest of the holiday calendar. It's the one thing on this list you can still do the first weekend of January.
After the Switch-On, the Season Moves to the Rink and the Stage
When the anniversary ends, most holiday plans in Northbrook go through the Park District. Two buildings host most of it.
Northbrook Sports Center
The Sports Center has two NHL-size indoor rinks open year-round, with public skating. The skating season starts the day after this post goes up. Kooky Spooky Skate runs Friday, October 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. Cosmic Skating, with a DJ, games and activities for all ages, follows on November 6 and December 4, both 7 to 9 p.m., and the December session costs $8. The Northbrook Winter Welcome skating competition fills December 12 and 13. The Holiday Skating Recital on Thursday, December 17, is free for spectators.
Northbrook Community Center
The center has a 268-seat professional theater. From November 14 through December 6, Northbrook Theatre for Young Audiences performs "Pete the Cat" there. The show was made for ages 2 to 5, and tickets are $18. Northbrook Community Theatre has two productions this season: "Fools" from November 6 to 8, and "Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus!" from December 11 to 13. The second one is based on the famous newspaper editorial and is pitched as a show for the whole family.
Parents who need a few hours of holiday shopping have two Parents' Night Out sessions for kids ages 4 to 11, each $35. The first is Saturday, December 5, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at Techny Prairie Activity Center. The second is an afternoon edition on Sunday, December 13, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Community Center.
December 19 Packs In the Most
The Park District's holiday calendar builds to one Saturday. December 12 starts it off with Breakfast & Lunch with Santa, a $49 buffet with holiday activities at Heritage Oaks Golf Club, which the Park District runs. The Sunset Ridge Country Club holiday lunch for the Senior Center is the day before, December 11, and costs $85. Earlier in the month, the Great Chanukah Cookie Decorating Party on Sunday, December 6, from 1 to 3 p.m., has kosher cookies and a live musical act for $19.
Then comes Saturday, December 19, with three events in one day:
- Holiday Craft Fair, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Northbrook Community Center. Shopping is free, and local crafters sell handmade goods.
- Santa Paws, 10 a.m. to noon. Dogs get their picture taken with Santa in a reserved five-minute slot, and every dog goes home with a goodie bag. Cost runs from free to $7.
- Skate with Santa, 1 to 2:30 p.m., Northbrook Sports Center, for $7.
December 19 is the last date on the Park District's December event calendar. From then until New Year's, the options are Willow Hill Lights, the open skating hours and whatever the weather brings. The Park District turns the Meadowhill Park inline hockey rink and the Tower Rink basin into outdoor skating rinks in winter. Neither rink is refrigerated, so whether they open depends on the weather. The District's two sledding hills are at Techny Prairie Park and Fields and at Wood Oaks Green Park. Skiing and snowboarding aren't allowed on either hill.
The Season by Date
- Fri, Oct 30: Kooky Spooky Skate, 7 to 9 p.m.
- Nov 6 to 8: "Fools," Northbrook Community Theatre
- Fri, Nov 6: Cosmic Skating, Northbrook Sports Center, 7 to 9 p.m.
- Fri, Nov 13: Willow Hill Lights opens, nightly from 5 p.m. through Jan 3
- Nov 14 to Dec 6: "Pete the Cat," Northbrook Community Center, $18
- Sun, Nov 15: 125th Anniversary Open House, Village Hall, 2 to 4 p.m., photo at 3:15
- Fri, Nov 20: Illuminate Northbrook 125, Village Green Park, lights on at 6 p.m.
- Fri, Dec 4: Cosmic Skating, $8
- Sat, Dec 5: Parents' Night Out: Winter Wonderland, Techny Prairie Activity Center
- Sun, Dec 6: Great Chanukah Cookie Decorating Party, 1 to 3 p.m.
- Dec 11 to 13: "Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus!"
- Sat, Dec 12: Breakfast & Lunch with Santa, Heritage Oaks Golf Club
- Sun, Dec 13: Parents' Night Out: Afternoon Edition, Northbrook Community Center
- Thu, Dec 17: Holiday Skating Recital, free for spectators
- Sat, Dec 19: Holiday Craft Fair, Santa Paws and Skate with Santa
- Sun, Jan 3: Last night of Willow Hill Lights
Ticket prices and times come from each organizer's current listing, and they can change. Check the event page before you go.
Our family has worked in Northbrook real estate since 1976, so the 1925 photo at Village Hall feels personal to us. If you join the 3:15 photo on November 15, you'll be in the picture someone restages at 150. And if the anniversary has you curious about what your own piece of Northbrook is worth now, TGI Realty is just down the road. Get your free home valuation.
