Elawa Farm's posted Market season runs from April 30 through October 31, 2026. Winter Market hours don't start until January 15, 2027. That leaves about ten weeks with no regular Market hours listed at 1401 Middlefork Drive.
The farm's calendar for that stretch is full anyway. Between November 1 and December 31, Elawa lists sixteen ticketed dinners, most of them in its historic Hay Barn. There's also a Thanksgiving Market morning and a Holiday Market that runs nine days across three weekends this year. Apart from the Café's posted hours, late fall and early winter at Elawa mostly mean picking a date in advance and planning around it.
October 24 is the last big open-door Saturday
Fall Fest runs Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's free and open to the public. Some activities, food and drinks cost extra.
Hot cocoa, cider, face painting, tarot readings, a skeleton scavenger hunt and a caramel apple bar with nut-free toppings all open at 10. Halloween story times start at 10:30 and 12:30. The bar and aura photography open at 11, with mulled wine, seasonal cocktails, beer, wine and fall cookies. The Café and Market keep their regular hours that day. Yoga on the Farm and the animal programs Hooves & Hugs and Feathery Friends also run, but they need advance registration and can sell out.
Parking at the farm is limited for the festival. Elawa asks guests to park at St. James Lutheran Church, 1380 N. Waukegan Road, three blocks north, and take the free shuttle. On ordinary days, Elawa has free parking in two paved lots and one gravel lot. When those fill, the farm points visitors to the south side of Middlefork Drive and away from the signed, restricted neighborhood parking.
A week later, the Market's posted summer season ends.
In November, the Hay Barn becomes the main event
The farm buildings date to 1917, when they were built for A. Watson and Elsa Armour. The City of Lake Forest bought the farm in 1998. The City owns and maintains the historic buildings, and the Elawa Farm Foundation, formed in 2002, runs the programming, grounds, Market and kitchen. One of those buildings, the heated Hay Barn, is where the farm places most of its November and December dinners.
The Farm Dining calendar has three weekly community-dinner series and three special dinners:
| Dinner | Night | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Guest Chef Dinner: Día de los Muertos | Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m. | Nov 1 |
| Community Dinner: Chuckwagon Chili Night | Wednesdays, 6 to 8 p.m. | Nov 4, 11 |
| November Farm Dinner: Wild Game Night | Friday and Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m. | Nov 13, 14 |
| Community Dinner: Cozy Comforts | Thursdays, 6 to 8 p.m. | Nov 5, 12, 19; Dec 10, 17, 24 |
| Community Dinner: Soup & Bread Night | Wednesdays, 6 to 8 p.m. | Nov 18; Dec 9, 16, 23 |
| December Farm Dinner: New Year's Eve | Thursday, 6 to 9 p.m. | Dec 31 |
On Wednesdays, Chuckwagon Chili Night, built around Chef Lee's chuckwagon chili, hands off to Soup & Bread Night on November 18. For every chili ticket sold, the farm donates a serving of fresh garden produce to families supported by North Chicago Community Partners. Wild Game Night is a four-course plated dinner in the Hay Barn prepared by Chef Lee Kuebler, running from smoked trout and roasted local mushrooms and squash to a wild game and foie gras pithivier and grilled venison loin, with rotating wine and beer included.
Cozy Comforts is a family-style meal of warming seasonal dishes made with local ingredients. Each dinner includes a donation of that evening's ingredients to the same partner. Soup & Bread Night serves two homemade soups, fresh bread, a seasonal salad, sweets from the pastry team and a rotating wine. Part of the proceeds goes to weekly soup and bread donations for families served by the same partner.
The November 1 dinner features guest chef Ernesto Rodríguez of El Molcajete Sauces. It opens with a mezcal margarita and an appetizer station. Then come three courses: lobster thermidor soup, veal chile relleno with yellow mole, and tres leches cake with cardamom sauce. Chef Ernesto also teaches the "Tamales and Mezcal" cooking class on October 19, so he works both sides of the Market's closing date.
There are no community dinners the week of Thanksgiving or the first week of December. That's when the farm's attention moves to the Thanksgiving Market and the first Holiday Market weekend.
Thanksgiving is a pre-order with a three-hour pickup
The Thanksgiving Market runs Wednesday, November 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. It's a pickup window for orders placed ahead of time, with a wine tasting led by sommelier Tim Clark and a selection of holidayware and seasonal goods.
The 2026 pre-order page offers raw, pasture-raised turkeys from two farms Elawa has worked with before: Abundant Pastures in Claremont, Illinois, and TJ's Free Range Poultry in Piper City, Illinois. Checkout takes a $50 deposit, and the rest is due at pickup at $7.50 a pound. Medium turkeys run 15 to 19 pounds, and Elawa estimates them at $112 to $150 total. Large turkeys are 20 pounds and up.
Executive Chef Lee Kuebler's team makes the sides. They include Brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts for $26, which serves four and gets a touch of maple syrup. Sausage stuffing is $20, whipped potatoes are $18, green bean casserole is $20, cranberry relish is $10 a pint and gravy is $16 a quart. Pastry chef Maggie Logan's team makes pumpkin pie for $38, apple for $38, pecan for $45 and a gluten-free pumpkin for $43. Six dinner rolls with cinnamon honey butter are $15.
The page doesn't list an order deadline. Turkeys come from two small farms, so the safe assumption is that ordering earlier gives you more choice.
Three December weekends, each set up differently
Elawa is expanding its Holiday Market to three weekends this year. Every day runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and each weekend is set up a little differently.
- December 4 to 6. About 14 local vendors set up in the Hay Barn, selling holiday décor, jewelry, ceramics, fashion, stationery, sweets and liqueurs. Greenery fills the Courtyard, Potting Shed and Greenhouse. Courtyard vendors serve food and cocktails, and the Wagon Shed holds the Elawa gift collection, pastries, potted plants, forced bulbs, groceries and fresh bread.
- December 11 to 13. No outside vendors. The farm calls it a quieter, more relaxed weekend for gifts, greenery, groceries, bread and pastries.
- December 18 to 20. Final gifts, greenery, Elawa-made holiday pastries and fresh bread before the holidays.
The farm also plans holiday crafts and other activities for children across the season. Outside vendors only come the first weekend, which leaves the second as the quiet one by design, and that weekend also lines up with the Soup & Bread Night on December 9 and Cozy Comforts on December 10, so a Wednesday or Thursday dinner and a Saturday greenery run can share the same week.
Where Elawa's calendar meets the rest of town
Thanksgiving week is busy beyond Middlefork Drive. Two days after the Elawa pickup, the 42nd Annual Tree Lighting Holiday Celebration takes over Market Square on Friday, November 27. Here's the schedule:
- 1 p.m.: holiday movie at Gorton Community Center
- 3 p.m.: kids' activities
- 3:15 to 6 p.m.: visits with Santa
- 3:30 to 4:15 p.m.: Lake Forest Civic Orchestra and the Lake Forest High School Festival Brass Ensemble
- 4:40 p.m.: caroling by the Lake Forest High School Choristers
- 5 p.m.: Lake Forest Dance Academy performance, with the lights coming on just after
The 1 p.m. movie is "Home Alone," and Gorton lists tickets at $10 to $15.
The first Holiday Market weekend shares Saturday, December 5, with two Gorton events. "Sing at Gorton – Holiday Classics with Mr. V" is free at 2 p.m., and The Second City's Nut-Cracking Holiday Revue starts at 7:30 p.m. The last Holiday Market weekend ends Sunday, December 20. That's also the day of the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra's "Inspired by Wonder | Holly Jolly" concerts at 1 and 4 p.m. at Gorton Center, 400 E. Illinois Road. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.
New Year's Eve, then January 15
The Café lists hours of Wednesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and doesn't post a separate winter schedule. Check the Café page before a drive between November and January.
The year closes with the December Farm Dinner on Thursday, December 31, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Hay Barn. The plated menu includes seared Hudson Valley foie gras, butter-poached Great Lakes lake trout, beef tenderloin en croûte, and figgy pudding flambéed with hard sauce.
Regular Market hours return on January 15, 2027: Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Lake Forest's calendar shows up in more than event listings. It also affects when homes come to market, when buyers start looking and how long a move takes. If you're thinking about a move or a sale in the new year, Dana Pierson-Emering can walk you through what the coming months look like for your home. Let's connect. Start your search or get a personalized home valuation.
