Which days can you walk into the Omni Grove Park Inn and see the gingerbread houses? Starting Tuesday, November 17, the answer is Sundays after 6 p.m. and Monday through Thursday during regular resort hours. Friday and Saturday belong to overnight guests and people holding dining reservations.
That one rule sorts the whole season. The 2026 display has different access rules on different days. Read alongside Grovewood's calendar, the rest of Grove Park's holiday season falls into a sensible order. Grovewood Village, adjacent to the Inn, keeps a different set of rules and a calendar that fills in the weekends.
The Week, as the Inn Sets It
The 34th National Gingerbread House Competition starts with contestant registration on Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15. Judging and the awards ceremony happen Monday, November 16, and the Inn keeps both closed to anyone but contestants and their families. The display opens to the public the next day and stays up through Sunday, January 3, 2027.
Here is how the Inn's own schedule treats each part of the week.
| Day | Public access to the display |
|---|---|
| Sunday | Anytime after 6 p.m. |
| Monday to Thursday | Regular resort hours |
| Friday and Saturday | Registered resort guests and confirmed dining reservations only |
The display is up for 48 days. Fourteen of them are Fridays or Saturdays, and six more dates are closed outright, which leaves 28 days when a neighbor without a reservation can go in. A drop-in visit works best on a weekday afternoon or a Sunday evening.
Six Dates to Put on the Fridge
The Inn also closes the display to the public on a short list of holiday dates.
- Thursday, November 26
- Sunday, December 6
- Wednesday and Thursday, December 23 and 24
- Wednesday and Thursday, December 30 and 31
December 25 and 26 and January 1 are also off the public list, but they fall on a Friday, a Saturday and a Friday, so the weekend rule already covers them. The only Sunday closure is December 6, and the final day, Sunday, January 3, follows the ordinary Sunday-after-6 p.m. pattern. Anyone planning a guest visit around a weekend in December should look at this list before picking a date.
Parking and Visitor Access
The Inn's parking program is another part of the visitor picture. From October through December, the resort donates a portion of its parking proceeds to Buncombe County nonprofits. Its July 2026 announcement puts the total since the program began in 2013 at more than $1.4 million.
The parking fees have also been explained as crowd control. When Asheville Watchdog looked into the fees in a January 2023 column, the Inn's spokesperson said seasonal parking charges track demand. They help control crowds and keep spaces open for overnight guests and diners with reservations. The same column relayed an account that the lot can close for much of a day once it fills, and that calling ahead and arriving early was the advice given to one would-be visitor. It also recalled that the gingerbread season was a zoo before 2013, when the current arrangement began.
On Fridays and Saturdays, access to the display is limited to registered resort guests and people with confirmed dining reservations. I could not find the fall and holiday parking rate for 2026, and the rates the Inn has posted for daytime parking run only through September 30. Check the Omni's site or call the Inn at (800) 438-5800 before you head up the hill.
The 2024 competition was cancelled after Hurricane Helene. In 2025 it came back with 235 entries from 25 states. This year, the Inn's marketing director described the appeal of the event in a July 2026 announcement.
"some of the most meaningful traditions are the ones we create by hand and share with others."
The 2026 competition is the second run since that gap. The event began in 1992 as a small display of houses made by local community members, and the Inn says it now draws more than 20,000 visitors to Asheville a year. Local bakers have taken home awards before. In 2025, an Asheville entry called "Hobbiton" won the award for most unique ingredient, thanks to its basil flowers.
The Door Next to It
Grovewood Village sits at 111 Grovewood Road, next to the Inn, on 11 acres that once held the weaving and woodworking shops of Biltmore Industries. Grovewood Gallery is family-owned and is not part of the Inn. It represents more than 350 artists and craftspeople, and the village also holds eight working artist studios, the Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum and the Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum. The museums close from January through March, so they are open all through the holidays.
Grovewood's fall and winter calendar leans into the weekend.
- Saturday, October 10. "No Rain, No Flowers," a solo exhibition by ceramic artist Taylor Robenalt, opens and runs through December 31.
- Saturday, November 14. The gallery hosts the opening reception for "Top of Their Game: Handcrafted Games by Master Makers," a special invitational exhibition of handmade board games, tabletop games and puzzles. It runs from 2 to 5 p.m., is free and open to the public, and falls on the Saturday the Inn is busy with contestant registration. The exhibition stays up through December 31.
- Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5. The annual Holiday Sip & Shop offers 10% off gallery items, excluding wind sculptures, along with live artist demonstrations.
The Sip & Shop lands on the two days when the Inn's display is limited to guests and diners. A neighbor who cannot get into the Great Hall that weekend can spend it at the gallery instead. Admission to the "Top of Their Game" exhibition and parking are free. Grovewood says the lot is limited and encourages carpooling. Metro Wines on Charlotte Street has sponsored Grovewood's studio tours, which is a fair reason to stop there on the way home.
The gallery's sister shop, Gallery of the Mountains, sits inside the Inn, across the street from Grovewood. It stocks artisan jewelry, home décor and Asheville-themed gifts. A stop there can round out a weekday visit to the display.
A Plan That Uses Both
A season built on both doors could run in this order.
- Saturday, October 10. Visit Grovewood for the opening of Taylor Robenalt's "No Rain, No Flowers."
- Saturday, November 14. Go to the free reception at Grovewood Gallery for "Top of Their Game," between 2 and 5 p.m.
- A Sunday evening or weekday in the second half of November. See the gingerbread houses in the Great Hall once the display opens on November 17.
- December 1 to 12. Watch the Inn's "12 Days of Gingerbread" posts on Facebook and Instagram if the calendar closes in on you.
- Friday or Saturday, December 4 or 5. Spend the weekend at Grovewood's Sip & Shop, when the Great Hall is reserved for guests.
Grovewood's Friday and Saturday events fall on the days the Inn keeps the display for guests and diners, so the two calendars fill each other's gaps.
If gingerbread season has you looking at your own dining room and wondering how it would host a table of holiday guests, Annie Pettry is glad to talk kitchens, gatherings and Grove Park logistics. Let's connect.
