Austin's annual Trail of Lights will return to Zilker Park with over 2 million lights this December. (Courtesy Trail of Lights Foundation)
Attend a concert, see a stage production, shop for gifts or see some holiday lights at these upcoming events around Austin. This list is not comprehensive.
Painted Tree Boutiques Christmas Open Houses
Painted Tree Boutiques will transform into a holiday market. Shop owners will offer a variety of holiday gifts, decor, fashion and more. The company has a location in Sunset Valley and hopes to open its Round Rock location in time to host a market.
Painted Tree Boutiques will host holiday markets on Nov. 9 and Dec. 14. The company currently only has one Austin location in Sunset Valley. (Courtesy Painted Tree Boutiques)
Blue Genie Art Bazaar
At this annual shopping event, the Blue Genie Art Bazaar will be open daily to offer locally handcrafted items like home decor, clothing, fine art, candles, jewelry and more.
Circuit of the Americas will present its annual mile-long holiday lights drive-thru featuring millions of holiday lights, dancing characters and more. The accompanying Peppermint Plaza will have more holiday activities, food and sweets.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in South Austin will light up its gardens and trails with luminarias for guests to walk through. The center will be closed on Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1.
The Hill Country Galleria will light up for the holidays on Black Friday. The Tree Lighting Ceremony will begin with a performance from Magnolia Musical Theatre and ice-skating, giveaways, face painting and more will follow.
The ZACH Theatre will open its production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ for the holiday season in November. Follow along as the cast and crew tell the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
Mozart’s Coffee Roasters is putting a twist on its annual light show on Lake Austin. This year’s open seating format will allow guests to see the lights, listen to live performances, shop from holiday vendors, head out to the lake and more during their selected time slot.
The Emily Ann Trail of Lights is a walking trail through approximately eight acres of light exhibits. Most nights will have live entertainment with hot chocolate and visits from Santa Claus. The opening ceremony Nov. 30 will have a holiday tree lighting.
The City of Austin will host its annual holiday tree lighting ceremony at Zilker Park. There will be food, music and performances from the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble. The tree will stay up through Jan. 1.
Cedar Parks Park and Recreation will illuminate the tree at Heritage Oak Park with over 50,000 lights. The event will also have food and sweets, holiday photo opportunities, musical performances and more.
Budafest, Buda's annual holiday festival, will have a vendor market, light parade and more holiday activities. (Courtesy City of Buda)
‘Bastrop’s Rockin’ Holiday Revue’
The Bastrop Opera House main stage will be decorated with lights and decorations for this production featuring performances of holiday classics with rock ‘n’ roll twists.
Ballet Austin will present the 62nd annual production of “The Nutcracker” at The Long Center. The show's music will be played by the Austin Symphony Orchestra.
Hosted by the Dripping Springs Lions Club and the City of Dripping Springs, the downtown holiday festival will have live music, food and drinks, kids’ games and activities, photos with Santa Claus and more.
Leander’s annual Christmas festival will have a parade, market, rides, live performances, food and drink and more themed activities. The event begins with the Old Town Rudolph Run 5K at 10 a.m.
Members of the Austin Chamber Music Center will play holiday classics like “Linus and Lucy” and “O Tannenbaum” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at the State Theatre.
Austin’s holiday light walk-thru event will return to Zilker Park for its 60th year. Visit the trail to see over 2 million lights, 90 lighted holiday trees, over 65 holiday displays and more.
San Marcos' annual holiday festival will return to San Marcos Plaza Park for a one-day event this year. The event will start with the Jingle Bell Run 5K and Kids K and continue all day with performances from SMCISD students, a holiday vendor market, kids' crafts and activities, Santa's arrival and more. The event's live music headliner will be the Spazmatics.
This 10-day market event at the Palmer Events Center will have fine art, handmade gifts and more from nearly 200 artists. There will also be daily live music.
