In May 2023, the StarNews reported that the NC Spot Festival might lose its field. A South Florida firm had applied to Pender County to build a shopping center on the land along US 17 where the festival was held, and festival chairman Keith Ramsey said organizers were "trying to find a new home." For 2026, the festival's own site lists November 7 and 8 at 14221 US Highway 17. Visit Pender places it in the field south of the Hampstead Women's Club, "where it has been held for year[s]."
That fried-fish weekend opens a run of late-fall events that keeps switching between two home bases. One is Hampstead's own ground: US 17, the Hampstead Annex and Hampstead Kiwanis Park on Sloop Point Loop Road. The other is Soundside Park on Roland Avenue in Surf City, where the Greater Topsail area holds its largest holiday nights. Most weekends from now to early December pick one or the other. Twice, the same weekend uses both.
The Season at a Glance
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 4–11 | Operation Green Light for veterans | Countywide, lights picked up at the Hampstead Annex |
| Nov. 7–8 | NC Spot Festival | 14221 US 17, Hampstead |
| Nov. 20 | Movies in the Park: Elf | Soundside Park, Surf City |
| Nov. 20–21 | Christmas in Pender-Onslow Festival of Trees | Topsail Island Moose Lodge, 13175 NC 50, Hampstead |
| Nov. 21 | Hampstead Kiwanis Turkey Trot | Hampstead Kiwanis Park, 586 Sloop Point Loop Road |
| Dec. 4 | Hampstead Kiwanis Christmas Tree Lighting | Hampstead Kiwanis Park |
| Dec. 5 | Greater Topsail Area Christmas Market and Christmas Flotilla | Soundside Park, Surf City |
The Spot Festival Holds Its Spot on the First Weekend of November
The festival has stuck to a predictable slot. The StarNews put the 2024 edition on November 2 and 3, and WECT reported November 1 and 2 for 2025. Each of those fell on the first Saturday and Sunday of November, and so does this year's November 7 and 8. Visit Pender lists the event from 9 a.m. Saturday through 6 p.m. Sunday, with no separate daily hours.
The festival site posts the practical details:
- Admission is $5, and children 6 and under get in free.
- A spot dinner is $12 and comes with two spot, hushpuppies, French fries and coleslaw.
- All-day inflatable rides are $20.
- Pets and coolers aren't allowed. Bring lawn chairs.
The plate has local roots. The festival's About page says Hampstead Fire Department personnel fry the fish, and that the money raised goes to the fire department and five Topsail schools. The first festival was held in 1963, and the StarNews reported that the festival gave $20,000 back to schools in eastern Pender County in 2022. The festival's own site also lists live music, scholarship pageantry, arts and crafts, and children's activities. The NC Festivals listing for 2026 adds fireworks, beach music and more than 100 vendors.
The 2023 article explains why the field itself matters to the event. Ramsey told the StarNews:
"We were fortunate to have that piece of property that we had for so many years. But people aren't sitting on large vacant tracts of land and saying 'Here, you can use my land.'"
That same article said organizers used the land under a land use agreement, and that the property had been for sale for years. So the 14221 US 17 address on the 2026 site and flyers carries more weight than a typical event listing.
The festival also overlaps with Pender County's Operation Green Light, which runs November 4 through 11. County buildings will be lit green, and residents are invited to join in. Pender County Veterans Services lists the Hampstead Annex at 15060 US Highway 17 as a pickup spot for green lights. The county's announcement has the details.
November 20 and 21 Use Both Home Bases
Two weeks after the spot plates, the calendar splits for the first time, with three events across two days and three locations.
On Friday, November 20, the Christmas in Pender-Onslow Festival of Trees opens at the Topsail Island Moose Lodge, 13175 NC Highway 50 in Hampstead, from 5 to 8 p.m. It continues Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Topsail Chamber's event listing says proceeds benefit Lauren's Hope.
That same Friday, the Surf City Parks Department is showing Elf for free at Soundside Park, 517 Roland Avenue. Visit Pender lists the event from 5 to 8 p.m. and notes that movies start at sundown, so bring a lawn chair or blanket. If you start at the Moose Lodge right at 5 and head to the sound afterward, you can catch both on the same evening.
Saturday morning comes back to Hampstead for the Hampstead Kiwanis 2026 Turkey Trot at Hampstead Kiwanis Park, 586 Sloop Point Loop Road. Here's the schedule from the Chamber listing:
- 8:00 a.m. Packet pickup and registration
- 9:00 a.m. 8K start
- 9:05 a.m. 2-mile start
- 10:00 a.m. Kids' sprint
- About 10:15 a.m. Awards
Awards wrap up around 10:15, and the Festival of Trees has been open since 10, so the Moose Lodge on NC 50 fits easily into the rest of Saturday.
Kiwanis Park Gets the Tree Lighting Back
The Turkey Trot is the first of two late-fall events at Kiwanis Park. The second is the Hampstead Kiwanis Christmas Tree Lighting, which Pender County's December calendar lists for Friday, December 4, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the park.
The location has changed over the past few years. Visit Pender put the 2024 lighting at Hampstead Kiwanis Park on Friday, December 6. In 2025, the county calendar moved it to the Hampstead Annex on US 17 on December 5. For 2026 it's back on Sloop Point Loop Road. The time slot hasn't changed: a Friday in the first week of December, 5:30 to 7:30. The county listing still says "Stay tuned for more information," so the full program for the evening hasn't been posted.
The Friday date also means the tree lighting lands the night before the biggest day of the season.
December 5 Moves Everything to the Sound
The next day, Saturday, December 5, both main holiday events happen at Soundside Park in Surf City, and both are run by the Greater Topsail Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism.
The Greater Topsail Area Christmas Market runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Annual Topsail Area Christmas Flotilla arrives before the market closes. According to the Chamber, decorated boats leave Bush Marina in Topsail Beach at 5 p.m. and travel the Intracoastal Waterway, reaching Soundside Park around 6 p.m., weather permitting. Watching is free.
That makes December 5 different from the other big days on this list. You can shop in the afternoon, watch the boats come in around 6, and the market is still open until 7. The Chamber lists the overall event window as 4:30 to 11 p.m.
If you have a boat and want to join the parade, the Chamber has waived all flotilla registration fees this year because of high fuel costs. Spots are first come, first served, and every captain has to attend the captains' meeting unless other arrangements are made. Registration is on the same Chamber event page.
The Lights Inland Fill the Weeknights
Apart from the countywide green lights, every event above takes place on a single weekend. One holiday option west of Hampstead covers most of the season instead. The Southern Lights at The Gardens of Southeastern North Carolina, 985 Johnson Nursery Road in Willard, is open from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on these dates:
- November 20–21 and 27–28
- December 3–6
- December 10–12
- December 17–22
- December 26
It opens on November 20, the same night as Elf and the first evening of the Festival of Trees. It also covers Thanksgiving weekend, when the Hampstead and Surf City calendars are quiet, and it's open on the nights of both the tree lighting and the flotilla. The Southern Lights page has the full schedule.
After the flotilla, the Willard dates are the only ones left on this list. Hampstead's own part of the season runs from the spot plates on US 17 on November 7 to the tree on Sloop Point Loop Road on December 4, and the next evening the boats come in at Soundside Park around 6.
If you have family visiting for Thanksgiving or the first weekend of December and want to plan around these dates, the FreshNEST Homes team knows this stretch of US 17 well and is happy to help. Book an Appointment and we'll talk Hampstead with you, from Kiwanis Park on Sloop Point Loop Road to the evening run to Soundside.