Katy's 2026 holiday season starts in mid-November and runs into the new year, with tree lightings, holiday markets, a drive-through light show and old-town traditions, all within a short drive of Sunterra. The published anchors, as of late October 2026, are LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch's tree lighting on Friday, November 20; the Home for the Holidays Gift Market at the Katy Merrell Center on November 20 to 22; and the City of Katy's Christmas tree lighting in Historic Town Square on Saturday, December 5. Each event below is named with its source, because schedules do change before the season.
The short version: Katy's holiday calendar for 2026
Katy does not run one citywide Christmas celebration. The season instead concentrates in three areas: LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch south of I-10, Historic Old Katy at the I-10 and Avenue A exit, and the Katy Merrell Center near Katy Mills. From a Sunterra address in 77493, all three are a short drive, mostly south on the Grand Parkway (TX-99) or down to I-10.
The published 2026 lineup, in order: LaCenterra's tree lighting on Friday, November 20; the Home for the Holidays Gift Market at the Merrell Center on November 20 through 22; the City of Katy tree lighting and the Katy Old-Fashioned Christmas Festival on Saturday, December 5; the Katy Heritage Society's Tuba Christmas and downtown hayride on Saturday, December 12; and The Light Park's drive-through light show, which returns in November with its full season dates announced closer to opening.
Tree lightings: a 51-foot tree at LaCenterra, and Town Square in Old Katy
LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch holds its annual Tree Lighting Festival on Friday, November 20, 2026, at 23501 Cinco Ranch Boulevard. The event listing describes a 51-foot tree, a holiday marketplace of 40-plus vendors, snow globes, Santa appearances and music, and attendance is free at the festival itself. Festivals in America and Houston's Kids Out and About both list the same November 20 date.
A week and a half later, the City of Katy hosts its Christmas Tree Lighting and Katy Nutcracker Exchange on Saturday, December 5, from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Historic Town Square, 904 Avenue C. The city's events calendar describes holiday shopping and vendors through the afternoon with the tree lighting in the evening, and the event is free to attend. Historic Downtown Katy's Old-Fashioned Christmas Festival runs the same day, with carolers, food trucks, a petting zoo and handmade goods listed on Katy EDC's arts and culture calendar.
Holiday shopping: the Merrell Center market and downtown Katy
For gift shopping, the anchor is the Home for the Holidays Gift Market of Katy at the Katy Merrell Center, Friday, November 20 through Sunday, November 22, with 130-plus merchants across boutique, gift and holiday categories. The organizer's site, homefortheholidaysgiftmarket.com, posts the current hours and admission details as the date approaches.
On Saturday, December 5, the Katy Old-Fashioned Christmas Festival brings carolers, food trucks and handmade goods to Historic Downtown Katy, so you can pair it with the same-day City of Katy tree lighting at Town Square for a full old-town afternoon and evening.
A light show you can watch from the car: The Light Park
The Light Park returns to Katy for the 2026 season at 555 Katy Fort Bend Road, a drive-through light display synchronized to music. Past seasons have run from early November into early January with timed, per-vehicle entry; as of late October 2026 the complete 2026 dates and pricing had not been announced, per Katy Christian Magazine's 2026 holiday roundup, so check the park's own site before you plan the night.
For a free neighborhood alternative, Pin Oak Village in Katy puts on a synchronized residential holiday light display at 24603 Stoughton Court, with its 2026 schedule also announced closer to the season. Both fit young families well: no long walks, just the car seat view, warm jackets and hot cocoa.
Old-town traditions: Tuba Christmas and the downtown hayride
The Katy Heritage Society closes out the traditional stretch with two events at Katy Heritage Park on Saturday, December 12. Tuba Christmas, a low-brass holiday concert, runs from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., and a Christmas-lights hayride loops around downtown Katy from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The society posts both on its events calendar at katyheritagesociety.com, and the hayride is ticketed.
One honest planning note: as of late October 2026, no dedicated Katy Christmas parade had published a 2026 date. The parade-scale energy in Katy concentrates in the tree lightings and markets instead, so build the family calendar around those and treat anything announced later as a bonus.
What the holidays look like from a Sunterra address
From Sunterra, the holiday circuit is mostly a straight shot south. The community sits a few miles north of I-10 and west of the Grand Parkway (TX-99), with LaCenterra, the Merrell Center, The Light Park and old-town Katy each a short drive away. Sunterra's own website keeps a Holiday Happenings Near Sunterra list at sunterratx.com, a useful place to catch community-level programming as it is announced.
The practical point for house-hunters is that Katy's holiday calendar is part of the everyday lifestyle you are buying into, and it is genuinely local: a community-square tree lighting in old-town Katy, a market at the Merrell Center, a drive-through light park on the Katy Mills side of town. It is not a generic suburb's generic November.
See the community while the season is at its best
The best way to test whether you want Katy's version of the holidays is to spend a weekend here, and the waterfront home this site covers is a good excuse. 137 Eliana Shores Dr is an active listing in Sunterra, a one-story home with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and 1,885 square feet, with the community lake and fountain behind the black metal fence. It is listed at $349,900 as of late October 2026 and is open for private showings.
Carol Jukes, Broker/Owner of Realty Pros of Texas, can arrange a tour that pairs the home with the season: the lakes, the amenities, and a stop at a tree lighting if your dates line up. Call (832) 212-2772 or send a message through the contact page, and she can pull current Sunterra market information for your search while she is at it.