Who actually gets the balls into the oaks above the Sunset Hills parks? Every December, cars crawl through the neighborhood under hundreds of glowing chicken-wire spheres. Very few of those drivers ever see how the balls got there. In 2026 there is a clear answer, with a date and a sign-up form. On Saturday, November 7, the Running of the Balls organizers will turn the park into what they call "the world's largest ornament-hanging workshop." Volunteers will hang about 500 lighted balls using arborist slingshots.
That date tells you how the display works now. Two crews build it, and they work on different clocks. The parks run on a fixed volunteer schedule tied to a charity race. The streets still run the way they always have. Each household decides for itself when its balls go up and when they come down. If you live here, knowing which crew you belong to tells you what November looks like.
The Park Crew Has a Shift Schedule
The Light the Park day on November 7, 2026 is set up like a staffed event. It has a morning crew from 8 a.m. to noon and an afternoon crew from 1 to 4 p.m. The jobs are split by task. One group sorts and checks lights, a step the organizers sum up as "If it doesn't glow, it doesn't go." Another group lays out the power distribution system. The third group hangs balls in the trees with slingshots.
"Instruction is provided, so zero slingshot experience required. And every volunteer gets free registration for the race on December 12, so you can come back and run (or stroll) under the balls you hung."
That line comes from the organizers' volunteer page. Volunteers also get lunch. The free race entry is a real perk. Regular registration for the 2026 race is $57 for adults and $27 for participants who fit a youth-size shirt. A morning shift on November 7 also covers your evening on December 12.
The park crew is tied to the race, and the race is tied to hunger relief. Registration proceeds go to Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC. The organizers say the partnership has provided more than 5.8 million meals.
The Street Crew Still Works on Neighbor Time
The parks get a date on a website. The rest of the display has no such schedule. In a 2020 FOX8 tour of the neighborhood, Sunset Hills residents explained that there are no set days to put balls up or take them down, and that the most balls are up in December. A 2023 FOX8 roundup of Triad holiday events said the season traditionally begins the day after Thanksgiving. That start date is a custom, not a rule, and residents still put their balls up and take them down when they choose.
The street side has its own gathering, too. Anne and Jonathan Smith host a community ball-making workshop on Ridgeway Drive between West Market Street and Madison Avenue. In past years the association listed it as a two-hour Sunday afternoon session. The format is simple:
- The organizers provide chicken wire in exchange for a contribution to Second Harvest or Greensboro Urban Ministry.
- Each participant brings 200 mini lights per ball, either LED or incandescent.
- Instructors walk people through the build.
- A trailer collects food donations on site.
- Dogs and children are welcome.
As of early October 2026, the association has not posted a 2026 workshop date. The workshop page that's up now lists a Sunday, November 19 session with no year attached. That page is a past-season listing, not a 2026 announcement. Historically the workshop has been held the Sunday before Thanksgiving, with the following Sunday as a rain date. Anne Smith described that plan in a 2017 note. The association page says details go out on the neighborhood listserv in November, so the listserv is where the 2026 date will appear.
How a Ball Actually Gets Built
Both crews start with the same basic object. A 2014 Greensboro News & Record recipe calls for a 24-by-48-inch sheet of chicken wire with one-inch mesh. You roll it into a cylinder, close the ends and shape it round. Then you wrap it with 200 mini lights. One resident's version trims the wire to about 45 inches and uses two 100-light strands. The steps look like this:
- Cut a 24-inch-wide sheet of one-inch-mesh chicken wire to between 45 and 48 inches long.
- Bend it into a cylinder and fasten the seam.
- Fold the open ends over in sections until the shape rounds out into a ball.
- Wind 200 mini lights evenly around the frame, usually as two 100-light strands.
- Tie twine to the finished ball for hoisting.
Building the ball is the easy part. Getting it up is harder, because the look depends on height. Sunset Hills author Karen McCullough has written that her household sends a weight and cord over a high oak branch with a slingshot. She says neighbors also use fishing rods, tennis balls and potato guns. One resident method is to throw a line over the chosen limb, then use it to pull up a cluster of three or four balls together before tying it off. The arborist slingshots at the park event are a more organized version of the same backyard method.
Where the Tradition Came From
The neighborhood association dates the first lighted ball to 1995 and the first workshop and food collection to 2002. Spectrum News told the origin story in December 2023, with a slightly different year. In its account, Jonathan Smith's daughter saw lights on Glenwood and brought the idea home. The family made a chicken-wire ball, she hung it outside, and it drew attention right away. Spectrum puts that start in 1996. Whichever year is right, the same family that started it is still listed as hosting the workshop.
The race came later. Greensboro Daily Photo reported in December 2025 that firefighter Nick Loflin started the charity 5K in 2011. The same post described the display as spreading across about 500 homes. So the display has grown in two ways. It spread house to house from one family's yard, and the parks grew around a race that has its own volunteers and its own schedule.
What December 12 Means for Getting Home
The race is the night the two crews' work comes together, and for residents it is also a traffic night. The Running of the Balls will run through the neighborhood on Saturday, December 12, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m. Here is what changes that evening:
- Restricted entrances: Vehicles can't enter the neighborhood from Elam, Market or Friendly from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
- Getting to your home: Volunteers along the course are there to help residents get to their homes.
- Walking in: Organizers say residents are welcome to walk around and enjoy the night.
- Questions: Nick Loflin takes resident questions at 336-510-9390 or [email protected].
The organizers also post a boundary map so households can check whether they're inside Sunset Hills.
The race is one evening, but the visitors keep coming all month. McCullough has written that in the last few weeks of December it can be hard to drive around the area. She says backing out of her own driveway can take a while, and traffic sometimes reaches gridlock. The neighborhood's guidance to visitors, published with FOX8's 2020 tour, asks them to drive slowly and not park in front of driveways. It also says the park lights are timed to turn off by 10 p.m. The traffic also feeds the food drives. Donation stations along the route collect canned and nonperishable food for a local food bank.
The association has also made the tradition greener. It added a $2 carbon-offset fee to race registration and set up a collection program that takes old light strands for recycling. If your balls have dead strands, that program gives the old lights somewhere to go once the new ones are on.
For residents who want to help, the calendar is short. The park hang on November 7 is the one date already set. The street workshop date should arrive on the listserv in November. Race night on December 12 closes the entrances from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
If you're thinking about listing a Sunset Hills home this winter, the ball season affects the calendar more than most people expect. Evening showings, photography and the race-night road closures all have to be planned around it. Colleen Long can help you set a schedule that makes the most of the lights and avoids the gridlock. Let's Connect. Request your free home valuation.
