When does skating season start in Holland? The rink at Window on the Waterfront is set to open Friday, November 20, 2026. For most families, though, the date that decides their winter comes five weeks earlier. Holland Parks and Recreation will sell the first 2026–27 tickets on Friday, October 16. After that, it releases a new batch on the 16th of every month.
| Release date | Sessions it covers |
|---|---|
| Friday, October 16, 2026 | November 20–30, 2026, skating only |
| Monday, November 16, 2026 | December 1–31, 2026 |
| Wednesday, December 16, 2026 | January 1–31, 2027 |
| Saturday, January 16, 2027 | February 1–28, 2027 |
| Tuesday, February 16, 2027 | March 1 through the end of season |
That schedule matters because of how the first season went. Holland's skating season now works like a reservation book. Each month opens on a known date, and anyone who books late gets whatever is left.
Last winter's numbers explain the calendar
In its first season, Holland Ice Park logged 33,685 individual skating-session bookings and 213 curling reservations. More than 40 school groups skated there. The concession stand sold 8,219 cups of hot chocolate after the November 14 opening.
The number that matters most for this winter came from Parks and Recreation Director Andy Kenyon. He told MLive in April 2026 that nearly all available sessions sold out from November until the season ended in March. Visitors came from Detroit, Traverse City, Chicago and Indianapolis, and a statewide billboard campaign helped bring them. Families in Holland book from the same online inventory as the weekend visitor driving in from Indianapolis.
The city adjusted as the winter went on. It added time slots, offered walk-up availability, raised the number of skaters allowed on the ice at once, and staggered session start times to shorten the lines at entry and skate pickup. For 2026–27, the official page promises more skating sessions. It also says tickets must be bought online in advance because space in each session is limited. Last year's walk-up spots were added partway through the season, so don't plan around them this year.
Kenyon also said the park pays for itself, largely thanks to multi-year sponsorships. A park that covers its own costs has every reason to keep selling out, and the monthly release system is how the city spreads that demand across the winter.
The October 16 release is smaller than it looks
The first batch covers only November 20 through 30, and only skating. The park is open Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays. November 23 and November 30 both fall on Mondays, so the October release covers nine possible skating days. Thanksgiving week falls inside that window, which makes this short release busier than its size suggests.
The December batch comes out Monday, November 16, while the park is closed for its first week of the year. That one release covers all of December, including the school holiday break. It also brings the first curling dates, because curling reservations run December 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027.
The rink also opens about a week later than first projected. MLive's April story expected opening day on November 13, 2026. The city's current page says November 20, and the season runs through March 14, 2027.
Curling now has one price range
A skating ticket costs the same $10 that MLive reported for the launch season, with skate rental included. This year that $10 covers a 90-minute session. Curling pricing changed shape. In the launch season, MLive reported the curling sheet at $75 Tuesday through Thursday and $175 on weekends and holidays. This season the city lists $100 to $125 per 90-minute reservation, with equipment included.
So a midweek group pays more than it did last winter, and a weekend group pays well under last year's $175. The sheet is half regulation size and takes groups of up to eight. With a full group of eight, the top of the new range works out to about $15.63 per person. That's a little more than a skating ticket, and it gets your group the whole sheet for 90 minutes. Skating and curling are booked separately.
What's new on the ice this winter
The park has a skating pond, the 700-foot ribbon and a separate curling sheet. MLive describes the ribbon as the largest in Michigan, alongside a 75-foot ice semicircle for open skating. The changes this year are in programming and access:
- More skating sessions. This is the city's direct answer to last winter's sellouts.
- Curling clinics, a first step for groups who want to learn before they book the sheet.
- Learn to Skate classes, which the city says are meant to give local kids more chances to get on the ice.
- A free wheelchair ice-skating sled, available first come, first served, plus skate-assist rentals for $5.
Small details that come up on a first visit: the park is cashless, reservations can't be refunded or moved to another session, and spectators don't need a ticket. The concession stand sells hot dogs, pretzels, chips and candy along with the hot chocolate. The cocoa goes back to Frank Kraai, the retired West Ottawa Public Schools educator who donated $1 million toward a community rink in his hometown. He specifically asked that the rink serve hot cocoa. His vintage skates are on display at the admission booth, and a plaque remembers him as "a humble teacher who loved his Holland hometown."
Adults heading over after dinner downtown should know that Holland's social district reaches the park. Approved drinks are allowed on the Window on the Waterfront grounds but not on the rink. As of April 2026, the district included 19 establishments and ran 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Until November 20, the action is 1,500 feet up the path
Between now and opening day, the newest thing to do on Holland's riverfront is the Holland Bike Park at 97 N. River Ave., just north of the Unity Bridge. Phase I opened in August 2026. It's a 600-foot asphalt pump track. The track is a set of paved rollers and berms that can be ridden with or without pedaling. That makes it work for a preschooler on a Strider bike as well as for an older rider learning to pump through the turns.
Velo Kids Inc., the nonprofit arm of Velo City Cycle, built the park with the city. The money came from city funds, state grants and a fundraising campaign of nearly $2 million. The park has no parking lot of its own. Riders are directed to the Window on the Waterfront lot about 1,500 feet south, the same park where the rink sits.
The bike park is unsupervised and open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The track closes when it's wet or snowy, or when it's posted closed, and the city hasn't listed a fixed winter shutdown. On a dry October afternoon you can ride laps there and walk past the rink pavilion on the way back to the car. This fall the city is adding site lighting, erosion control and landscaping. Plans for summer 2027 include a pavilion, jump lines, a bike playground, a plaza and signage, with the later skills areas depending on funding.
The two projects are already connected. After skating ended last spring, the city planned summer yoga and music events at the ice park site, and Velo City Cycle planned to use the ribbon, without ice, as a track for bike instruction. The bike park will also connect directly to the Macatawa Greenway, which links to the City of Zeeland, Zeeland Township, Park Township, Holland Charter Township and Laketown Township. In every season, this stretch of the Macatawa River now gives families something new to plan around.
If you'd like to talk about which parts of Holland put you within walking or biking distance of the ice park and the new pump track, the team at Emily Garcia Homes knows these blocks well. Contact Emily & Dave for a Personalized Market Plan, and set a reminder for October 16 while you're at it.
