If you pick a December night downtown, which garage are you parking in? This year that matters more than the date. Visit Houston's City Lights guide lists 12 holiday villages for 2026. Last year there were 11. They are grouped into a North Pole and a South Pole, and each has its own "Park Once" zone of garages, lots and street parking.
The North Pole covers the Theater District, Market Square and City Hall, and its streets work the way they did last year. The South Pole covers Discovery Green, Avenida Houston and the George R. Brown Convention Center. It sits beside an active construction zone, and the parking map around it has changed since July. Most of the season's busiest nights are at the South Pole, starting with the rink opening on Friday, Nov. 13.
Two Clusters, One Main Street Between Them
The two-pole layout started in 2025, when Downtown Houston+ used the North Pole and South Pole setup for the first time. The plan is to park once in either zone and walk the candy-themed "Sweet Spots" along Main Street between them, or ride the Holiday Express.
The rail option is bigger this year. In 2025 the Holiday Express was the Green Line only. The 2026 guide puts festive METRORail trains on both the Green and Purple Lines. METRO's fare page lists the regular METRORail fare at $1.25 and the discounted fare at $0.60.
The program officially runs Nov. 21 through Dec. 31. Several villages open earlier or stay open into January.
The North Pole Works Like It Did Last Year
The new village is up here. Christmas on Main, at the Main Street Promenade at Walker, is the only one marked "NEW" in the 2026 lineup. It offers street performers at lunch and happy hour, games, and specials from businesses along the Promenade, Nov. 20 through Dec. 31.
The other North Pole villages, by date:
- Winter Wonderlawn, POST Houston, 401 Franklin St.: Open since Nov. 6 and running through Jan. 10. The rooftop Skylawn has hundreds of thousands of lights and two 25-foot trees. Admission is $10 on weekdays and $15 on weekends.
- Deck the Trees, Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave.: Nov. 15 through Jan. 1, with 60 themed trees and wreaths and a new Tinsel & 'Tinis cocktail party. Santa photos run Nov. 21, 22 and 28 from 9 a.m. to noon at $30 per family, and the Nov. 22 session is sensory-friendly.
- Tinsel Town, Market Square Park, 301 Milam St.: Nov. 20 through Dec. 31, free. It has dueling pianos, an outdoor screening of Elf, Ugly Sweater Bingo and a downtown scavenger hunt.
- Jingle Town, Lynn Wyatt Square, 600 Louisiana St.: Nov. 20 through Dec. 31, free. The 42-foot Giving Tree has 27,000 lights and supports Kids' Meals.
- Deck the Hall, Hermann Square at City Hall, 901 Bagby St.: Dec. 5 through Jan. 6, free.
The Mayor's Holiday Tree Lighting opens Deck the Hall on Saturday, Dec. 5, with live entertainment and a fireworks finale. The City of Houston event page calls it "Reliant Presents Deck the Hall." Visit Houston lists free photos with Santa there too.
For North Pole parking, the City Lights guide suggests garages at 611 Texas St., 698 Capitol St. and 499 Rusk St. None of them is near the construction described below.
The South Pole Is Where the Streets Changed
The South Pole sits around the George R. Brown Convention Center, and Houston First is rebuilding that campus. Its closures and construction page, updated as of November 2026, lists these changes:
Polk Street is now closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic between Chartres Street and Jackson Street.
Chenevert and Jackson are fully closed between Bell and Polk. Clay is closed between Hamilton and Jackson, and two lanes of Leeland are closed between Hamilton and Jackson. Avenida de las Americas between McKinney and Lamar is restricted to Hilton valet vehicles. Avenida South Garage was demolished between May and July.
These changes affect the rink and Peppermint Plaza most. Houston First directs Discovery Green and GRB visitors to the Avenida North Garage, entered from Capitol or Rusk. Drivers coming from northbound I-59 or from EaDo and the East End are routed into downtown on Pease St. or St. Joseph Pkwy. The new 1,000-space GRB South Garage at Bell and Chenevert is open, but Houston First says it is mainly being used for Toyota Center events while construction continues. Polk Street between Chartres and Jackson is also closed to bikes, and a rerouted cycling path on Rusk Street connects EaDo with downtown.
Here is what's inside that zone:
| Village | Location | Dates | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Rink at Discovery Green | 1500 McKinney St. | Opens Nov. 13 | Free to visit, skating ticketed |
| Peppermint Plaza | 1001 Avenida de las Americas | Nov. 20 – Dec. 25 | Free |
| Land of Sweets | Hilton Americas-Houston, 1600 Lamar St. | Nov. 12 – Dec. 31 | Free, extras ticketed |
| Twinkle Town | Trebly Park, 1515 Fannin St. | Nov. 20 – Dec. 31 | Free |
| Holidays at The Marquis | Marriott Marquis, 1777 Walker St. | Nov. 21 – Jan. 3 | Paid |
| Astros Light Up the Park | Daikin Park, 501 Crawford St. | Dec. 4 – Jan. 3 | Ticketed |
Peppermint Plaza's tree is new this year. Avenida Houston calls it the plaza's tallest yet, at nearly 60 feet with about 55,000 lights. Next to it, 16 decorated trees stand in the Grand Holiday Window at the GRB. At Land of Sweets, the Hilton lobby has a life-size display made from more than 1,000 pounds of chocolate. Astros Light Up the Park adds a sledding hill in center field this season.
The Rink, by the Numbers
Discovery Green's Green Mountain Energy Ice page lists the season as Nov. 13 through Jan. 18. Ice Rink Events, a Houston-based company, designs, installs and runs the rink.
- General admission: $18 plus tax, skates included, for 75 minutes
- Cheap Skate: $9, skate rental included
- Happy Hour Fridays: $2 off
- Hours: Monday through Thursday 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday 5 to 11 p.m.; Saturday and HISD school holidays 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thanksgiving Day 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Because of the weekday hours, the rink is an after-work outing Monday through Friday. Opening night on Nov. 13 is Frostival, with ice-sculpting performances, skating and the debut of the Chromatic Forest, eight 16-foot sculptures underwritten by PNC.
The Nights That Fill the South Pole Garages
Big events stack up around Avenida North Garage early in the season, so the construction detours matter most on these dates:
- Friday, Nov. 13: Frostival and the rink opening at Discovery Green.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Discovery Green holds its first Diwali – Festival of Lights with Tx2 Dance Company, 4 to 10 p.m. at the Anheuser-Busch Stage. Bollywood dance lessons are at 4:30 p.m., stage performances at 6 p.m. and a DJ-led dance party at 8 p.m., with food vendors, henna and shopping.
- Friday, Nov. 20: The City Lights Kick-off Party at Avenida Plaza runs 5:30 to 8 p.m., free. The tree lighting is at 6:15 p.m., and Avenida Houston has also scheduled a holiday drone show.
- Saturdays Nov. 21, Dec. 5, 12 and 19: Holiday pop concerts at Avenida Plaza, sponsored by Pepsi, with a Kids' Meals lunch-bag decorating activity.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: The 77th H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade steps off at 9 a.m., per the City of Houston parade page. The rink opens at 11 a.m. that day.
- Nov. 28 and Dec. 12: Bark the Halls at Trebly Park offers Santa photos for dogs from 3 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 12 brings Carols on the Green at Discovery Green as well as the second Bark the Halls, and Dec. 19 adds Frozen at Discovery Green, according to the Downtown Houston+ holiday calendar. Counting the Avenida Plaza concert, Dec. 12 puts three South Pole events on the same few garages, and Dec. 19 puts two.
Crossing Over on Foot
The Sweet Spots make the walk between poles part of the outing. The route starts with the Gingerbread Lady at Allen's Landing and passes the Holiday Candy Arch at Preston and Main, a Gingerbread House on Main between Shay's and Jolie, and a Houston Photo Frame at Finn Hall at Main and Capitol. Farther south, look for a Snowman at Fish Plaza, the Peppermint Photo Arch outside Federal American Grill on McKinney, and the Gingerbread Chef at The Highlight, also on McKinney. The route ends at the gumdrop stroll and holiday tree in Trebly Park.
Going north to south puts the open streets at the start of the night. Park in the North Pole zone, walk Main Street south past the new Christmas on Main village, skate at Discovery Green, and take the Green or Purple Line back to your car.
If you'd like help planning your season downtown, or want to know where downtown fits among the Houston-area communities we cover, The Mike Seder Group is glad to talk it through. Schedule Your Concierge Consultation, and we'll share what we know about the neighborhoods north of the city and how they connect to downtown.
