Fredericksburg's Holiday Season Opens on Ice, Three Days Before the Tree Lights
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
If the Christmas tree on Marktplatz won't be lit until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, why will skaters already be on the square the Saturday before?
Fredericksburg doesn't start its holiday season all at once. Over about two weeks, different events take turns on Marktplatz. The ice comes first, on November 21. The nightly lighting starts on November 24. Then on December 4 the parade takes over, and the lighting countdown is canceled for the evening. Each one runs on its own days and its own clock. Which one you get depends on the night you walk downtown.
Two of the season's biggest local traditions open on the same Saturday this year.
The Eisbahn ice rink opens at Marktplatz, 101 West Main Street, on Saturday, November 21, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The City's listing gives the price as $20 for a come-and-go all-day pass with skate rental included, or $15 on Tuesdays. The City notes that prices are subject to change. Heritage School families organize the rink, and the contact line is 830-307-0628.
That same Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Gillespie County Historical Society runs its 2026 Historic Home Tour. The Pioneer Museum and Historic Sanctuary open an hour earlier, at 10 a.m. The homes have no set route, so you can visit them in any order. Tickets are $40 and include admission to the Pioneer Museum that day. Put the two together and one household can see historic homes in the afternoon and finish under the rink lights before the square closes at 10.
This year's tour runs from frontier stone to brand-new construction. The Pioneer Museum lists the eight stops as:
The Kneese and Neisens-Pyka houses share the 700 block of West Schubert Street. Plan your route with parking in mind, because spaces near each home and the museum are first-come, first-served, and the tour doesn't run a shuttle.
The 2025 version was billed as the Annual Historic Home Tour & Holiday Market and ran over two days, November 21 and 22. The 2026 tour is one Saturday, and the Pioneer Museum's own tour page is direct about its market:
"NOTICE: There is NO Holiday Market this year."
That means the day is all about the houses. The museum's rules suit people who plan to walk and look. Inside the homes there are no photos, food, drinks, smoking, strollers, large backpacks or pets. The museum asks guests to wear soft-soled shoes to protect the floors and to dress for the weather, since you may wait outside for entry. The tour goes on rain or shine. Your ticket gets scanned at the first home you visit, and the wristband you receive gets you into the rest. You can pick up the tour booklet at that first home or at the Pioneer Museum gift shop. Children don't get a discount, and infants in arms are free. Tickets are available through the museum's Eventbrite page or by calling 830-990-8441.
If you want something smaller-scale that afternoon, Visit Fredericksburg lists a Clay Christmas Ornament Workshop at Yellow Door Studio, 810 North Llano, on November 21.
After that Saturday, more of the season opens over the next few days, through Thanksgiving week:
The Christmas Wine Affair Passport from Texas Hill Country Wineries runs November 23 through December 18, with more than 50 participating wineries. Each stop includes a tasting and 10% off a purchase of three or more bottles. An individual pass is $65 and a couples pass is $100. The passport is self-guided, with a limit of four wineries per day, and some wineries require reservations, so check each one first. The four-a-day limit stretches a full passport across several outings over nearly four weeks.
The rink's $15 Tuesday rate also falls on the lighting's opening night. On November 24 you can skate at the discount and watch the first countdown from the same square.
Christmas Nights of Lights begins Tuesday, November 24, and runs nightly through Tuesday, January 5, 2027, except on two evenings in December. Holiday music starts at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., a 10-minute audio presentation tells the story of the town's German heritage, plays carols and ends with a countdown to lighting the square. The music wraps up at 6:30.
The countdown lights two things. One is the 26-foot wooden German Christmas Pyramid, which was hand-crafted in Germany in 2009 specifically for Fredericksburg. The other is the 30-foot Community Christmas Tree, decorated with hand-crafted ornaments donated by Hill Country artisans.
The lighting and the rink share Marktplatz on very different schedules. In the week of November 29 through December 5, the City calendar lists rink hours of 4 to 8 p.m. on weekdays, 4 to 10 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 1 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. On a weekday, then, the 6 p.m. countdown lands in the middle of a four-hour skating window. Arrive at 5 and you get both.
The nightly lighting is canceled on two evenings. One is Thursday, December 31, for the City's New Year's Eve: Countdown to 2027. The other is Friday, December 4, for the Light the Night Christmas Parade.
That Friday, the square changes hands. The Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce produces the Light the Night Christmas Parade and H-E-B presents it. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. on Main Street between Washington and Bowie Streets. Marktplatz AfterGlow vendors and kids' activities run from 3 to 9 p.m. The parade itself runs from 6:30 to 7:45. From 8 to 9 p.m., free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus are offered at Peppermint Platz inside the Oktoberfest Halle on Marktplatz.
Watching from the curb is free. The only paid option is a limited number of reserved bleacher seats in front of the library, which the Chamber lists at $40 each. Float entry is free and capped at 160 entries. The first 30 minutes air live on CBS Austin, and the full parade streams on Fbg.Live. If relatives can't make the trip, they can watch the opening stretch on television.
The rink keeps going past both dark nights. It closes for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and it may close in harsh weather, with unplanned closures posted at facebook.com/eisbahntx. The City calendar still lists skating on Sunday, January 3, 2027, from 1 to 8 p.m. That puts the ice on Marktplatz from the first Saturday of the season into the first weekend of the new year, past nearly every other event on the calendar.
If a house on the Historic Home Tour gets you thinking about Fredericksburg's older stone and timber homes, Kelly Jo would be glad to talk about how those properties fit with life downtown during the holidays and the rest of the year. When you're ready, Kelly Jo Gonzalez is here to help you Start Your Hill Country Journey.
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