Aiken's Holiday Season Opens and Closes in Hitchcock Woods

In Aiken, the horse side of the holidays starts at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 26, 2026, at Memorial Gate in Hitchcock Woods. That morning the Aiken Hounds hold their Opening Meet and Blessing of the Hounds. Their holiday meets end at 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 26, when the same hounds meet in the same woods for the Boxing Day Hunt. Nearly everything in between, including the show weeks at Bruce's Field and Stable View and the horse parade on Laurens Street, falls on that hunt calendar. The parade itself grew out of a mock hunt on a local farm.

For a Cedar Meadows household with horses in the barn, that changes how to plan. Start with the Aiken Hounds' calendar to set the mornings, then use the city's holiday listings to fill in the evenings.

Thanksgiving Morning at Memorial Gate

The Aiken Hounds' fall hunting runs through November 24, on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. Two days later, the Opening Meet starts the formal season. Visit Aiken lists the ceremony from 10 to 10:30 a.m. at Memorial Gate, 444 S. Boundary Ave. SW.

Getting there takes more planning than the ceremony does. There is no parking at the South Boundary entrance. Visit Aiken asks spectators to park downtown and allow about 30 minutes for the walk from Laurens Street to the gate. Motorized vehicles and dogs are not permitted in the Woods for the event. Ahead of last year's ceremony, the Aiken Standard reported that spectators should not bring dogs or ride horses to the Blessing.

The 10 a.m. start dates only to last year. The Aiken Standard reported that the 2023 ceremony began at 9 a.m. In 2025 it moved an hour later, so that, in the words of Joint Master of Foxhounds Larry Byers, "we won't have as many, shall I say, conflicts with Bloodies & Bagels," the Thanksgiving gathering at the Aiken County Historical Museum. The 2026 calendar keeps the later start.

The public's place at the ceremony is also recent. In 2024, Hurricane Helene damage closed Hitchcock Woods, the Blessing was held at another location, and spectators were not invited. They came back in 2025, the same Aiken Standard story reported, with no charge to attend. Byers explained why the club wants an audience:

"We like to have the public participate in the pageantry that makes this such a great sport."

He also told the paper the club wants to share the hounds, the horses and the woods.

Louise "Lulie" Hitchcock and her husband, Thomas Hitchcock Sr., founded the Aiken Hounds in 1914. The club runs drag hunts, in which hounds follow a scent trail laid by a person and riders follow the hounds.

Show Weeks Fill the Gaps Between Hunts

From Thanksgiving weekend on, the competition calendar runs alongside the hunt calendar. The two barely overlap, so a rider can keep a lesson horse, a show horse and a hunt horse busy on different days.

The Bruce's Field calendar puts three hunter/jumper weekends in the three weeks after Thanksgiving. The Stable View calendar has a dressage day on December 9 between its two jumper weekends. The weekend of December 10–13 has the most going on. The second December Classic runs at Bruce's Field, and the horse parade goes through downtown that Sunday afternoon.

Two Christmas Parades, One Week Apart

Downtown Aiken holds two Christmas parades on consecutive Sundays. They are separate events with separate organizers.

The first is the Downtown Aiken Christmas Parade, on Sunday, December 6, at 2 p.m. The Aiken Downtown Development Association's 2026 entry form sets lineup at noon and requires vehicles to be in place by 1:30 p.m. According to Thoroughbred Country's route listing, the parade starts at the Aiken Visitors Center & Train Museum, heads southwest on Park Avenue, turns right onto Laurens Street and continues northwest to Barnwell Avenue.

The second is the Aiken Hoofbeats Christmas Parade, on Sunday, December 13, from 2 to 4 p.m. Visit Aiken describes it as caroling on horseback with hundreds of horses, equestrians, dogs and Santa's elves. Horses and ponies stage at Gyles Park on Park Avenue near the Visitors Center. Dog walkers gather at the Aiken County Judicial Center at Park Avenue and Chesterfield Street.

The Hoofbeats route takes in more of downtown than the first parade's route does:

1. West on Park Avenue from Gyles Park
2. Left onto Chesterfield Street, where the dog walkers join
3. Right onto Colleton Avenue, past The Willcox
4. Right onto Newberry Street, then left back onto Park Avenue
5. Right onto Laurens Street, north to Barnwell Avenue, where the lead group stops at Trinity on Laurens

A Parade That Started as a Mock Hunt

The hunt calendar shows up again in the Hoofbeats parade's history. In its account of the parade's beginnings, the Aiken Standard traced it to Hatchaway Bridge Farms. Billy Benton came up with a mock-hunt outing there. Samantha Spitler proposed adding a Christmas hay-wagon ride with carols, and Trish Leslie suggested taking it downtown. Spitler has been described as a driving force since the start. By 2022, WRDW was covering the 13th edition.

Turnout has varied quite a bit. WRDW reported more than 300 horses at the 2021 parade. The Aiken Standard captioned a 2023 photo with nearly 300. Last December, WJBF counted around 150 horses wearing elf hats and sleigh bells. One of the riders WJBF interviewed, Laurie Neely, told the station, "Horses are really kind of the linchpin in the history of Aiken."

Riding in It This Year

The parade's Facebook page has been the place to watch for entry details. As of late October, no 2026 registration form, fee or deadline has been posted.

Past years give an idea of what to expect, though they don't set this year's terms. In 2025, Aiken Equine Rescue was listed as organizer, and every participant had to register and bring a signed liability waiver. The Aiken Standard reported in 2024 that registration ran online through Eventbrite and the parade's Facebook page, at $30 plus a $3.85 fee. Earlier Aiken Standard coverage said riders were required to wear helmets. Carriages and carts have taken part in past parades. WJBF's 2025 report included a rider who joined with a cart.

If you plan to trailer in from Cedar Meadows, December 13 shares the weekend with December Classic II at Bruce's Field. Arrange barn help and turnout ahead of time if your household is splitting up between the show grounds and Gyles Park.

Evenings Without the Horses

The hunt and show calendar takes up the mornings and weekends. Most of Aiken's other holiday events happen in the evening or around them. Visit Aiken's holiday calendar and Thoroughbred Country's December listings include:

• Nov. 28: Holidays Homemade Market and Small Business Saturday
• Dec. 2: Festival of Trees begins
• Dec. 3: Downtown Christmas Tree Lighting
• Dec. 4–5: Christmas Craft Show
• Dec. 10: Night of 1000 Lights, 6 to 8 p.m.
• Dec. 12: Carriage House Holiday Market, 4 to 6 p.m.

Christmas in Hopelands opens the night before the Hoofbeats parade. Thoroughbred Country's listing, which names City of Aiken Parks, Recreation and Tourism as organizer, has the lights on at Hopelands Gardens nightly from December 12 to 23, 6 to 9:30 p.m., with live entertainment at 7 p.m. and performers still to be announced. On event nights, parking at Hopelands is limited to disabled visitors and service animals. Shuttles run from Citizens Park, and the last one leaves at 8:45 p.m. December 27 is listed as a lights-only night with no shuttle and parking at 135 Dupree Place and 100 Berrie Road. That falls the day after the Boxing Day Hunt.

Back to the Woods

The last stretch of the year belongs to the Aiken Hounds again. The Christmas Hunt and First Children's Hunt meets Saturday, December 19, at 9 a.m. at GBC Field. One week later, on Saturday, December 26, the Boxing Day Hunt meets at 9 a.m. in Hitchcock Woods. Between November 26 and December 26, the hounds meet three times, and two of those meets are in Hitchcock Woods.

If you're hoping to trailer to Gyles Park on December 13, or you'd like a farm that suits a season built around Hitchcock Woods, Distinctive Horse Properties can help with the planning. Lea knows these dates as a rider and can talk through barn routines, trailer access and timing around the show weeks. Let's Connect.