At 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, November 22, a holiday tree will light up at the Soundside Event Site, out on a boardwalk that did not exist last Christmas. Soundside Markets lists the evening as a Nags Head town tree lighting, the centerpiece of a special market day running from 1 p.m. until sunset. The site sits at 6800 S. Croatan Highway. The organizer calls it the first annual tree lighting of its holiday series, and it takes place "on the newly constructed boardwalk at the back of the event site."
For most of two decades, this soundfront parcel was planned around events that bring visitors in for a weekend. This season, the public boardwalk, the new pickleball courts and the shoreline work beside the lawn are pulling it toward everyday use by people who live a few minutes away.
A Holiday Market That Outgrew Its Lawn
The holiday series is back for its fourth year. On November 22 the market runs from 1 p.m. to sunset with the tree lighting. Two more Sundays follow, November 29 and December 13, each from noon to 4 p.m. The organizers promise Santa, the Grinch, a campfire, food trucks, hot cocoa, holiday music and more than 75 local vendors and makers.
That vendor count is far larger than where the market started. In April, Outer Banks Voice reported that founder Alex Brewer launched Soundside Markets in 2023 with six dates and roughly 55 vendors. By 2026 it had grown to nearly 20 dates and 75 to 80 vendors. Attendance went from about 250 to 300 people in the first year to between 4,000 and 6,000 on peak dates. In that same article, Brewer called the property "an all-world site," pointing to "plenty of on-site parking, green space, the incredible view of the sound, and now the boardwalk that will connect people to the water."
The boardwalk in that quote is the reason this holiday season looks different from the last three.
The Boardwalk Nags Head Got Instead of a Hotel
The half-mile Soundside Boardwalk opened on April 22, timed to Earth & Art OBX and the spring Soundside Market. The Dare County Tourism Board paid for it at a cost of more than $3 million, and the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau manages it. It runs west from the Event Site lawn toward the sound and marsh, curves around First Flight Adventure Park's 50-foot agility course, and ends at a large gazebo overlooking Roanoke Sound.
It was never a given that the site would end up as open public space. According to the same Outer Banks Voice report, the Tourism Board bought the first lawn parcels in 2007 and 2008. A 2010 study looked at a meeting and gala facility of 25,000 to 45,000 square feet. By 2012 that had become a hotel with meeting space. Then stakeholders raised concerns that a hotel would compete with private businesses. Lee Nettles, executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, described how the thinking changed:
"The best ROI wasn't necessarily what was best for our community. People didn't want occupancy tax dollars going toward the development of a hotel that would compete with private businesses."
A 48,000-square-foot sports and events complex got Tourism Board approval in 2021. Nettles told the Voice that the plan is "still alive today," but that the county isn't prioritizing it. What actually set the site's direction was the first Outer Banks Seafood Festival in 2012. Purchases between 2018 and 2021 later brought in the old South Beach Grille, Dairy Queen, Blackbeard's and Pamlico Jack's properties, and all four were cleared.
When Nettles describes success today, he talks about public space. "Having an open green space that the public can enjoy every day, now a boardwalk, for exercise and appreciation of our coastal environment, just a place to chill out, is tremendous value," he told the Voice. He also noted that events were meant "to bring overnight visitation during non-summer months." A holiday market series that runs into mid-December, with a tree lit on the boardwalk, fits both of those goals.
What's Being Built Around the Tree This Winter
The November 22 tree lighting falls in the middle of a construction season on the property. The boardwalk is the only finished piece. Several others are at different stages, and their published timelines were current as of the dates below.
| Project | Who's behind it | Latest published status |
|---|---|---|
| Soundside Boardwalk and gazebo | Dare County Tourism Board, managed by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau | Opened April 22, 2026 |
| 10-court pickleball complex on the former Pamlico Jack's parcel | Dare County and Tourism Board, splitting costs equally up to $1.13 million | Sitework began July 27; the county's August 4 update projected completion in late October or early November 2026 |
| Living shoreline at the Harvey Soundside Site | Town of Nags Head | Planned to begin in late October, per a September 2 report |
| Boardwalk extension south to Outlets Nags Head | Town of Nags Head | Proposed as of April 2026 |
Barnhill Contracting Company won the pickleball contract with the lowest of four bids at $651,110, well under the $1.13 million cap. Plans include lighting, fencing, sidewalks and parking changes. The schedule slipped earlier in the year while the county looked into whether covered courts were feasible and what they would cost. Once the courts are done, Dare County will run and maintain them, and the Tourism Board will keep up the surrounding property. The county notes that its timeline may change. Its current projects page is the place to check before heading over with a paddle.
The Shoreline Project Left Room for the Windsurfers
The living shoreline is the piece most closely connected to the boardwalk, since its job is to protect the Event Site's infrastructure. A 2022 town estuarine management plan estimated that Nags Head has lost 55 acres along its 17.5 miles of sound shoreline since 1949. The Harvey Soundside Site is the town's first project under that plan. It covers about 500 feet, running north from the Miller's restaurant property. The total cost is a little over $1 million. Funding comes from a $460,000 grant through the state DEQ's Resilient Coastal Communities Program and a $550,000 contribution from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau and the NC Land and Water Fund.
The design uses low structures called sills, placed near the shore to break up waves. That raised concerns about the launch area that windsurfers and kiteboarders have used for decades. As Outer Banks Voice reported in September, Town Manager Andy Garman met with people who had raised concerns. The town then removed about 50 feet of sill closest to the launch site next to Miller's. Garman hopes the change creates "an adequate window" for wind sport participants to launch and come back in safely.
So the boardwalk is the newest feature on this shoreline, and the town is also working to protect one of its oldest uses.
The Rest of Nags Head's Holiday Weeks
The Event Site's dates fall alongside a full town calendar, and the busiest stretch is Thanksgiving weekend.
- Friday, November 6, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Holiday Star Party Food Drive at Jockey's Ridge State Park, 300 W. Carolista Drive, brings telescopes and children's activities, with donations going to the Beach Food Pantry. Details are on the state's event page.
- Sunday, November 22, 1 p.m. to sunset. The Soundside Holiday Market and tree lighting on the boardwalk at 5:15 p.m.
- Saturday, November 28, 9 a.m. to noon. The Dowdy Park Holiday Markets at 3005 S. Croatan Highway, listed on the Town of Nags Head calendar.
- Saturday, November 28, 4 to 7 p.m. Kites with Lights at Jockey's Ridge is free and features 19- to 30-foot kites dressed up for the holidays. At 5 p.m., the park's solar Christmas tree lights up on the dunes across from Jockey's Ridge Crossing, and donations benefit the Friends of Jockey's Ridge.
- Sunday, November 29, and Sunday, December 13, noon to 4 p.m. The last two Soundside Holiday Markets.
That puts two holiday tree lightings in Nags Head within one week, one on the Jockey's Ridge dunes and one on the new boardwalk.
The Visitors Bureau's boardwalk page has a few rules worth knowing before November 22. Outdoor areas are public, but access may change a bit during events. Pets should stay leashed and follow posted rules. The sound there is not a swimming beach, and fishing and crabbing are allowed only in designated areas.
The Lynn Bulman Team has watched the Soundside Event Site change from restaurant parcels to festival lawn to boardwalk, and we'll keep following the courts and the shoreline work as they wrap up this winter. If you're curious how projects like these affect a Nags Head home you own or have your eye on, Lynn Bulman is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
