The Briarcliff Recreation Department has four public holiday events on its December 2026 calendar, and every listing points to the village itself. Frosty comes to the Business District. The Community Bonfire is at the pavilion at 1031 Pleasantville Road. Carolers and BINGO! is listed at "The Village." The Parent & Me Shopping Adventure is listed at "The Village Shops."
So December in Briarcliff Manor plays out in the village center over three weekends. The calendar is front-loaded, too. The first Sunday of the month puts two of the four events on the same afternoon, with a two-hour gap between them.
Here is the whole month at a glance, taken from the Village of Briarcliff Manor's December calendar.
| Date | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, December 6 | FROSTY Comes to the Village | 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. | Business District |
| Sunday, December 6 | 30th Annual Community Bonfire & Holiday Sing-a-long | 4:00 to 5:45 p.m. | Pavilion, 1031 Pleasantville Rd |
| Sunday, December 13 | Carolers and BINGO! | 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. | The Village |
| Saturday, December 19 | Parent & Me Shopping Adventure | 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. | The Village Shops |
December 6, From Noon to the Bonfire
The first Sunday of December is the busiest day of the village's holiday season, and the schedule fits together without overlaps. Taken in order, the afternoon looks like this:
- 12:00 p.m. FROSTY Comes to the Village opens in the Business District with photos with Frosty.
- 1:00 p.m. Story time, hosted by The Earlybird.
- 2:00 p.m. Frosty wraps up. That leaves a two-hour gap before anything starts at the pavilion.
- 4:00 p.m. The 30th Annual Community Bonfire & Holiday Sing-a-long opens with winter crafts and live music from the Mike Risko Band.
- 4:45 p.m. The community-wide sing-along begins.
- 5:15 p.m. The bonfire is lit, with the event scheduled to end at 5:45.
The bonfire is free, the village lists the pavilion as ADA accessible, and the listing says treats and warm drinks will be provided. The listing asks the community to help by "singing seasonal songs, decorating winter crafts, and bringing holiday cheer," so it's an event people join in rather than watch.
The gap between 2:00 and 4:00 is the part of the day the calendar leaves to you. The bonfire pavilion is on Pleasantville Road, and so are the two businesses below.
The Café Running Story Time
The Frosty listing names one local business as a partner, The Earlybird, which hosts the 1:00 story time.
The Earlybird is a café at 1191 Pleasantville Road. Its owners, Heather Kim and Katie Mayer, have been serving food together since 2021. Westchester Magazine reported in July 2025 that the two met working in fashion retail. Mayer was a stylist and Kim worked for Coach. Kim called Mayer in February 2021 with the idea of opening a coffee shop together, and their first café opened in the Bronx. The same article said the Briarcliff Manor location came about after Mayer moved to the village, and described the menu as fresh, house-made meals, bowls, smoothies and coffee.
The café is also on the schedule before Frosty arrives. An Embroidered Holiday Ornaments Workshop is listed for Wednesday, December 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Earlybird, 1191 Pleasantville Road. Since it falls on a weekday morning, it's a separate outing from the Sunday events.
A little further down the road, at 1123 Pleasantville Road, is Froggy's, the sandwich shop that River Journal introduced in April as the village's newest spot for fast, fresh breakfast and lunch.
Thirty Years at Law Park
The bonfire is the longest-running event on the December calendar. This year is the 30th edition, so the tradition dates back to the late 1990s.
The venue is the pavilion at Law Memorial Park, 1031 Pleasantville Road. The music comes from the same group as last year. The Mike Risko Music School's listing for the 29th edition put the 2025 bonfire on Sunday, December 7, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Law Park Pavilion, and invited the community to "help us welcome in the season in Briarcliff and sing along with us." The Mike Risko Band is back for the 30th, playing during the 4:00 craft hour before the sing-along.
Compared with last year's listing, the format hasn't changed. It's still a first-Sunday-of-December afternoon at the same pavilion with the same band leading the songs. The 2026 version ends at 5:45, a little earlier than the 6:00 finish listed in 2025, and it now has a published running order, with the bonfire itself lit at 5:15. In early December the sun has set well before 5:15, so the bonfire is lit after dark.
Two More Weekends in the Village
After December 6, the calendar shifts from big gatherings to smaller events, and both are again listed in the village.
Carolers and BINGO! runs Sunday, December 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. at "The Village," according to the Recreation Department calendar.
The Parent & Me Shopping Adventure runs Saturday, December 19, from 10 a.m. to noon at The Village Shops. The village's listing is written for late shoppers: "For those last minute shoppers! Every purchase at participating stores when accompanied by a child, that child will receive a FREE GIFT!"
The Shopping Adventure is where the calendar most clearly ties into downtown business. It turns a Saturday errand into a reason for a child to come along, and the gift comes from the shops, not from a village booth. Whether a particular store is taking part is something to ask at its counter that morning.
By December 19, the season's three Sundays and one Saturday will have sent people to the Business District, the Law Park pavilion and the village shops.
The Downtown Lot on the Same Calendar
December 6 is also a date on a different downtown calendar. Under the land development agreement between the Village, the Briarcliff Manor Local Development Corporation and Briarhouse, LLC, the redeveloper chosen for 1050 and 1030 Pleasantville Road, the development term was extended once to run through December 6, 2026.
The developer has asked to push that date back. In an October 19, 2026 letter included in the Local Development Corporation's October 27 agenda, Briarhouse requested a second six-month extension, from December 6, 2026 to June 6, 2027. The letter says the team "looks forward to continuing the exciting progress towards Closing." The LDC resolution in that packet approves what it calls a "second and final" extension, and states that the Village must consider and approve the extension separately.
That puts the redevelopment's paperwork deadline on the same Sunday as Frosty and the bonfire, with the project's own lawyers describing it as still working toward closing. For anyone heading downtown on December 6, the holiday events are fixed on the village calendar. The redevelopment is still moving through the agreement process.
If December 6 is on your calendar and you'd like to talk about what's changing along Pleasantville Road before your next move, Valerie Cascione would be glad to hear from you. Let's talk about your next move.
