Southlake's Holiday Season Opens at Two Venues on Nov. 21. Only One of Them Closes at 8:30

On Saturday, Nov. 21, Southlake Town Square lights its tree at 6 p.m. at the Home for the Holidays celebration. At 5 p.m. that same evening, a third of a mile of lit lakeside trail opens at McPherson Park for the second season of Holiday of Lights. The Town Square event wraps up at 8:30 p.m. The trail stays open until 10 p.m., every night, into January 2027.

That overlap is new. Until last year, Southlake's holiday season started and peaked on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Now the city runs a one-night celebration and a six-week attraction from the same opening date, and planning the season comes down to knowing which events need Nov. 21 and which ones can wait.

One night, two stages, one tree lighting

The Town Square evening runs 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 1400 E. Southlake Blvd. It's free, and so is parking in both Town Square garages: the East Garage at 1451 Federal Way and the West Garage at 351 State St. The city's event page lists photos with Santa and a 3-lane snow hill among the free activities. It also notes that the celebration is held every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, so next year's date is easy to work out.

The detail that shapes the evening is that the music runs on two stages at once. The official schedule times the 6 p.m. tree lighting ceremony at both Rustin & Family Park and Frank Edgar Cornish IV Park. Each park then runs its own lineup:

The Rustin side is finished by about 7:45 p.m., once the last elementary school choir is done. The Cornish side keeps performing until the WC Adult Ensemble's 8:15 p.m. slot. Families following one performer can use the table to pick a park and a time. For everyone else, the end of the Rustin lineup is a natural point to leave Town Square for McPherson Park, which stays open more than two hours after the square's program ends.

McPherson Park is the part that lasts

Holiday of Lights started last season. Community Impact reported in November 2025 that Lauren Kimberly, festivals and events coordinator at the Southlake Economic Development and Tourism office, presented the new trail to City Council on Nov. 18, 2025. It ran Nov. 22, 2025, through Jan. 4, 2026.

In year two, the format stays the same. The trail at 1297 Division St. is a lake loop of about a third of a mile, open daily 5 to 10 p.m., with food vendors on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free, with no tickets or reservations. The city's listing gives the run as Nov. 21 through January 2027.

That schedule is why opening night doesn't have to be your McPherson night. Home for the Holidays happens once. The lights trail is open every evening for roughly six weeks, so you can go on a quiet Tuesday as easily as on the opening Saturday. The tradeoff is food: vendors only come on Fridays and Saturdays, so a weeknight walk means eating before or after somewhere else.

Santa's Village stretches the square across the season

Town Square's own long-running event starts the same night. Santa's Village at the Rustin Pavilion opens Nov. 21 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., during the tree lighting. Visits continue on a schedule that ends at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve, with prices starting at $19.99.

The schedule has gaps that are easy to miss:

• Thanksgiving week: open Nov. 22 through 25 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, then open again Nov. 27 and 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Early December: no visits Dec. 1 through 3. The village reopens Dec. 4 with a 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. weekday window.
• Short weekday slots: Dec. 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16 are 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. only. Dec. 9 and 10 are closed.
• The final stretch: open daily Dec. 17 through 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., except Dec. 19, which opens at 10:30 a.m. Christmas Eve runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The break: on most full days, Santa takes a milk-and-cookie break from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. On Christmas Eve it moves to 2 to 2:30 p.m.

Both seasonal attractions run in the evening on most of these dates. On a weeknight like Dec. 15, you could visit Santa at the Rustin Pavilion before 7:30 p.m. and still reach the McPherson Park trail well before it closes at 10.

Where to warm up between stops

Four places on or near the holiday route weren't open last November.

Ascension Coffee opened Oct. 9 at 100 State St., Ste. C1, inside Town Square. It serves espresso drinks and coffee flights along with pastries, sandwiches, wraps and salads. On an evening that starts at 4:30 p.m. and can run past dark, a full café inside the square is useful.

Down the block, BYLT Basics opened Oct. 8 at 214 State St., Ste. B48. It sells men's, women's and children's clothing, shoes and accessories, which makes it a practical gift stop for anyone shopping the square this season.

For a sit-down dinner, Hudson House opened Sept. 14 at 1131 E. Southlake Blvd. in Park Village, serving burgers, sushi and a raw bar. Community Impact's September roundup also lists New York Butcher Shoppe, which opened Sept. 18 at 2001 W. Southlake Blvd., Ste. 149, with fresh-cut meats and prepared meals. That's worth knowing for a holiday table you'd rather not cook entirely yourself.

Park Village is also where Barry's has been reported as coming to 1081 E. Southlake Blvd., Ste. 170, with 50-minute classes that combine treadmill and strength work. Community Impact listed its opening for November.

One longtime favorite is under construction this season. Ristorante Mulino at 1125 Davis Blvd., Ste. 450, is enclosing its 522-square-foot patio with a roof, walls, windows and air conditioning. Community Impact reported that work was expected to begin in November and finish in late December or early January. When it's done, that patio can seat guests through Texas winters.

The rest of the calendar, by date

After opening night, the season spreads out across weekends:

1. Sat., Nov. 21: Home for the Holidays at Town Square, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the tree lighting at 6. Santa's Village opens, and Holiday of Lights opens at McPherson Park at 5 p.m.
2. Thanksgiving weekend through Christmas: Olde Tyme Carriage, the Workhorse Ranch service that describes itself as Town Square's exclusive carriage operator, offers holiday tours on weekend evenings from Thanksgiving through Christmas. On its holiday page, walk-up rides are listed after 5:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and after 4 p.m. on Sundays, with prepaid online reservations. Last season's posted rates were $45 for a standard ride of 5 to 7 minutes for a group of four, and $80 for an extended ride of about 15 minutes.
3. Sat., Dec. 5: Holly Jolly Sip & Shop at Town Square, 9 a.m. to noon. Santa's Village is open 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. that day, so a morning at the square can continue straight into a Santa visit.
4. Dec. 17 through 23: Santa's Village keeps its longest stretch of daily hours, and Holiday of Lights is open every night.
5. Thu., Dec. 24: last Santa visits end at 4 p.m.
6. Into January 2027: the McPherson Park trail stays lit daily from 5 to 10 p.m.

If your weekend routine includes North Park, its $6.4 million renovation began Sept. 21. The park is open, but parts of the sidewalk loop are closed while crews add artificial turf on three fields and 152 parking spaces, for a total of 286. Completion is expected early in 2027.

At K2 Simply, we plan around Southlake's seasons the same way we plan around its events. A home that's photographed, priced and ready before the Holiday of Lights trail goes dark in January is ready to launch the moment the new year starts. If you're thinking about a sale in the new year, the weeks between the tree lighting and Christmas Eve are a good time to get ready. Request Your Premium Listing Strategy.