West Lake Hills' Holidays Come Down To One Courtyard And The First Weekend Of December

West Lake Hills has no main street, so its holiday season happens mostly in a hotel courtyard on Capital of Texas Highway and on one Sunday afternoon in December. The rest is a short drive west in Bee Cave.

The city's own calendar for the season has one item: City offices at 4010 Bee Cave Road close on Friday, Nov. 27. Everything else on the list below is run by a hotel, the chamber of commerce, the library, or a shopping center. Lay their dates side by side and one weekend stands out. Between Friday, Dec. 4 and Sunday, Dec. 6 you'll find Wonderfest, Viata's first princess tea and Santa breakfast, two library programs, the Jingle Bell 5K, the opening of the Galleria's holiday market, and Santa visits.

Hotel Viata carries the in-town calendar

Hotel Viata at 320 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. has the longest run of holiday dates in West Lake Hills. It starts the week before Thanksgiving and ends a week before Christmas.

The main event is free. The Tree Lighting Event is Sunday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. in the Hotel Viata Courtyard. It includes the lighting, a Christmas market, Santa, a choir, letters to Santa, and ornament decorating.

The hotel's calendar lists the date for each event after the tree lighting. Times and booking details are on each event's own page, so check those before planning around a seating. The weekend pattern shows up here first. Viata's first princess tea and first Breakfast with Santa are on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, the same Saturday and Sunday as Wonderfest and the Galleria's first market weekend.

Wonderfest takes Sunday afternoon, Dec. 6

The Westlake Chamber of Commerce runs Wonderfest on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. The chamber lists Santa, student performances, local business booths, food, and family activities. The chamber's event listing places it at Westlake High School, 523 Camp Craft Road, with holiday-market and food-vendor booths.

Viata is run by a hotel. Wonderfest is put on by the local business community and uses a school campus, which makes it the closest thing West Lake Hills has to a town-wide holiday gathering. Families who book Viata's Breakfast with Santa that Sunday can see Santa twice in one day.

The day before is busy for the Westbank Libraries. The December calendar lists two programs on Saturday, Dec. 5:

• 11 a.m.: Novel Crossroads Holiday Party, at the Westbank branch
• 2 p.m.: Holidays Around the World with Elizabeth Kahura, at the Laura's branch

So on Dec. 5, a library party, a holiday program, and Viata's first princess tea all happen in town. On Dec. 6, Breakfast with Santa and Wonderfest follow. And that's before counting Bee Cave.

The big displays are on Hill Country Galleria's plaza

The skating rink, the large tree lighting, and the recurring market are all at Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave. The Galleria's calendar opens in November, and several of its December events also start on that first weekend.

1. Bee Cave on Ice runs from Nov. 13, 2026 through Jan. 18, 2027. Daily hours and holiday exceptions are on the event page.
2. The Hill Country Turkey Trot is the Lake Travis Education Foundation's Thanksgiving morning race on Thursday, Nov. 26, at The Hills Country Club. Parking and shuttles run 7 to 8 a.m. The 5K and 1-mile runners line up at 8 a.m., the Kids 5K starts at 8:25, the 5K and 1-mile start at 8:30, and awards are at 9:15. The race is held at the country club, not the Galleria. Details are on the foundation's event page.
3. Light Up the Plaza is Saturday, Nov. 28, 5 to 8 p.m. The program starts at 5 p.m., Santa arrives and the tree is lit at 5:45, and Thompson Square plays at 6. Admission and parking are free.
4. Free photos with Santa start Thanksgiving weekend at the indoor workshop next to Buenos Aires Café. Visits run Dec. 4 to 6 and then daily from Dec. 11 to Dec. 24. Hours change by date.
5. The Bee Cave Holiday Market sets up in the Central Plaza on Fridays, Dec. 4, 11 and 18, from 4 to 9 p.m., and on Saturdays, Dec. 5, 12 and 19, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
6. The Bee Cave Chamber's Jingle Bell 5K is Saturday, Dec. 5, at Hill Country Galleria. Festivities start at 7 a.m. and races at 8 a.m.

Across both calendars, the first weekend of December looks like this:

• Friday, Dec. 4: the holiday market opens and Santa visits resume at the Galleria
• Saturday, Dec. 5: the Jingle Bell 5K in the morning, two Westbank library programs, Viata's first princess tea, and the market's first Saturday
• Sunday, Dec. 6: Breakfast with Santa at Viata and Wonderfest in the afternoon, with Galleria Santa visits still going

Families who want a quieter December can aim for the second weekend. Viata repeats its tea and Santa breakfast on Dec. 12 and 13, the market returns both days, and Santa is at the Galleria every day from Dec. 11.

Bee Cave Road's storefronts shifted this fall

The Bee Cave Road and Capital of Texas Highway strip has changed since summer. Community Impact's September roundup of Lake Travis-Westlake business news covers most of it.

• House of Shan, a clothing and accessories shop known for custom trucker hats, opened Aug. 28 at 8907 Bee Cave Road.
• Postino, a wine cafe, opened Sept. 13 at 701 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Ste. J760.
• The fully digital Whataburger at 3201 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 180, closed in September, according to a later Community Impact roundup.
• Teriyaki Madness was reported in permitting at 3231 Bee Cave Road, a few doors from the Whataburger site, with a tentative opening in early December.

The biggest change is at Baldinucci Pizza Romana's flagship, 3300 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 110. According to Community Impact, it closed Aug. 10 for renovations that grow the dining room from 12 seats to 54, with a November reopening planned. At 12 seats, it was mostly a place to grab a slice. At 54, a family can sit down after Wonderfest. During the closure, the brand pointed customers to its Domain Northside location, which opened Aug. 17.

Loop 360 at Westlake Drive stays a work zone through year-end

Getting to any of these places means dealing with the long-running Loop 360 project at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street. The $72.1 million job removes the mainlane traffic signals at both intersections and builds underpasses below the cross streets. It also adds shared-use paths and sidewalks. Community Impact's Oct. 30 transportation update and TxDOT's project page both say mainlane construction between Bold Ruler Way and the Pennybacker Bridge continues through late 2026.

TxDOT gives the current lane setup:

• One lane open in each direction on Loop 360
• Stay in the left lane to bypass the signals at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street
• Exit right to reach Westlake Drive or Cedar Street
• Use the non-signalized U-turns on the Westlake Drive bridge to get onto northbound or southbound Loop 360

Excavation runs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hauling happens overnight. TxDOT also posts overnight lane and access closures on the connector roads, Westlake Drive, and Cedar Street. They change week to week, so check the project page before a late drive home from a Viata film night.

If you're thinking about how places like Hotel Viata's courtyard and the rebuilt Westlake Drive interchange shape day-to-day life west of MoPac, Darsh Parikh and the Darsh Advisory Group team follow these changes closely and are glad to talk through what they mean for your corner of West Lake Hills. Let's Connect.