This season, Fredericksburg's biggest holiday moments on Marktplatz all happen around dinnertime. The Community Christmas Tree and the German Christmas Pyramid light at 6 p.m. on 41 nights this season. The Light the Night Christmas Parade steps off on Main Street at 6:30 p.m. The City's New Year's Eve ball drops at 6:30 p.m. on December 31, about five and a half hours before midnight. Between Saturday's Historic Home Tour and the last lighting on January 5, 2027, the most important hour downtown is the one between 5 and 6:30 in the evening.
The Season on One Page
| Date | Event | Key time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 21 | 67th Historic Home Tour | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Eight stops around town, starting anywhere |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Eisbahn on the City calendar | 1 to 8 p.m. | Kinder Halle Pavilion, Marktplatz |
| Tue., Nov. 24 | Christmas Nights of Lights begins | Music at 5, lighting at 6 | Marktplatz |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving, Eisbahn closed | Marktplatz | |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Light the Night Christmas Parade, no lighting | Parade 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. | Main Street, Washington to Bowie |
| Thu., Dec. 31 | Countdown to 2027, no lighting | Ball drops at 6:30 p.m. | Marktplatz |
| Tue., Jan. 5 | Final night of lights | Lighting at 6 | Marktplatz |
Saturday's Tour Wraps Up at Five
The season opens in daylight. The Gillespie County Historical Society's 67th Historic Home Tour runs Saturday, November 21, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $40, nonrefundable, and include a full day's admission to the Pioneer Museum. The museum and the Historic Sanctuary open at 10 a.m., an hour before the homes. There is no set route, so you can visit the eight stops in whatever order fits your day. Buy tickets through the Pioneer Museum's tour page or on Eventbrite.
The 2026 tour includes homes from nearly every period of the town's history:
- 1850s: Dangers Stone House and Pape Log Cabin, a restored pioneer home
- 1855: The Historic Sanctuary, the First Methodist Church building at 312 West San Antonio Street, owned by the Historical Society and Pioneer Museum
- 1870s: South Milam Homestead, another restored pioneer home
- 1905: Neisens-Pyka House
- 1920: Judge A. H. Kneese Home
- 1927: Klett-Seipp House
- New construction: Old Vine, listed as new and modern, and Courtyard Sage
Some older listings still describe a "tour and market," but the museum's page says there is no Holiday Market this year. The tour is the whole day. Doors close at 5 p.m., the same hour the Marktplatz music starts on lighting nights once the season begins the following Tuesday.
The Ten Minutes at Six
Christmas Nights of Lights starts Tuesday, November 24, and runs through Tuesday, January 5, 2027, every night except two. The schedule is the same on every lighting night. Holiday music starts at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m. a 10-minute audio program plays, telling the story of the town's German heritage with carols, and it ends in a countdown to the lighting. The music stops at 6:30 p.m.
Two things light up at the end of the countdown. The 26-foot wooden German Christmas Pyramid was handcrafted in Germany in 2009 specifically for Fredericksburg. Most Christmas pyramids are tabletop carousels with tiers of angels and manger scenes, so this one is that tradition built to the size of a town square. The 30-foot Community Christmas Tree beside it carries handcrafted ornaments donated by Hill Country artisans. The full schedule is on Visit Fredericksburg's Christmas Nights of Lights page.
From November 24 through January 5 there are 43 evenings. The lighting happens on 41 of them.
Two Nights the Pyramid Stays Dark
The two canceled nights are Friday, December 4, for the parade, and Thursday, December 31, for the City's New Year's Eve event. Both still center on the 6:30 hour.
Friday, December 4: Light the Night
The Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce produces the Light the Night Christmas Parade, and H-E-B presents it. Here is how the day runs:
- 3 p.m. Vendors and activities open on Marktplatz and stay until 9 p.m.
- 6:30 p.m. The parade starts on Main Street between Washington and Bowie and runs until 7:45 p.m.
- After the parade. AfterGlow on Marktplatz has food and drink vendors and music.
- 8 to 9 p.m. Free Santa photos at Peppermint Platz.
General admission is free. Reserved bleacher seats in front of the library cost $40 each. The parade begins half an hour after the lighting normally would, and a few blocks of Main Street take the place of the square.
Thursday, December 31: Countdown to 2027
The City of Fredericksburg's New Year's Eve Ball Drop runs from 3 to 6:30 p.m. on the 100 block of West Main Street at Marktplatz. Admission is free, and food and drinks are for sale. The program includes moonwalks and inflatables, games, music, dance performances and face painting. The ball drops at 6:30 p.m. to mark the start of 2027. Details are on the City's New Year's Eve page. That's the same half hour the music would end on any other lighting night, so the town gets its countdown before dinner.
Eisbahn Runs Longer Than the Lights
The ice rink is the one part of Marktplatz that runs well beyond the 5-to-6:30 window, and its hours change with the school calendar. Eisbahn sits in the Kinder Halle Pavilion near the center of Marktplatz. Its official address is 122 West Main Street. Standing on Main Street facing the park, you'll find it toward the back left. Heritage School has run it since 2008, the year before the pyramid arrived. Every Heritage family volunteers to staff it. Part of the proceeds goes to two local charities, and part goes to needs-based tuition assistance at the school.
The City of Fredericksburg's calendar shows hours that change through the season:
| Day | Listed hours |
|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 22 | 1 to 8 p.m. |
| Tue., Nov. 24 | 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Wed., Dec. 2 | 4 to 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | 1 to 8 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 26 | 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
During Thanksgiving week and the days after Christmas, the rink is listed as open twelve hours. On a regular Wednesday in early December it opens at 4 p.m. The rink is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. It can also close in harsh weather, and those closures are posted at facebook.com/eisbahntx. Heritage School's page links to the full 2026-27 rink calendar.
Pricing:
- All-day pass: $20, come and go as you like, with skate rental included. You pay at the skate trailer with cash or any major credit card.
- Tuesdays: $15, according to the City's listing, which notes that prices may change.
- 10-day pass: $135, a $65 savings, sold at the rink. Eisbahn doesn't sell season passes because it's a charity event.
- Private parties: These run only outside public hours. The minimum is $350 for up to 25 people for two hours, and each additional guest pays the $20 day rate.
Every skater has to sign a waiver each day before skating. Questions go to Eisbahn at 830-307-0628 or [email protected].
On a school-day afternoon, the rink opens at 4 p.m. and the music on the square starts at 5. You can skate for an hour, step out for the 6 p.m. countdown, and go back on the ice with your stamp, since the pass is good all day. The first lighting night, November 24, is a Tuesday, so by the City's listing the rink costs $15 that night.
The pyramid was handcrafted for Fredericksburg in 2009, and the rink has been running since the year before. This year both are open by the week of Thanksgiving. Fredericksburg Realty has been part of Main Street since 1965, a short walk from the square. If Saturday's tour of 1850s stone houses and 1920s homes has you thinking about the history in your own place, or the place you're hoping to find, we'd be glad to talk it over.
