We haven’t found a 2026 Thanksgiving parade in Fort Wayne with posted details yet. In all we found four Thanksgiving-weekend outings in and around Fort Wayne: one turkey trot with a kids’ race and three Black Friday weekend picks. We also list two places and whether they’re open on Thanksgiving Day.
Thursday to Sunday
Everything below, laid out by day. Tap any outing to jump to its details.
Nothing posted yet
Nothing posted yet
Thursday morning
Start time, route and what to know with a stroller, from the organizer’s page.
We check the organizers every week. The 4 outings below are confirmed on their official pages.
Run it off
Kids’ races, family walks and stroller rules, from each race’s own page.
Homestead High School Environmental Center · Southwest Fort Wayne
For kids: A free 15,000-centimeter trail run for kids 10 and under. No strollers or pets.
Thanksgiving Day
Holiday hours from each place’s own page. Worth a quick check that morning.
Friday to Sunday
Tree lightings, light-display openings, farm days and other easy outings Friday through Sunday.
Downtown Fort Wayne · Downtown
With littles: The night before Thanksgiving, 5:45–8pm: downtown’s holiday lights switch on. Free.
Fort Wayne Zoo · Franke Park
With littles: Open Friday through Sunday, 5:30–9pm. Closed Thanksgiving Day.
Embassy Theatre · 125 W Jefferson Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46802
With littles: Santa visits opening this weekend. Walk through the Festival of Trees first, then a breakfast buffet with Santa visits, carols, kids' activities and a Fort Wayne Youtheatre performance. Seating is limited.
More to come.Tree lightings and holiday openings often post closer to the holiday. We add them every Thursday.Get the Friday emailKeep planning
Good questions
We haven’t found 2026 details for a Thanksgiving parade in Fort Wayne yet. We check again every Thursday and add it as soon as the organizer posts it.
Fort Wayne Running Club Turkey Trot: Turkey Toddlers: Sat, Nov 21, 2026. A free 15,000-centimeter trail run for kids 10 and under. No strollers or pets.
Open on Thanksgiving: Kids Empire Fort Wayne. Closed on Thanksgiving: Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory. Check the venue page the morning of, since holiday hours can change.
HolidayFest featuring Night of Lights, Wild Lights over Thanksgiving weekend and Breakfast with Santa at the Embassy Theatre. Dates and times are on each card.
Each listing comes from the venue’s or organizer’s own page and links to it. We only list a date, time or price when that page shows it, and anything we can’t confirm stays off. These were last checked Oct 18, 2026, and we recheck them every Thursday through Thanksgiving week. How we choose and check.
Littles Weekly
One short email every Friday morning: the best things to do with little kids in Fort Wayne that weekend, Thanksgiving week included.
Free things to do in Fort Wayne
Indoor play in Fort Wayne
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