"The 2026 Holiday Market is canceled due to a change in venue availability." That one sentence sits under the Holiday Market heading on the West Annapolis Business Association's events page, and it gives no other explanation.
The business association's other fall event, Oktoberfest, ran on Sunday, September 27, with RAR Brewing and Chessie's Wharf back as beer garden sponsors. With both of those off the calendar, nothing organized on Annapolis Street is scheduled to bring the neighborhood together between now and the new year. The stadium on the other side of Rowe Boulevard carries the calendar through November. After that, December's big gatherings move downtown and to Annapolis Mall, and the smaller neighborhood traditions are still waiting on dates.
The Stadium Holds the Calendar Until the Week Before Thanksgiving
Navy has three home games left at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in 2026, and the stadium's own event calendar fills in most of the weekends around them.
| Date | Event | Start |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Oct 23 | Navy Sprint Football vs. Cornell | |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Navy vs. North Texas, Homecoming | 3:30 p.m. |
| Fri, Nov 6 | Navy Sprint Football vs. D'Youville | |
| Sat, Nov 7 | Navy vs. Temple | 3:30 p.m. |
| Sun, Nov 8 | Rivalry Lacrosse Challenge parking | |
| Sat–Sun, Nov 14–15 | Under Armour Flag Football Tournament | |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Navy vs. Memphis | Noon |
| Sun, Nov 22 | WCAC Football Championship |
Of the five weekends from Homecoming through November 22, only one is open. That's Halloween weekend, which falls on a Saturday this year and has no stadium event. The Memphis game is the outlier on the schedule. A noon kickoff moves the whole day about three and a half hours earlier than the two 3:30 games.
What a Game Day Looks Like From This Side of Rowe Boulevard
Navy's 2026 Football Parking & Fan Guide and its stadium A-to-Z page lay out the timing. For a 3:30 kickoff, the day runs like this:
- 10:30 a.m. Shuttles from the Harry S Truman Park and Ride off Riva Road start running five hours before kickoff, about every 20 minutes. They drop off at the stadium's north end.
- After 9:30 a.m. Season pass holders can pull into the Blue and Gold lots. Navy sells no stadium parking on game day, so every car in those lots has a pass bought in advance.
- 3:00 p.m. The Brigade of Midshipmen marches on 30 minutes before kickoff, and Taylor Avenue closes from Rowe Boulevard to Gate 5.
- After the game. Lots close an hour and a half after "The Blue & Gold" is played, and shuttles keep running for about two hours after the game ends.
On November 21, stadium lots open after 7 a.m. and shuttles start at 7 a.m., so the morning traffic arrives earlier.
Navy also sends overflow parking toward the neighborhood. Germantown Elementary at 200 Windell Road charges $35 cash for a single space, and a second space for tailgating costs extra. Navy also points fans to the Park Place Garage at West Street and Taylor Avenue, the Gotts Court Garage, the Bladen Street Garage, and the Whitmore Garage. Navy's rules allow tailgating on stadium property only, with small gas grills permitted. Fans can't use extra stadium spaces for tailgating, and they can't save spots.
The West Annapolis Civic Association tailgate is in that lot as well, at Admirals Row, Row 10, spot 7, next to the USNA Class of '96 tent. The association says its tailgates start an hour and a half before kickoff and end at halftime. For a 3:30 game that means 2 p.m. For Memphis it means 10:30 a.m.
Inside the Gates, the Changes Are Mostly About Speed
Neighbors who walk over for a game will find a few changes this year. Eye On Annapolis reported in September that mobile tickets are now NFC-enabled, so you hold your phone near the scanner instead of showing a QR code. Two new Grab and Go stands, one on the Blue side and one on the Gold side, use Mashgin checkout.
On the food side, Travelin' Tom's Coffee of Annapolis has joined the concession lineup. Cream of crab soup, walking tacos, a macaroni and cheese bowl, and a refillable souvenir mug for hot cocoa or coffee are new on the menu. Public tents now open in the north end zone before games. The southwest corner has photo spots with a Boeing Blue Angel and a Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II. Fans parking in the Gold Lot can now enter through Gates 1 and 7.
The biggest project is the $7.5 million south end zone renovation that Navy Athletics announced in May. It adds the Naval Academy Athletic Foundation Pavilion, The Gladchuk Club, and The Class of 1981 Club, and it upgrades the Minter Pavilion and The Anchor Club. A Lexus vehicle wrap this season also marks the 100th anniversary of Navy's 1926 national championship team.
Homecoming Shares Its Saturday With the Rest of the City
October 24 is the busiest Saturday on the late-fall calendar, and the stadium is only part of it. The City of Annapolis has scheduled its free Fall Harvest Festival that morning from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Roger "Pip" Moyer Recreation Center, with music, hayrides, a pumpkin patch, and trunk-or-treat. That leaves time to get from the pumpkin patch to the march-on before 3 p.m.
The city's Halloween week runs straight into the one open weekend on the stadium schedule:
- October 25 to November 1. The Scarecrow Stroll on West Street, Maryland Avenue, and Main Street.
- October 29. Carving for the Great Annapolis Pumpkins downtown, with the display up through November 2.
- October 30. Graveyard Groove, an adults-only event at Pip Moyer from 8 to 11 p.m.
The neighborhood's own Halloween tradition is on the West Annapolis Civic Association's events page, which describes free pizza and a costume contest before trick-or-treating. The page gives no 2026 date. With Halloween on a Saturday and no game that day, the timing is open, but the association's Facebook page is where a date would be posted.
The Lot at Giddings and Annapolis, Without a Market
The cancellation matters because of what the market had grown into. In 2019, Eye On Annapolis described a European-style market on Giddings Avenue at Annapolis Street, with 40 hand-built booths lit for the holidays and more than 45 food, gift, and fine-arts vendors spread over two December weekends. Frederik de Pue, then the business group's president, told Eye On Annapolis, "I fondly remember the Christmas markets of my childhood in Belgium." That year's plans also included fire pits, a Christmas tree lot, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and seasonal goods and animals from Homestead Gardens.
In recent years it settled into a one-day format. The civic association describes it as the first Saturday in December, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the lot across from Evelyn's. Last year it ran on December 6, and Eye On Annapolis's Daily News Brief listed it as an outdoor market with more than 30 vendors, Santa sightings, and fire pits. On that pattern, this year's market would have fallen on Saturday, December 5.
The other neighborhood December traditions haven't been confirmed for 2026. In past years, they have included:
- The City of Annapolis Santa Run. Santa arrives at West Annapolis Elementary on a fire truck on a Sunday in mid-December, with Toys for Tots donations encouraged, and the civic association follows with neighborhood caroling. The 2025 run was December 14.
- The Italian Christmas Market. It's held at Sons and Daughters of Italy Lodge #2225, 620 Ridgely Avenue. Eye On Annapolis's December 5, 2025 Daily News Brief listed it for that Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the lodge's site hasn't posted a 2026 date yet.
- InGrano's West Annapolis Christmas Market. InGrano listed one for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, and has no 2026 listing yet.
Where December's Big Dates Land Instead
The large confirmed holiday events are elsewhere this year. Visit Annapolis lists Grand Illumination downtown on November 29 and Midnight Madness shopping on December 3, 10, and 17. The Chocolate Binge Festival is December 6, and the Annapolis Holiday Market at Annapolis Mall runs December 4 to 6 and December 11 to 13. The mall market's opening weekend takes in Saturday, December 5, the day West Annapolis's own market would have run, and the Chocolate Binge Festival comes the next day.
Annapolis Street is still open for dinner before or after a game. The newest restaurant on the strip is Positano Ristorante & Pizzeria at 106 Annapolis Street, which Naptown Scoop reported opened in March in the former Agave space. The menu includes pizza, Italian mains, and a children's menu. Co-owner Brian Hovermale told the Capital Gazette soon after the opening, "We've been busy, nonstop lunch and dinner ever since we opened the doors." Its own site describes handmade pastas and Neapolitan brick oven pizzas.
Before each game, check NavySports.com for the latest parking and traffic details. Navy's fan guide points fans there for updates throughout the fall.
Living a few blocks from the stadium affects your Saturdays, your parking, and the way a house shows during football season. If you're weighing that for a sale in the spring, or for a home you hope to buy in the neighborhood, The Tower Team can walk you through how game weekends fit into the timing. Work With Us.