On Friday night the mirror balls come back on in the southwest stairwell of the Carroll Creek Public Parking Garage. A few blocks away, a red heart stands outside the Frederick County Department of Permits & Inspections at 30 N. Market St. Most of downtown's new things to see, eat and do this holiday season are in places that were built for some other purpose: a garage, an alley, a county office plaza, a basement that used to be storage, and a storefront that housed La Paz for decades.
Frederick at Night opens the season on Friday, Nov. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m. The tree lights come on, shops stay open late, and Maryland Double Decker runs a holiday bus tour. Before that weekend, here is where the season actually takes place this year and what has changed since last winter.
Old addresses, new tenants
The biggest dining news this month is at 51 S. Market St. Salt & Vine, the Italian restaurant in the historic Olney House on Olney-Sandy Spring Road, set Wednesday, Nov. 11, as the opening date for its second location there. It is taking the storefront that held La Paz for decades. La Paz closed in December 2024. Hoodline reported that the Frederick restaurant would open by reservation only. Executive chef and owner Thomas Zippelli leads it, and the menu includes handmade pasta, chef-driven entrées, seafood, Italian desserts and an outdoor lounge. Guests can use street parking or a nearby garage.
Salt & Vine is the latest in a series of new businesses that moved into existing spaces this year. On East Patrick Street, Elk's Haven opened in April 2026 in the space Idiom Brewing Co. used to occupy. It serves wine from Elk Run Vineyards and beer from Prospect Point Brewing. The Frederick News-Post reported that owners Julian and Bridget Wilson started with a plan for a second Elk Run tasting room, and that Julian Wilson wanted to pour beer too. Wilson is the son of Elk Run's founders, Fred and Carol Wilson. The paper also reported that Elk's Haven and Steinhardt Brewing, next door, were talking with their landlord about letting JoJo's Restaurant and Taphouse set up a permanent food truck.
Lima Soul is a short walk up the street at 14 E. Patrick St. Antonio Poggi, the Peruvian restaurant's co-founder and chef, opened it in April. He told the News-Post that he plans to change the menu every month and keep a couple of dishes on it permanently. Two of those staples are the trío cevichero and the lasaña de ají de gallina, and most dishes cost less than $30.
The clearest example is below street level. Dublin Roasters Coffee has been in Frederick since 2000 and in its North Market Street dining room since 2010. It turned the floor beneath that room into the Dublin Underground, about 1,200 square feet that had been used for storage. The room holds 40 to 50 people, rents for $25 an hour, and doubles as overflow seating when nobody has booked it. Customers downstairs can order from the upstairs kitchen at a kiosk. Owner Serina Roy told the News-Post that the room had already hosted showers, team-building sessions and Rotary Club meetings, and that it was booked through the end of the year. "With so many people asking for the space, I just thought this was a no-brainer," Roy said.
The Light Walk uses the same approach
The Downtown Frederick Partnership's Light Walk follows the same pattern. It treats a parking garage and a shop alley as display space. The program started last winter with five installations, which stayed up through March 14, 2026. The 2026 lineup has six installations, will be on every day, and stays up through February 2027.
| Installation | Where it is | What the space usually does |
|---|---|---|
| Disco Garage | Southwest stairwell, Carroll Creek Public Parking Garage, Carroll Creek Way side | Garage stairwell |
| Starlite | Patrick Street face of the same garage, 44 E. Patrick St. | Garage exterior |
| Light Drops | Above the sidewalk from the garage to Maxwell Ave., near the rainbow fence | Pedestrian connector |
| Kaleidoscope | Alley between The Frederick Basket Co., 12 N. East St., and Talbots, 18 N. East St. | Shop alley |
| Snowfall | A 16-foot tree in front of the Frederick Coin Exchange, 20 N. East St., Everedy Square & Shab Row | Main plaza |
| Love Local | Outside the Department of Permits & Inspections, 30 N. Market St. | County office frontage |
The five installations from last winter are back. The new one is Love Local, a large red heart at 30 N. Market St. That address has a second job on the holiday calendar. During December Saturdays, the Partnership's page lists 30 N. Market as the place for free photos with Santa, every Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., presented by Stein Sperling. On those afternoons, the plaza outside the permits office is one of the main stops downtown.
According to the Partnership, the Light Walk is a project of the Downtown Frederick Partnership with support from the Maryland State Arts Council, Rick Jones Electric and Everedy Square & Shab Row.
The calendar sends you past every one of these spaces
The Partnership's 2026 events are timed so that a walk between them passes the reused storefronts and the lit garages above. Here is the schedule from Thursday's publication through the week before Christmas:
- Friday, Nov. 13, 5 to 8 p.m.: Frederick at Night. The season's lights come on, shops stay open late, and there is live holiday music, marshmallow roasting and the Maryland Double Decker tour.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Sailing Through the Winter Solstice launches. This free annual display puts individually designed, lit sailboats on Carroll Creek through the winter and supports Frederick County nonprofits.
- Friday, Nov. 27, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.: Frosty Friday. Shops are open all day, with Santa photos, roasting stations and $5 holiday cocktails. Shoppers who make two purchases from local businesses totaling $100 or more can pick a free present from the Snowflake Tree while supplies last.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, then Dec. 12 and 19: December Saturdays. These days bring musicians and carolers, marshmallow roasting, and Santa at 30 N. Market. The Partnership says parking is free every weekend from Thanksgiving through New Year's.
- Tuesday, Dec. 8, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Love Local. This falls between the first and second December Saturdays. The weeknight shopping event shares its name with the new heart installation, and the Partnership describes it as designed with locals in mind. Each $20 purchase at a participating business earns a free Frederick-exclusive gift. The Double Decker tour runs again that night.
- Friday, Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m.: Kris Kringle Procession. Celebrate Frederick presents this annual parade of local organizations, youth clubs and musical groups. It ends in Baker Park with carols and the lighting of the City Tree.
Love Local is the one item on that list built around a weeknight. It falls on a Tuesday, and Dublin Roasters' downstairs room, Salt & Vine's reservation book and the Elk's Haven taproom all depend on business outside the weekend rush.
New on the 100 block of North Market
Downtown has also added retail since September. Rosebud & Jo, a children's boutique run by Kaitlyn Lauf, opened at 113 N. Market St. on Sept. 3. It sells clothing, accessories, books and toys for children from newborn through age 7, and it is open Wednesday through Sunday. Lauf started the shop in Littleton, Massachusetts, in 2024 and moved it to Maryland this year. She told the News-Post she chose downtown for its "walkable, community-centered feel."
On the other side of the same block is 104 N. Market St., where the Starbucks that had been open since 2007 closed this fall. It was part of a round of about 250 North American closures. Sonia Demiray owns the building with her husband, David. She told the News-Post that they had received about 10 calls and emails about the space, some from local businesses, and that they hoped to have it filled by the holidays.
The same article includes some background on downtown storefronts that many shoppers may not know. Kara Norman, executive director of the Downtown Frederick Partnership, said there is no prohibition on chain stores or restaurants downtown, despite a common "urban myth." She said rules that apply to every business, including signage limits and a ban on drive-through lanes, may make downtown less appealing to many large chains. She called the former Starbucks site a block with good foot traffic and said, "I would anticipate that several people will be interested in that space."
Two more names at older addresses
Two more food businesses have downtown Frederick addresses. McClintock Distilling is building a food-hall-style dining space at its South Carroll Street location. In September, co-owner Braeden Bumpers told the News-Post that the project was on track to open by the end of the year. Farther north, the Baltimore restaurant Ekiben lists a Frederick location at 500 N. Market St.
For the next five weeks, the season covers the stretch from the Carroll Creek garage stairwell to the Snowfall tree on East Street, with the old La Paz storefront at the south end of Market Street.
If something you see on a Light Walk evening gets you thinking about your own plans in Frederick County, The Fredeking Team is glad to talk through what is changing on these streets. Work With Us.
