A 45-foot Norway spruce showed up at CarMax Park this week, hoisted by crane onto the stadium's concourse in a move that signals Richmond's new holiday attraction is entering its final stretch before opening. The tree, shipped in from a farm in upstate New York, now towers over the concourse beside the left outfield, visible to anyone driving past on Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
The tree arrived Monday morning from Egan Acres Tree Farm, according to Richmond BizSense, which reported it was lifted via crane onto the stadium's northwest concourse. It is the most visible sign yet that WinterWorld, the holiday festival organizers have been building out at the ballpark, is nearly ready for its inaugural season.
WinterWorld is shaping up to be a sprawling production. Plans call for more than a million lights, an ice skating area, a multi-lane ice slide and a Ferris wheel, the outlet reports, along with what's been described elsewhere as a below-zero bar and twinkly lights strung throughout the park, according to 6AM City.
Conflicting Details on Size and Schedule
Not every detail lines up cleanly across reports. Richmond BizSense lists the planned festival as running Nov. 19 through Jan. 3, 2027, a span of 46 calendar days inclusive. The festival's exact run has also been reported differently: 12 On Your Side reported a run from Nov. 18 through Jan. 3, 2027, a span of 47 calendar days inclusive. 6AM City, meanwhile, reports the event opens for its inaugural season Thursday, Nov. 19, and runs through Sunday, Jan. 3.
Ticket prices, as reported by 6AM City, run from $15 to $20 for adults and $9 to $15 for children, with some on-site experiences carrying additional costs. Axios Richmond has estimated that a family of four could end up spending more than $150 on a visit, per the same 6AM City report. The Richmond Flying Squirrels provided the details about the tree itself, including its height, species and upstate New York origin, and 6AM City places the tree specifically along the stadium concourse by the third-base line.
A Multimillion-Dollar Bet on CarMax Park
Behind the spectacle is a sizable financial commitment. Navigators Baseball is putting more than $3 million into WinterWorld, and the organization expects the event to draw more than 75,000 people, Richmond BizSense reports. Richmond Family Magazine separately describes the same attendance expectation for the inaugural season, framing the investment as part of a broader push to turn CarMax Park into a year-round entertainment destination rather than just a summer ballpark.
Lou DiBella has been candid about what it will take for the event to pencil out financially. “I would love 100,000 people to pass through the doors of this,” DiBella told 12 On Your Side. “I think this is designed for the whole greater Richmond area. And honestly, we need, if we don't, if 65 or 70,000 people don't come through the park, it'll be impossible for us to break even.”
Vendors, Free Passes, and a Field Transformed
Organizers have also built in a community-facing side to the festival. Plans include a holiday retail village with roughly 30 local vendor locations set up on the field, according to 12 On Your Side. The same report notes organizers intend to distribute 5,000 free admission passes to Richmond-area residents through partnerships with local nonprofits and community organizations.
For now, the crane work and the newly planted spruce are the clearest evidence that the transformation of CarMax Park is underway. With the tree in place beside the outfield and visible from one of Richmond's busiest corridors, the ballpark's shift from baseball diamond to holiday destination is becoming hard to miss for anyone driving by.
