Jones Family Farms opens for Christmas trees on Saturday, November 21, and stays open through Christmas Eve. Across that whole stretch, the farm requires reservations on exactly five days: the Thanksgiving weekend of November 27 to 29 and the first weekend of December, December 5 and 6. On every other day the farm is open, reservations are optional.
The second of those weekends opens on the Saturday morning after Celebrate Shelton's 13th Annual Community Tree Lighting and Holiday Market, held Friday, December 4, at Veterans Memorial Park. The farm's calendar and the downtown calendar meet on that one Friday night and Saturday morning, and a Shelton household picking dates for a tree, a wreath and a night out downtown will find most of the season organized around them.
The five days, and what changes on them
The Jones Family Farms 2026 tree season page says reservations help its farmers "moderate the traffic on our very busy days." It also says that on the rest of the season's days, a reservation can still be useful for weather updates and planning.
| Dates in 2026 | Reservation | What's different |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 21 to Wed., Nov. 25 | Optional | Season opens, daily 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Closed | Thanksgiving |
| Fri., Nov. 27 to Sun., Nov. 29 | Required | Full Merry Berry Valley parking opens; highest harvest-your-own prices of the season |
| Mon., Nov. 30 to Fri., Dec. 4 | Optional | Weekday pricing, weekday wine tastings |
| Sat., Dec. 5 and Sun., Dec. 6 | Required | Full Merry Berry Valley parking opens again |
| Mon., Dec. 7 to Wed., Dec. 23 | Optional | Regular daily hours |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Optional | Farm closes at 3 p.m. |
A rule that holds every day is that guests planning to harvest their own tree must arrive by 4 p.m. The farm adds "Sorry, no exceptions!" and asks visitors to allow extra time for traffic. In late December, when the light fades early, that cutoff matters more than the 5:30 p.m. closing time.
On the busy weekends, the whole farm opens up
Jones describes its 550-acre farm as holding more than 200 acres of Christmas trees. During tree season, parking is split among three areas, each with its own offerings.
- Barnyard Village, 606 Walnut Tree Hill Road. This is where the pre-cut trees are, along with the Wreath Barn, the Winery and Gift Shop Barn, and the cookie and cider sales. On weekdays, every visitor parks here, whether they're buying pre-cut or harvesting their own.
- Candy Cane Hill, also at 606 Walnut Tree Hill Road. A large harvest-your-own field. The farm opens the hilltop for parking on many weekends. On weekdays, visitors park at the Barnyard Village and take a short walk up to the fields.
- Merry Berry Valley, 555 Walnut Tree Hill Road. The farm calls it a "lovely, historic part of our farm" with more harvest-your-own trees. The full Valley and its parking area open only on Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in December. On weekdays, visitors can park at the Barnyard Village and walk across the street to the East Slope, the closest section of the Valley.
So the reservation days are also the only days when all of Merry Berry Valley and its parking lot are open. On those two weekends the farm runs three parking areas at once. For most of the remaining weekdays, everything runs through the Barnyard Village, with Candy Cane Hill and the East Slope close enough to walk to.
The optional days are the cheaper ones
Pricing follows the same calendar. According to Jones, harvest-your-own trees cost less on weekdays, a little more on weekends, and extra on the Thanksgiving three-day weekend, which the farm says "has become a high demand weekend needing extra staff and services." Current figures are on the farm's tree prices page.
Some details that help with planning a weekday visit:
- Field trees are one price. Every tree in the harvest-your-own fields costs the same, including the small ones. For a smaller tree, the farm points visitors to the less expensive Elf Trees in the Barnyard.
- Sizes are clearly marked. The harvest-your-own fields carry trees up to 10 feet, with a limited number of taller ones farther out. Pre-cut trees in the Barnyard run from 3 to 12 feet, and Elf trees are under 4 feet.
- There's an Elf field next to the Barnyard. It's one designated field of specially tagged harvest-your-own Elf Balsam trees, for anyone who wants to cut a small tree.
- Harvesting comes with an ornament. Visitors who cut their own tree receive a pewter ornament designed by the farm and made locally.
- Weekday afternoons are for wine. The farm offers complimentary tastes of its most popular wines on weekends. From noon to 5 p.m. on weekdays it plans full tastings, with a few complimentary tastes on afternoons when full tastings aren't available. There is no indoor seating this season.
The Holiday Gatherings Gift Shop and Winery is in the historic Winery Barn. Farm-made Christmas cookies, including 4-packs of trail mix cookies, are sold with hot and cold cider in the Holiday Courtyard next door. The farm's Barnyard Shops page lists handmade wreaths and garlands, decorated and undecorated, and says the Barnyard Shops are open daily from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.
Leashed dogs are welcome in the tree fields, and the farm stresses the leash rule allows no exceptions. Dogs aren't recommended in the Barnyard Village for pre-cut trees, and they can't go into the Wreath Barn, the Winery Barn or any other indoor space. A weekday trip with a dog works best in the fields first, with the barns after the dog is back in the car.
Friday, December 4, at the Rotary Pavilion
Downtown, the main holiday night is one evening long. The Celebrate Shelton tree lighting page lists the Community Tree Lighting and Holiday Market for Friday, December 4, from 5 to 9 p.m., rain or shine, at the Rotary Pavilion in Veterans Memorial Park.
The evening runs in this order:
- 5 p.m. The holiday market opens, with shopping from local artisans plus hot cocoa and cookies.
- 6:30 p.m. The official community tree lighting.
- Shortly after. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive on the Echo Hose Hook & Ladder fire truck. Children are encouraged to bring letters to Santa and take a photo.
- Until 9 p.m. The market stays open.
Celebrate Shelton suggests bundling up in case the night is chilly. The organizers have also posted a Community Tree Lighting playlist on Spotify. The evening includes a giving component too. TEAM Inc.'s Toys 4 Kids asks guests to bring a new, unwrapped toy for a child between birth and 12 years old, to help families in the Shelton community. If you plan to bring a toy, buying it the same week you pick up a wreath keeps the errands together.
One Friday night and Saturday morning
Because of the calendar overlap, the first weekend of December is the busiest stretch of the season for both events. The tree lighting runs until 9 p.m. Friday, and Jones opens its reservation-only Saturday at 9 a.m. the next morning, with Merry Berry Valley fully open. For a household that wants both, the order is simple:
- Book a December 5 or 6 Jones reservation ahead of time through the farm's reservation page, since those are two of the five days that require one.
- Spend Friday evening, December 4, at the Rotary Pavilion, where the tree is lit at 6:30.
- Get to Walnut Tree Hill Road on Saturday or Sunday before 4 p.m. if you're cutting your own tree.
For anyone who'd skip the reservation weekends altogether, the weekdays from Monday, November 30, through Friday, December 4, are a quieter option. Weekday pricing applies, the noon-to-5 wine tastings are planned, and on the 4th you can go to the farm in the afternoon and still reach downtown in time for the tree lighting.
What's coming on Bridgeport Avenue
A season that runs from Thanksgiving through the first weekend of December means a lot of dinners out, and Shelton's restaurant list has something new in the works. Patch reported that Shelton's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved plans for South & Westie Kitchen & Bar, an American-style restaurant, at its October 14 meeting. The restaurant will go into The Center at Split Rock on Bridgeport Avenue, in the space that previously housed Vazzy's Cucina and Torito Mexican Restaurant. According to Patch, the architectural drawings show booth and table seating, a bar area, a redesigned exterior with new signage and lighting, and an outdoor dining patio expanded into an existing parking area. CT Insider's report on the approval also mentions plans for a walk-in cooler.
Downtown, a few blocks from Veterans Memorial Park, The Connecticut Scoop has covered The Chili Shack at 480 Howe Ave., a casual takeout spot focused on chili, with hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, milkshakes and ice cream also on the menu. Our late-summer Shelton field guide has more of the Howe Avenue dinner list, and the Shelton neighborhood page covers the rest of town.
If you're hosting family through the holidays, or wondering how your home on Walnut Tree Hill Road or near Howe Avenue fits into the season's plans for next year, Mary Beth and the Grasso Team are glad to talk Shelton with you over coffee, cider or a call. Contact Us, and if we see you at the Rotary Pavilion on December 4, come say hello.
