Candy Cane Lane West Allis 2026 Starts Nov. 27

Every December a few blocks of decorated houses in West Allis light up, and volunteers with blue buckets hand out candy while they collect for childhood cancer research. Candy Cane Lane West Allis 2026 runs from Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, through Christmas Day, according to the organizers.

It is free to drive or walk through, and by 2025, its 40th season, it had raised more than $3.5 million for the MACC Fund. The dates and nightly hours, the route, the rules for drivers and walkers, how to give, and where to eat and stay nearby all follow.

2026 dates and hours

Candy Cane Lane runs nightly from November 27 to December 25, 2026.

The lights are on from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, 5 to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 5 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The organizers say hours may change because of weather, traffic and other conditions.

Those are the same nightly hours the display kept in 2025, when it opened on November 28. The organizers' 2026 calendar was listed as coming soon in late October.

Where is Candy Cane Lane?

Candy Cane Lane fills the neighborhood bounded by Oklahoma Avenue on the south, Montana Avenue on the north, 92nd Street on the east and 96th Street on the west.

Donations are collected on 95th Street between Oklahoma Avenue and Manitoba Street, which makes that stretch the one to aim for if you want to give in person. It is a residential neighborhood, not a park, so the houses and yards are private.

Driving through or walking

You can do either, and the organizers post separate rules for each.

If you drive

Keep your headlights on, obey the traffic signs, do not block business driveways, keep every passenger inside the car and watch for people on foot.

If you walk

Stay off private property, cross only at corners, do not stand in the road, do not litter and watch for cars.

If you walk, dress for a December night outdoors and bring a light for the crossings.

Giving to the MACC Fund

Candy Cane Lane is a fundraiser for the MACC Fund, short for Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, which funds research into childhood cancer and related blood disorders.

Volunteers carrying blue buckets take cash, checks and credit cards on 95th Street and hand out candy, and the organizers' site confirms cards are accepted. Giving is optional, and there is no charge to see the lights. The organizers' website carries a MACC Fund copyright under the name Sharing Christmas.

The display had raised more than $3.5 million by its 40th season in 2025, more than $1 million of it over the previous seven seasons, and organizers said it was on track to pass $4 million that year.

WISN reported that the MACC Fund, founded in 1976, has put nearly $90 million into research at Wisconsin medical institutions and helped raise childhood cancer cure rates from 20 percent to over 84 percent.

How it started

FOX6 traced Candy Cane Lane back decades to a few neighbors decorating their yards and handing out candy canes. The 2025 season was the 40th in a row collecting for the MACC Fund, which makes 2026 the 41st.

One visitor told FOX6 in 2025 that it is a tradition: you have to come to West Allis.

Dinner before the lights

Henry Flach's says its dining room is small and it does not hold tables for reservations, so on a December weekend go early. On the east side of town, Kegel's Inn is the German option, and the full spread of places to eat in West Allis includes Lola's Empanadas, open until 9 p.m. most nights.

Staying over

The Hampton and the Home2 near State Fair Park and the Days Inn by I-894 round out the hotel choices in West Allis.

More of December in West Allis

The West Allis Farmers Market runs to the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which in 2026 is November 28, the second night of the lights.

Indoor pickleball at the Picklr on South 108th Street runs until 11 p.m. every day, one of the cold-weather things to do in West Allis. OPE! Brewing opens at 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday and has fire pits in its outdoor bar area.