On how many nights this season can you drive through Stephen C. Beachy Central Park with the radio tuned to Willy 97.7 FM and nothing else competing for the evening? The city's 2026 schedule says the lights run daily from 6 to 11 p.m., Nov. 26 through Jan. 1. That's 37 nights. Two dates on this year's calendar draw most of the attention. One is Thanksgiving weekend, when the lights come on the night before Texas A&M hosts Texas. The other is Saturday, Dec. 5, when the city holds a fun run, its parade and its main park event on the same afternoon and evening, and closes the park to cars.
Once you mark those two dates, the rest of the season is open, and the drive-through version of College Station's oldest holiday tradition is easiest to enjoy on those other nights.
A Tradition That Starts With Thanksgiving Dinner
Christmas in the Park began in 1984, when a local family paid for a small display of light panels. The city says it now puts more than one million lights across the 47-acre park, and crews maintain the panels year-round so the familiar scenes come back each season.
This year Lights On starts Thursday, Nov. 26, which is Thanksgiving. Admission is free, parking is inside the park, and you can drive or walk the displays. Children can drop letters in the North Pole mailbox outside the Parks and Recreation Administrative Office from Nov. 26 through Dec. 24, and the city posts a downloadable Santa letter template on its Christmas in the Park page.
So the first night of the lights is a holiday evening when many households are already home, already fed and already have relatives in town. That makes it an easy outing for a crowded house.
The Next Night Belongs to Kyle Field
On Friday, Nov. 27, Texas A&M hosts Texas in the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field. Texas A&M Athletics announced a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on ABC. The two programs have met 120 times, more than either has played any other opponent.
That kickoff lands half an hour after the lights come on at Beachy Central Park. Both are drawing people on the same evening and leaning on the same main road. For this season's opener, KBTX's game-day guide, republished by Texas A&M Transportation Services, told fans to expect campus road closures starting 4.5 hours before kickoff and to reach campus by FM 2818 or Highway 6. The same report said advance parking reservations go through ParkMobile, pay-on-arrival lots near the Bush Library, the Bonfire Memorial and Agronomy Road cost $25 to $40, and a free shuttle runs from Downtown Bryan from three hours before kickoff until an hour after the game. Those details came from the season opener, so check Texas A&M Transportation Services for anything specific to the Texas game.
Highway 6 is also where TxDOT's Big 6 reconstruction is happening. In the first week of November, TxDOT's Big 6 construction updates page listed overnight full closures of the northbound mainlanes between Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Harvey Road from 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., plus frontage-road lane work between Harvey Road and University Drive and between Barron Road and Midtown Drive. TxDOT says it is keeping two main lanes open in each direction during the project. The agency posts closures date by date on that page, so check it before any evening plan that uses Highway 6 in late November or December.
For a household with game tickets and visiting family, the takeaway is simple. Thanksgiving night is lights night and Friday is game night, and splitting the two keeps you from fighting the same traffic twice.
Dec. 5 Puts Everything in One Afternoon
The city's biggest holiday day comes eight days later. Here's how Saturday, Dec. 5 stacks up on the city's own pages:
| Time | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 3 p.m. | Jingle Bell Fun Run check-in | 810 Holleman Drive East |
| 3:30 p.m. | Jingle Bell Fun Run, 1.5 miles | Follows part of the parade route to Beachy Central Park |
| 4 p.m. | College Station Christmas Parade | Post Oak Mall to Beachy Central Park |
| 6–10 p.m. | Christmas in the Park event | Beachy Central Park |
The parade starts at Post Oak Mall, heads west on Holleman, turns south on Dartmouth, crosses Southwest Parkway, turns east on Krenek Tap and ends at Beachy Central Park. The fun run covers part of that route, so runners finish at the park in time to watch the parade arrive and then stay for the evening event. Registration is $15 through Nov. 15 and includes a shirt and jingle bells. Late registration from Nov. 16 to Nov. 30 costs $20, with shirts while supplies last, and children 3 and under run free. Packet pickup is at the Parks and Recreation Administrative Office Dec. 2 and 3 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Dec. 4 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The evening event starts when the mayor flips the switch on the park's lights. It includes hayrides, cookies, hot cocoa, live entertainment, photos with Santa and food vendors. Activities require wristbands, which you pick up at the information booths after completing an online waiver. The city doesn't provide a professional photographer for the Santa photos, so bring your own camera.
Getting there works differently that day than on any other night of the season:
- Recreation Drive closes from 7 a.m. to midnight.
- No vehicles can drive through Beachy Central Park, so the usual drive-through isn't available that night.
- A shuttle runs from the Post Oak Mall parking lot from 4 p.m. to midnight.
- Accessible parking is at the Beachy Central Park softball complex, reached from State Highway 6.
The city posts a parking and shuttle map on the Christmas in the Park page. Dec. 5 is the night for hayrides and the switch-flip. For the drive-through, pick one of the other 36 nights.
The Open Nights Fill In From Bryan and Campus
Between Thanksgiving weekend and Dec. 5, and in the weeks after, the region's other holiday events are spread out rather than piled up. Here they are in order:
- Santa's Wonderland opens Friday, Nov. 13, at 18898 Hwy 6, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027. Opening night runs 6 p.m. to midnight, and gate prices are listed at $59.95 for adults and $54.95 for children.
- Downtown Bryan's Lights On! is Friday, Nov. 20, from 5 to 10 p.m. It's free, Frost Bank presents it, and the lighting countdown is at 6:15 p.m. at Gloria Sale Park.
- Downtown Bryan First Friday is Dec. 4, 5 to 10 p.m., the night before College Station's parade.
- The Gardens at Texas A&M Holiday Stroll is Sunday, Dec. 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It's free, with parking in Lots 97 and 100c, according to The Gardens.
- The Downtown Bryan Lighted Parade, presented by Xfinity, steps off at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17 in Historic Downtown Bryan.
Taken together, the calendar's busiest stretch runs Dec. 4 to Dec. 6, with First Friday in Bryan, the full College Station program at Beachy Central Park and the campus stroll on back-to-back nights. Thanksgiving weekend is the other busy point. Most of the 37 nights at Beachy Central Park don't overlap with any of it.
New Places to Add to a Lights Night
A few new spots can turn a trip to the lights into an evening out. In downtown Bryan, Carp's 24, a sports bar and grill named for local owner Steve Carpio, opened Oct. 7 at 300 N. Bryan Ave., in the same district as Lights On! and the Lighted Parade.
In College Station, Community Impact reported that Rosie's Pasta Bar and Catering, from Peter Madden of Madden's Casual Gourmet, set a September soft opening at 4501 Mills Park Circle, Suite 100, with a menu announced around pasta, sandwiches, salads, soup and bread baked in-house, plus gluten-free options. For a thermos-and-snacks drive through the park, Sprouts Farmers Market opened Sept. 25 at 1913 Texas Ave. S. For holiday shopping, Aerie opened Sept. 29 at 1177 University Drive in Century Square.
A Season Plan by Date
| Date | What's happening | How it affects a lights visit |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Lights On begins, 6–11 p.m. | Thanksgiving night, first drive-through of the season |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Texas A&M vs. Texas, 6:30 p.m. | Highway 6 shared with game traffic |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Run, parade, park event | No cars in the park, shuttle from Post Oak Mall |
| Dec. 4 and Dec. 6 | Bryan First Friday, Gardens Holiday Stroll | Neighboring events on both sides of Dec. 5 |
| Remaining nights through Jan. 1 | Lights daily, 6–11 p.m. | Standard drive-through or walk-through |
For questions about the park events, the city's Parks and Recreation office takes calls at 979.764.3486 and email at [email protected].
The Jesse Group follows College Station's calendar, from game weekends to Highway 6 work, as closely as we follow its housing market. If timing a sale or purchase around this busy season is on your mind for the new year, schedule a consultation and we'll help you plan the dates that matter to you.
