Colleyville's two biggest city events this fall, the Harvest Festival on October 17 and the Christmas Tree Lighting on November 21, both take place at City Hall, 100 Main Street. After that, the library's Holiday Storywalk keeps the City Hall plaza in use through December 23. During the same weeks, the city is paying Colleyville Boulevard businesses to put up holiday lights that follow one written standard: warm white C9 bulbs that trace rooflines and building edges, hung again each year through 2031. Taken together, the calendar and the lighting rules show a city planning both where its holidays happen and what the main road looks like while they do.
The season's calendar, and where it happens
Here's the 2026 season as the city and the Colleyville Public Library have it posted right now.
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Harvest Festival, with the first Harvest Market | City Hall, 100 Main Street |
| Thursday, Oct. 29, 7–8:30 p.m. | Haunted Trails | Colleyville Nature Center, 101 Mill Wood Drive |
| Saturday, Nov. 21, 5:30–8:30 p.m. | Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration | City Hall, 100 Main Street |
| Tuesday, Nov. 24 | Family Movie | Colleyville Public Library |
| Nov. 30–Dec. 23 | Holiday Storywalk | City Hall plaza |
| Tuesday, Dec. 1, 6:30–8 p.m. | Holiday Card Making | Colleyville Public Library |
Haunted Trails is held at the Nature Center, and the city says this year's walk will be "more trick than treat" than in past years. It recommends the event for pre-teens and older. The two biggest city events are at City Hall, and the Storywalk uses its plaza. The first of those events also has the most notable new feature of the fall.
October 17 adds a market to a festival residents already know
The Harvest Festival keeps its familiar parts. It's free, with Trunk-or-Treat in the parking lot behind City Hall, games with prizes, a petting zoo, face painting, fall crafts and food trucks that take cash or card. The costume contest runs in age groups: 3 and under at 10:30 a.m., ages 4 to 7 at 11, ages 8 and up at 11:30, and pets at noon.
The new piece is the Harvest Market, which the city is running with ART ALGΣBRA. The city calls it a "brand-new local market experience" that brings together local makers, small businesses, food vendors and farmers. When Local News Only posted the city's call for vendors on September 1, it described this as "the very first Harvest Market."
So a morning that has mostly been for families with young children now includes a shopping stop. Parking is free in City Hall's south lot and at City Park.
What the city is asking Colleyville Boulevard to look like
While City Hall hosts the events, the city is working on the look of the main road. Its Brighten Up the Boulevard grant is a Christmas light matching program for businesses along Colleyville Boulevard, SH 26, and the city lists it as part of its ongoing beautification efforts. The city's page says the program is being offered again this year, so 2026 isn't its first season.
The application spells out the look:
Lighting must consist of warm white lights, C9 bulbs, fully visible from SH26, with emphasis on rooflines and building outlines.
The grant pays back up to 50% of approved lighting costs, capped at $5,000 for a shopping center and $2,000 for an individual business. The existing Beautification Committee has to approve each application, and the city reimburses only after it confirms the lights are installed and follow the guidelines.
Then there's the time commitment. Participants are expected to reuse the lights every year through 2031 and handle their own storage, repairs and maintenance. A storefront that joins this year is agreeing to its December look for the next five holiday seasons. Each new business that signs up adds to the same warm-white outline instead of bringing in a new color or style.
This builds on work the city has already done. In July 2025, Community Impact reported that Colleyville officials were getting ready for the Christmas season with updated SH 26 street lighting. The private side of the boulevard is now being asked to match. The city's business page lists applications as open through November 13, so how many storefronts take part this year will be clear soon after.
November 21 moves part of the celebration indoors
The Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration is the season's main event at City Hall. It runs Saturday, November 21, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. At 5:45 p.m., Santa and Mayor Lindamood arrive down Main Street, and the tree lighting follows. The evening also includes balloon artists, photos with Santa, food trucks, choir performances, Santa's reindeer and Jingle Bell Junction, a Christmas Trunk-or-Treat run by local businesses and organizations. A "magical mailbox" on the City Hall steps collects letters to Santa. The city still lists the choirs and a community movie screening as TBD, so those details may change before the night.
The format change this year is the Community Decorated Christmas Tree Display, which the city says "will be moving indoors" for the event. Organizations have to apply by November 2, the groups chosen will hear by November 3, and winners will be announced at the lighting. Space is limited, and Colleyville community groups get priority.
The same Saturday is also busy on the boulevard. Atlas & Orion Creative Exchange moved into a larger retail and workshop space in September at 4121 Colleyville Blvd., Ste. 2. As Community Impact reported, it sells handmade home décor, jewelry, pottery, leatherwork and textiles. Its booking pages list two workshops on November 21:
- Indigo Shibori, 1 to 4 p.m., covering fabric folding, binding and natural indigo dyeing. That timing leaves room to get to City Hall before Santa arrives.
- Kinusaiga, 6 to 9 p.m., a no-sew fabric mosaic class that overlaps the tree lighting.
Some sessions on those pages showed as sold out when checked, so open dates may already be gone. Its September expansion also makes it a handmade-gift stop on SH 26 just as the city is trying to make that road a holiday destination.
After the lighting, the plaza stays in use
In past years, the tree lighting has often been the end of City Hall's season. This year the library's calendar keeps the plaza busy into late December. The Holiday Storywalk runs on the City Hall plaza from November 30 through December 23, 2026. That means the plaza will have something going on for more than three weeks after the tree is lit.
Inside the library, things are filling up fast:
- Family Movie, November 24. Open to all ages, no registration required. The listing doesn't name a holiday title.
- Holiday Card Making, December 1, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Registration is required, and the listing already shows a waitlist.
- Teen Take & Make, December 14 to 19. A chenille stem wreath ornament kit, also requiring registration and also waitlisted.
Waitlists in mid-October for early December events suggest the smaller library programs fill up before most of the city's holiday events take place.
The city schedule shifts around the holidays
City services adjust during the same weeks. Colleyville's collection schedule changes for both holidays:
- Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26 pickup moves to Friday, and Friday, November 27 pickup moves to Saturday.
- Christmas: Friday, December 25 pickup moves to Saturday.
- Leaf collection: November 21, December 5, December 12 and December 19.
- Christmas tree pickup: January 2 and January 9, 2027, on the same days as leaf collection.
The first leaf collection lands on November 21, the same Saturday as the tree lighting and the Atlas & Orion workshops. That makes the evening of the 21st the busiest stretch of Colleyville's season, with the tree going up at City Hall and the boulevard lights starting to show along SH 26.
Consistent warm white light along SH 26 is part of how a Colleyville property shows on a December evening. If you're thinking about how your Colleyville home will show during the holidays, Jeannie Anderson Group can talk through presentation, timing and value with you. Request a Luxury Home Valuation.
