Downtown Boerne has three Christmas weekends on the calendar this year, one after another. Dickens on Main runs November 27 and 28, Weihnachts Weekend follows on December 4 and 5, and Kinder Fest closes the run December 11 through 13. Each weekend aims at a different crowd. The two events with limited tickets go on sale on November 5 and November 11, so the season really starts on those two mornings.
What follows is the 2026 calendar in the order the decisions come up, not the order of the parades.
The Season Opens in November, on a Screen
Before Main Street gets its lights, these dates are already set:
- November 1: Vendor applications for Dickens on Main are due. Late applicants may lose their spot or their electrical service.
- November 5: Stocking Stroll tickets go on sale through the Boerne Parks & Recreation portal. The organizers describe it as a limited ticketed event.
- November 11, 9 a.m.: Cookie Crawl tickets go on sale at $30 each. According to the Kinder Fest page, tickets will read out of stock until the quantity goes live at exactly 9 a.m., and in some years they have sold out within minutes.
- November 14: The last Saturday of Boerne Ghost Tours, the roughly 90-minute downtown walk that starts and ends at DeVino Cellars.
The ghost tour belongs on this list because the same Hill Country Mile businesses carry the fall into the holidays. DeVino Cellars hosts the tours through mid-November, and a month later it's a stop on the Kinder Fest Cookie Crawl. Halloween also lands on a Saturday this year. The Hill Country Mile Trick-or-Treat Trail runs October 31, a week after Boerne Boo! on October 24. That gives downtown a busy weekend about four weeks before Dickens opens.
Dickens on Main: Four Villages, One New Address
Dickens on Main is in its 26th year in 2026. The vendor guidelines call it a handmade-preferred, juried event with themed decoration and period costumes. The festival is split into named villages along Main Street, and this year one of them has moved.
| Village | 2026 Location | Vendor Hours, Fri. & Sat. |
|---|---|---|
| North Pole Village | Main Plaza | Noon to 9 p.m. |
| Tiny Tim Village | E. San Antonio St., Watt St., Courthouse | Noon to 9 p.m. |
| Dickens Village | 153 S. Main | Noon to 9 p.m. |
| South Pole Village | Hamby's, 437 S. Main | Noon to 9 p.m. |
The 2026 vendor form marks Dickens Village as moved to 153 S. Main. The 2025 event guide had it at 157 S. Main. It's a short move, but anyone who walks straight to the same spot every year will find it a few doors away.
Travel Texas describes the weekend as music, performers, lights, food, children's activities and snow on Main Street. As of mid-October, though, the official Dickens on Main page only asks visitors to check back for this year's details. No performance lineup, tree-lighting time or 2026 parking plan has been posted yet. The parking and street-closure notes on the festival FAQ still show last year's dates.
Dickens also starts the day after Thanksgiving. Anyone hosting family that weekend can plan around a downtown that will be at its fullest on Friday afternoon.
Weihnachts Weekend: The Parade Carries It
The second weekend has a different structure. Dickens spreads across four villages for two full days. Weihnachts centers on one Saturday evening.
On Friday, December 4, the Wassail Walk and Caroling Contest runs along the Hill Country Mile from 4 to 8 p.m. Participating businesses pour their own versions of wassail, and caroling groups compete for votes. Last year's caroling sign-ups went through The Christmas Shoppe at 132 S. Main Street, and that store is on both 2026 Kinder Fest participant lists.
Saturday is the main event. The Weihnachts Weekend page describes it this way:
"The highlight of Weihnachts Weekend is the 39th annual Weihnachts Parade taking place Saturday, December 5, at 6 p.m., when downtown will light up with nearly 100 floats spreading holiday cheer along Boerne's Main Street."
The organizers suggest bringing a chair for the parade route. They also say shops, breweries and bistros along the Hill Country Mile will stay open late, and they recommend booking dinner reservations early. The Stocking Stroll runs both days, so its November 5 on-sale date is the one to mark for this weekend.
Kinder Fest: The Merchants' Weekend
The Boerne Retail & Restaurant Owners Association runs Kinder Fest. Its page says each Cookie Crawl business buys the cookies it hands out, so every dollar of ticket revenue goes toward funding the association's Christmas events. The $30 ticket on November 11 is, in effect, a donation to keeping downtown's Christmas going.
The tone is intentionally looser than Dickens. The organizers invite families to wear ugly Christmas sweaters, silly pajamas and Whoville hairdos. Here's how the weekend lays out:
- Cookie Crawl, Dec. 11 and 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: A ticket gets a child a Christmas cookie at about a dozen downtown stores, plus a bag to carry them in. Confirmed 2026 stops so far include Chateau, The Dienger Trading Co, Alene's Boutique, The Christmas Shoppe, Celeste, Carriage House Gallery of Artists, Richter, La Te Da, Tre Pizzeria and DeVino Cellars.
- Santa Scavenger Hunt, Dec. 11 and 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Free. Kids pick up a passport and search for Santa at participating businesses, including The Boerne Bookshop, The Sanctuary, Hey Love, Lulu-Bells, Linen & Dove and Taylor's Ace Hardware. Completed passports are entered in a drawing for a gift basket.
- Ice carving, Sat., Dec. 12: A carver called the Iceman makes a sculpture at The Shoppes at 222, 222 S. Main Street.
- Christmas Market Days, Dec. 12 and 13: Free admission at Main Plaza, 100 N. Main, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, organized through Boerne Market Days.
Comparing the two participant lists shows the same stores carrying the weekend. Tre Pizzeria, La Te Da, Celeste, Chateau, Carriage House Gallery, The Dienger Trading Co and The Christmas Shoppe are on both.
The Calendar Around Main Street
Two events off Main Street overlap the downtown weekends.
The Old West Christmas Light Fest at Enchanted Springs Ranch opens on November 27, the same day as Dickens. It runs 15 nights through December 23, with live music, falling snow, Santa and new barrel-train rides this year. Tickets are already on sale. Dickens vendor areas close at 9 p.m., and the light fest gives families a ticketed evening option on nights when downtown isn't hosting anything.
The Boerne Concert Band lists "A Very Merry Christmas Concert" for Sunday, December 13, at 4 p.m. at Boerne High School. The page gives no year, but December 13 falls on a Sunday in 2026. Christmas Market Days at Main Plaza closes at 4 p.m. that afternoon, so the concert starts just as the market winds down.
Matching the Weekend to the Night Out
The three weekends work best for different plans:
| If the plan is... | The weekend | The date to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Out-of-town guests over Thanksgiving | Dickens on Main, Nov. 27 and 28 | Public schedule still to be posted |
| An adult evening with dinner downtown | Weihnachts, Dec. 4 and 5 | Stocking Stroll tickets Nov. 5; book dinner early |
| A daytime outing with young kids | Kinder Fest, Dec. 11 to 13 | Cookie Crawl tickets Nov. 11, 9 a.m. |
| A night away from downtown | Old West Christmas Light Fest, Nov. 27 to Dec. 23 | Tickets on sale now |
Mark November 5 and November 11 first. The rest of December can be planned around them.
If walking the Weihnachts route or spending a Saturday on the Cookie Crawl has you thinking about a home closer to downtown, Strait Luxury is happy to talk it through over coffee on Main Street this season. Schedule a Private Consultation with Tamara.
