The light trail at Veritas Vineyard & Winery opens Wednesday, November 25, and its last night is Saturday, December 26. The last two seasons kept going into the first weekend of January, and that is no longer on the schedule. For anyone in Afton who saved the lights for the quiet week after Christmas, or for when the out-of-town relatives finally arrive, the season now runs about a month, starting the day before Thanksgiving. It also lines up with a run of local events that were already crowded into the same weeks.
Admission is also cheaper, and the route is new.
A shorter season at a lower price
Here is how the season compares, based on Veritas's ticket listings for the last two years and its current event page.
| Season | First night | Last night | Adult | Child, ages 4 to 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Nov. 22 | Jan. 4 | $15 | $10 |
| 2025 | Nov. 24 | Jan. 3 | $15 | $10 |
| 2026 | Nov. 25 | Dec. 26 | $10 | $5 |
Children 3 and under still get in free. The trail is open 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., mostly on Fridays and Saturdays, and the reservation system shows any extra dates. Veritas says this year's path is "all-new" and winds through the grove and the vines. The video on its page shows a route from a past year. The trail is accessible, dogs are welcome on the walk, and mulled wine and hot chocolate are served by the fire.
This is the first holiday season since the winery changed hands. According to Veritas's announcement, Veritas Legacy Partners, the company formed by Charlottesville architect Kurt Wassenaar and real estate investor Eric Trebour, closed on the purchase in September 2026. Tastings, wine club, the Farmhouse, weddings and private events all carried on through the change. Day-to-day operations now sit with a three-person team. Andy Murphy is CEO. Emily Hodson stays on as head winemaker and is now also chief production officer. Allison Evanow is chief commercial officer. George Hodson has moved from CEO to strategic adviser. The announcement does not tie the new owners to this year's schedule or prices. In it, Murphy talked about the staff who work the property.
"We have an extraordinarily talented, dedicated team in place across our vineyard, cellar, and hospitality operations."
Holiday roundups written earlier may still have the old dates. One Afton holiday guide, last updated September 24, still lists the trail as November 27 through January 2. For this year, go by the Veritas page.
Counting the trail's regular nights
With the season ending December 26, the number of regular Friday and Saturday nights is small enough to list. Veritas has also closed December 11 and 12 for a private event. Here are the regular weekends:
- Friday, November 27, and Saturday, November 28. This is Thanksgiving weekend, after the Wednesday opening.
- Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5. Schola Cantorum of Waynesboro performs on December 4.
- Friday, December 11, and Saturday, December 12. Closed for the private event.
- Friday, December 18, and Saturday, December 19. The Waynesboro Choral Society performs on December 18.
- Friday, December 25, and Saturday, December 26. Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year, and the trail is closed to the public that night, so Saturday the 26th is the only night that weekend and the last night of the season.
That leaves three regular weekends for most people's plans, plus the single Saturday after Christmas. Any additional dates will appear on the booking page. The 2025 season had weeknight dates in Thanksgiving week and the days before Christmas.
November's events come before the lights
With the trail opening the day before Thanksgiving, the rest of November is open for the smaller events around Afton. Several of them have firm dates.
Taste of Nelson: In the Corn Maze is this Saturday, November 7, from 1 to 6 p.m. at Blue Toad Hard Cider, 462 Winery Lane in Roseland. According to the ticket page, admission includes unlimited tastings from the Nelson 151 cideries, breweries and wineries, plus live music and food trucks. The county tourism calendar shows November 4, but the event's own ticket page lists the 7th.
The Artisans Studio Tour follows on November 14 and 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tour's site says it is self-guided, free and open to the public. Because it's spread across working studios, a single day will cover part of the route, not all of it.
The Giving Thanks Market from Heart of Virginia Artisans is Sunday, November 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hazy Mountain Vineyards & Brewery, 240 Hazy Mountain Lane. Hazy Mountain's listing says no tickets are needed. The market is three days before Illuminated opens. It's the last weekend in Afton before the trail starts drawing crowds on Friday and Saturday evenings.
HeART of Nelson, the artisan collective, is listed with Black Friday deals on November 27, the same day as the trail's first Friday. Daytime shopping and an evening at Veritas can go in one outing.
The weekend of December 18 is the busiest
Most of the area's December events are scheduled for the weekend before Christmas. That puts them up against the last full Friday and Saturday of the trail, since the trail is closed on Christmas Day and only open on Saturday that weekend.
Bethlehem Village at Hebron Baptist Church in Afton runs Friday, December 18, from 6 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, December 19, and Sunday, December 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. According to the organizers' site, admission is free and donations are accepted. The production recreates first-century Bethlehem with live reenactments, working forges and bakeries, and live camels. It runs in the evening, so on Friday and Saturday it overlaps with the light trail. Sunday the 20th is the one night of that weekend without a conflict.
On Friday the 18th, the Waynesboro Choral Society is at Veritas. HeART of Nelson is also listed with extended hours from December 19 through 23 for last-minute shopping. Times have not been posted, so call before driving over.
That gives Afton three weekend nights in a row with something on, all in the week before the light trail's final weekend.
After December 26
Once the trail closes, Veritas has one event left on its calendar. The New Year's Eve Black & White Ball is Thursday, December 31, from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Tickets are $250 per person, and wine club members get $50 off each of their first two tickets. It is a ticketed dinner. In past years the walking trail was open in early January.
Afton Mountain Vineyards says its tasting room is open the Saturday through Monday after Christmas and the Friday through Monday after Thanksgiving. Its glass pavilion is open year-round. Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery holds its Annual Chestnut Roast every December, according to its visit page, but no 2026 date is posted yet. Check that page again before planning around it.
If last year's routine was the lights during the slow week before New Year's, this year that visit needs to happen before December 27.
A season this short makes Afton's calendar a little tighter, and planning ahead goes a long way, both for holiday weekends and for decisions about a home on Route 6 or Route 151. If the winter has you wondering what your Afton property is worth, Sherry Millard knows these roads and this community well and can give you a straight answer. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
