On Sunday, Dec. 6, the morning starts with pancakes and Santa in the Cypress Ballroom at Hotel Viata on South Capital of Texas Highway. By early afternoon, Santa is due at the Chaparral Stadium parking lot on Camp Craft Road, arriving on a Westlake fire truck. At dusk, a park in Rollingwood lights its tree while the Madrigals Choir leads a sing-along.
Three events on one Sunday come from three different hosts: a hotel, a chamber of commerce and a volunteer women's club. Each pays for its holiday season in its own way, and that funding decides how you get in. At Viata you buy a ticket. At Wonderfest, local businesses rent booths so families can walk in free. In Rollingwood, the women's club opens its December party to every adult resident, whether or not they belong to the club. The rest of the season sorts out the same way.
Sunday, Dec. 6, Hour by Hour
| Time | Event | Host | Getting in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Breakfast with Santa, Cypress Ballroom | Hotel Viata | $60 per person, $45 for ages 5–12, free for 4 and under |
| 1–4 p.m. | Westlake Wonderfest, Chaparral Stadium parking lot | Westlake Chamber of Commerce | Free, open to everyone |
| 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Rollingwood Community Tree Lighting | Rollingwood Women's Club | Community event |
Each block on that schedule runs on a different model. The sections below follow those models in order, from the most structured to the most neighborly.
At Hotel Viata, the Calendar Is a Menu
Hotel Viata, at 320 S. Capital of Texas Highway in West Lake Hills, has the busiest holiday calendar in the area. Almost all of it is ticketed.
- Eat the Film: Elf, Friday, Nov. 20, 7:30–10 p.m. in the courtyard, doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $110 per person or $45 for children 12 and under.
- Thanksgiving family-style feast at Laurel, the hotel's restaurant, on Thursday, Nov. 26.
- Holiday Princess Tea Party, Saturdays Dec. 5 and 12, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. in the Cypress Ballroom. $60 per person, $45 for 12 and under.
- Breakfast with Santa, Sundays Dec. 6 and 13, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in the Cypress Ballroom. $60 per person, $45 for ages 5–12, free for children 4 and under.
- Eat the Film: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Friday, Dec. 18.
For a family of four with two children between 5 and 12, Breakfast with Santa comes to $210 before tax. An Elf night for two adults costs $220. Every ticketed event has a set start time, a fixed room and a seat that belongs to you. That is what the money pays for.
The exception is Sunday, Nov. 22. At 5 p.m. that evening, the hotel lights its tree in the courtyard, and the tree lighting event page lists admission as complimentary, with an RSVP. The evening includes a Christmas market of local artisans, photos with Santa, a live choir, letters to Santa and ornament decorating. The hotel is also "forecasting a 100% chance of snow." It is free, but the RSVP still asks you to sign up ahead of time. Even Viata's open night keeps a guest list.
Wonderfest Is Free Because Businesses Pay for the Booths
The Westlake Chamber of Commerce runs on the opposite model. The 2026 Westlake Wonderfest page describes the event as "our community's favorite way to kick off the holiday season" and states plainly that "Admission is FREE and everyone is welcome!" It runs Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Chaparral Stadium parking lot at Westlake High School, 523 Camp Craft Road.
The Chamber lists these highlights:
- Santa's arrival on the Westlake fire truck
- Live performances by Westlake students
- Booths from local businesses and community groups
- Food from neighborhood favorites
- Pony rides and hands-on activities, including robotics demos
- Photos with Santa
The funding is spelled out on the Chamber's event listing. A game or activity booth costs $100 for Chamber members and $200 for "future members." Food-vendor booths are free, and holiday-market vendors apply separately. The Chamber's sample booth ideas for vendors include balloon animals, face painting, gingerbread houses and ornament decorating. In effect, the afternoon's free activities are paid for by the businesses that set up tables. Families walk in free because local shops, studios and service businesses have paid to be there.
The format has run this way for years. When Community Impact covered the 2022 event, it listed face painters, balloon artists, a petting zoo, a Holiday Express Train and more than 50 vendor booths. The 2025 edition included pony rides, an electric train, bounce houses, a cake walk and Santa photos. The 2026 lineup keeps the pony rides and Santa and adds robotics demos to the list.
If you're planning Dec. 6 around the table above, Wonderfest is the middle of the day. It starts half an hour after Viata's breakfast ends and finishes an hour and a half before Rollingwood lights its tree.
In Rollingwood, the Ticket Is Your Address
The Rollingwood Women's Club closes out the day with a third model. Its events calendar lists the Rollingwood Community Tree Lighting for Sunday, Dec. 6, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The club promises "hot cocoa, cookies, a festive performance and sing-along with the Madrigals Choir, and kid-friendly activities all set against the backdrop of our beautifully illuminated park." Festive attire is encouraged.
Two days later comes the event that shows most clearly how this host thinks. The Rollingwood Annual Holiday Party runs Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 7 to 9 p.m., with food, seasonal cocktails and music. The club's listing says "All adult Rollingwood residents are welcome — RWC membership is not required." The club does the organizing, but it opens the party to every adult resident, members or not. Viata asks for a ticket and the Chamber asks for nothing. For its party, Rollingwood asks only that you live in Rollingwood.
A hotel recovers its costs from guests. A chamber recovers its costs from members who want to be seen. A volunteer club treats the whole city as its guest list.
Down Bee Cave Road, a City-Scale Version
Head west on Bee Cave Road toward Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave and you find the same season at municipal scale, with an elected official at the tree and a rink that runs for two months.
- Light Up the Plaza, Saturday, Nov. 28, 5–8 p.m. Magnolia Musical Theatre opens at 5 p.m. Santa and the tree lighting with Bee Cave Mayor Kara King follow at 5:45 p.m., then a live-music opener and Thompson Square. Admission and parking are free.
- Bee Cave on Ice runs Nov. 13 through Jan. 18, 2027. A standard 50-minute skate is $16 plus tax, rentals included, and Tuesday community nights are $11 plus tax.
- Bee Cave Arts Foundation Holiday Market, Nov. 21 through Jan. 7, inside the Galleria across from H&M and Dillard's. The opening reception is Saturday, Nov. 21, 2–4 p.m.
- Bee Cave Holiday Market in the Central Plaza on Fridays Dec. 4, 11 and 18 from 4 to 9 p.m., and Saturdays Dec. 5, 12 and 19 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with rotating local makers.
- Jingle Bell 5K, Saturday, Dec. 5. Festivities begin at 7 a.m. and races at 8 a.m.
- Photos with Santa at an indoor workshop next to Buenos Aires Café. These are free, do-it-yourself photos with no professional photographer, on Nov. 28–29, Dec. 4–6, Dec. 11–13 and daily Dec. 14–24, with hours that vary by date.
Some weekends overlap with Westlake's calendar. Viata's first Princess Tea on Dec. 5 falls on the Saturday of the Jingle Bell 5K and the first Galleria holiday market. The Arts Foundation reception on Nov. 21 is the afternoon before Viata's courtyard tree lighting. For anyone keeping one calendar for the whole corridor, the weekends of Nov. 21–22 and Dec. 5–6 are the busiest.
If you'd like a second set of eyes on how the corridor's calendar fits around your own household this season, or a few quiet recommendations for hosting out-of-town family in December, Greg Walling is glad to help. Schedule a private consultation.
