Santa’s Depot

Santa’s Depot is returning to Downtown Kingsport’s Centennial Park (245 E. Main Street) on Saturday, November 21 from 1-3 PM. The event serves as the welcoming party for the CSX Santa Train and unofficially kicks off the holiday season in Kingsport. Santa’s Depot is free to attend and is sponsored by CSX, Appalachian Power, Food City and Visit Kingsport.

This year marks the 84th running of the Santa Train and Kingsport serves as its final destination. At Santa’s Depot, children will receive an official activity passport when they arrive at the event to keep track of each booth they visit. All activities are free to children. Sponsored booths and activities include free toys, gloves, wrapping paper, books, cookies, Santa hats, Grinch punch and more! Attendees will also enjoy taking selfies with Centennial Park’s Santa sculpture and numerous other holiday photo ops.

At approximately 2:58 p.m., the Santa Train will roll in to Kingsport. Santa will disembark the train and head to the Santa’s Depot Stage to wish the Kingsport crowd a very Merry Christmas and spread holiday cheer!

Santa reminds all attendees that he’ll be watching to see who stays on his “nice list.”

-Only one activity passport per child

-Activities and treats are for children only (Each child must be present to receive a passport. Due to expected crowd size, we cannot guarantee that each child will get to participate in every activity, but we can promise a magical day and a visit from Santa himself!)

-Be PATIENT and KIND

-Share

-Follow the rules and ENJOY the event

Thank you to all of this year’s event and booth sponsors: CSX, Appalachian Power, Food City, Visit Kingsport, Century 21 Legacy, Fun Fest, Greater Kingsport Family YMCA, Kingsport Fire Department, K1 Church, Mattern and Craig, PEAK – Kingsport Young Professionals, This is Kingsport, United Way of Greater Kingsport and Yell Mayor’s Youth Council.

For more information about the event, follow Visit Kingsport on Facebook and Instagram, or visit SantasDepotKPT.com.

About the CSX Santa Train:

The CSX Santa Train, which will make its 84th run in 2026, is one of the nation’s oldest holiday traditions and a point of pride in CSX’s nearly 200-year legacy. CSX Santa Train delivers over 15 tons of toys, backpacks and winter clothing to Appalachian families along 110 miles of railroad tracks through Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee and is presented in partnership with Appalachian Power, Food City and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce. We welcome you to follow along on Facebook and Instagram for updates. For more information, visit https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/community-investment/csx-in-service/.