Lake Forest's Holiday Season Runs Through a Building Under Construction

The 42nd Annual Lake Forest Tree Lighting is on Friday, November 27. Its first event is at 1 p.m., two hours before anything starts in Market Square: a showing of Home Alone in the John and Nancy Hughes Theater at Gorton Center. Tickets cost $10 for students and $15 for adults, and the film ends at 3 p.m., just as the kids' activities begin on the square.

The schedule puts the season's busiest day in the 1901 brick building at 400 E. Illinois Road. Many of the dated events between now and early December are in the same building. Since August, that building has also been a construction site.

A schoolhouse that became the town's common room

Gorton Center opened in 1901 as Central School, Lake Forest's first consolidated K–12 school. James Gamble Rogers designed it, Howard Van Doren Shaw remodeled it in 1907, and an east addition went up in 1935. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

It has served as a community center since 1974. Gorton describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs arts, education, childcare and community programs, supported by residents and businesses. According to the Lake Forest Journal, the City owns the building and the nonprofit operates independently of the City.

That split explains why Gorton's calendar looks the way it does. A city building with an independent operator is able to put on a Second City revue, rent its theater to a youth orchestra, host a Red Cross blood drive, and open its doors as the warm-up venue for the City's biggest civic event, all in the same month.

What the $7 million is meant to fix

Gorton's capital campaign announcement, posted September 1, 2026, sets the goal at $7 million. The money is meant to modernize the theater technology, create a multipurpose commons, refresh spaces throughout the building and grow the endowment.

The reason it gives is growth. The Community Spirit Transformed campaign renovated Gorton's first floor in 2014. In the 12 years since, the number of classes and events has grown by 500 percent and annual attendance by 1,500 percent. In the year before the announcement, Gorton ran more than 600 programs and drew more than 16,000 patrons to its own programming. Rentals and community events add to that count.

The work comes in two phases:

As of the September 1 report in the Lake Forest Journal, Gorton had raised $4.9 million and was asking the community for the last $2 million. The same article quotes the board as saying the campaign is meant to keep ticket and class prices accessible.

Phase I includes the theater technology and the Stuart Room, and the holiday calendar uses both. Gorton has not published a finish date for Phase I. The film nights below are listed in the Hughes Theater. The Kids Only Holiday Shop on December 2 is listed in the Stuart Community Room. Check the event page before you go.

November at Gorton, by date

The theater's November program is mostly $5 and $10 film nights, with concerts and a free sing-along mixed in. Each date below comes from Gorton's own event page.

The orchestra concert on the 15th is the one with the most local ties. Music Director Nicholas Wallin conducts Hailstork's An American Port of Call, Piazzolla's Oblivion and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2. The same orchestra plays outdoors at the tree lighting twelve days later.

On November 10, Lake Forest College's International Students Association brings One World 2026: A Cultural Journey to Gorton, with a 5:30 p.m. reception and a 6:30 p.m. program.

Sing at Gorton is new in 2026, a free and informal series that Gorton launched in May. When the Lake Forest Journal covered the campaign, it quoted Executive Director Amy Wagliardo from the series launch: "Singing together is deeply human. It breaks down barriers, brings people into the moment, and it builds a sense of community in a really natural way."

The rest of town fills in around it

On the same Friday Gorton shows Drive, Lake Forest Parks & Recreation holds its rescheduled Movie in the Park at Deerpath Golf Course at 5:30 p.m. The film is E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, moved to November 6 after wind and rain. The concession menu includes hot dogs, bratwurst, pretzels, nachos, popcorn chicken and Reese's Pieces, with beer and wine for sale. KemperSports is the sponsor. On a November evening, that is an outdoor screening in jackets.

On the west side of town, Elawa Farm's 2026 Thanksgiving Market is the pickup morning for pre-ordered holiday food: Wednesday, November 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. Pasture-raised turkeys come from Abundant Pastures in Claremont and TJ's Free Range Poultry in Piper City. Ordering takes a $50 deposit, and the balance of $7.50 per pound is due at pickup. The farm kitchen, led by Executive Chef Lee Kuebler, also offers sides and house-made pies. All sales are final, and unclaimed orders go to Elawa's food pantry partners.

November 27, from the theater to the square

The tree lighting schedule begins at Gorton and ends in Market Square:

1. 1 p.m. Home Alone at Gorton Center
2. 3 p.m. Kids' activities begin in Market Square
3. 3:15 to 6 p.m. Visits with Santa
4. 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Lake Forest Civic Orchestra with the Lake Forest High School Festival Brass Ensemble
5. 4:40 p.m. Caroling by the Lake Forest High School Choristers
6. 5 p.m. Lake Forest Dance Academy performs, and the lights come on just after

Food on the square comes from local operators. Rosati's, Left Bank, the LF/LB Rotary Club and Sage Explorers will be on site, and Aire Serv of Lake Forest-Gurnee will pour hot chocolate and coffee. Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company sponsors the evening.

The next day, Saturday, November 28, the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce runs its Cocoa Crawl. Participants visit local spots for gifts and cocoa, and there is a holiday trolley ride. Once Upon a Bagel Lake Forest is the cocoa and treats sponsor. The Chamber listing gives no start time yet.

Early December, back indoors

After the holiday weekend, the calendar moves back to Gorton.

• Wednesday, December 2, 2:30 to 6 p.m. The Kids Only Holiday Shop lets children ages four to ten shop for their families on their own, with elves walking them through booths from local vendors and artisans. Entry is $5 per child with timed slots, check-in is at the Glore Solarium, and 2:30 to 3 p.m. is set aside for kids who need a low-sensory experience. The listed room is the Stuart Community Room, one of the Phase I spaces.
• Thursday, December 3, 7 p.m. The Commitments in the Hughes Theater, $5 for students and $10 for adults.
• Saturday, December 5, 2 p.m. Sing at Gorton: Holiday Classics with Mr. V, free.
• Saturday, December 5, 7:30 p.m. The Second City's Nut-Cracking Holiday Revue, presented by Gorton.

That same weekend, Parks & Recreation runs the Holiday Express, a round-trip train ride from the West Lake Forest station at 911 Telegraph Road to Fox Lake and back. Riders get holiday games, sing-alongs, a reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a visit from the Grinch, and Santa on board. Trips run Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 6, from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Counting the Sing at Gorton afternoon, the Second City revue and the train, December 5 has three events in one day. Two of them are in the 1901 schoolhouse, while crews renovate the rooms behind its stage.

If you are thinking about how this season's events and the changes at Gorton might affect your own plans for your Lake Forest home, Cornelia Matache is happy to talk it through calmly and with no pressure. Get your complimentary home valuation and expert consultation whenever the timing suits you.