Chappell Hill's public holiday calendar this year has two events, and both are on the same Saturday.
The Chappell Hill Chamber of Commerce calendar shows no holiday events in November. Its December page lists exactly two, the Chappell Hill Garden Club Christmas Home Tour and the Texas Christmas Teddy Bear Parade. Both are on Saturday, December 12, 2026. The town's holiday season happens in one day on one stretch of Main Street.
That shapes how you plan it. With only one day, the useful questions are which date to put on the calendar, which hour to protect and where to eat. In order, the answers start with November 30.
The first date is in November
This year's home tour is the Garden Club's 10th anniversary tour. The club's event page bills it as "10 Years of Christmas in Chappell Hill," with decorated homes and other stops around town. When KWHI covered last year's tour, it was the ninth.
Tickets cost the same as last year, and the deadline works the same way. According to the Garden Club's 2026 event page, tickets are $25 through November 30 and $30 starting December 1. Buying online adds a service fee. KWHI reported the same $25/$30 structure for 2025. That year, tickets were sold through Garden Club members, the club website and the Masonic Lodge.
From the date this post goes up, here's how the timeline looks:
| Date | What it means |
|---|---|
| Thursday, October 22 | About five and a half weeks left at the $25 price |
| Saturday, November 21 | Last Chappell Hill Farmers Market date on its posted schedule |
| Monday, November 30 | Last day for $25 tickets |
| Tuesday, December 1 | Tickets go to $30 |
| Saturday, December 12 | Home tour 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Teddy Bear Parade 3:30 to 5 p.m. |
The $5 difference is per ticket, so a family or a group of friends saves more by buying together before December. Where the money goes may matter just as much. The Garden Club says ticket sales fund its community beautification projects and scholarships. KWHI listed Main Street beautification among the club's projects in its 2025 coverage. If you live here, part of what you pay for comes back to the street you drive down every day.
The Garden Club hasn't published the 2026 list of homes. Buying early means buying before you know the stops, which is how the tour has always worked.
The day starts at the Lodge on Main Street
The tour starts at Hubert Masonic Lodge #67, 5055 Main St. The Garden Club's instructions for people who already have tickets are simple. Stay in your car, and a volunteer outside the Lodge will come to you. That's one more reason to buy before the day. A drive-up check-in moves faster than a line at a table.
The Garden Club lists the tour hours as 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Chamber lists the same hours. Visit Brenham's listing shows 6 p.m. Go by the organizer's 5 p.m. and plan to be at your last home before then.
The 90 minutes that overlap
This is the part of the day that needs a plan. The Teddy Bear Parade runs downtown from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The Chappell Hill Chamber of Commerce organizes it. Visit Brenham describes it as children marching through downtown with their teddy bears, plus holiday activities and a visit from Santa.
So the parade fills the last 90 minutes of the home tour. If you want to see both, you have to choose how to split that time. Here's one way to lay out the day using the posted hours:
| Time | Home tour | Parade | Around town |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 a.m. | Opens at the Lodge | Historical Society Museum opens | |
| 11 a.m. | Underway | Grapevine on Main and Texas Star Winery open | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Final 90 minutes | Steps off downtown | |
| 4 p.m. | Underway | Museum closes | |
| 5 p.m. | Closes | Ends | |
| 6 p.m. | Texas Star Winery closes |
If children in your house are walking in the parade, start the tour at 10 a.m. Then the homes are done before you need to be downtown. If you only care about the tour, the parade window works the other way. Those last 90 minutes are when the crowd shifts toward the parade route.
The parade's 2026 registration steps, route and Santa schedule haven't been posted. In 2019, KWHI reported that registration opened at 3 p.m. at the Rock Store, 5070 Main St. Children of any age could take part, from infants up, and could sign up online or on the day. That year, Santa arrived on a volunteer fire department truck at 4 p.m., and Mrs. Claus read stories afterward with punch and cookies. Those are past-year details. Check with the Chamber before you count on any of them this year.
The tradition goes back further than that. A Brenham Banner-Press account of the 2012 Christmas Fayre describes children showing decorated teddy bears along Main Street, with awards, Santa and downtown Christmas lights switched on at dusk. The parade has carried the town's Christmas for well over a decade. Since 2017, by the club's count, the home tour has shared that weekend with it.
Where to eat and stop on December 12
The Garden Club's own page suggests making a day of it in local shops and restaurants. For a Saturday, that means checking Saturday hours specifically, because they aren't the same as weekday hours.
- Grapevine on Main, 5120 Main St. Serves lunch and dinner on Saturdays starting at 11 a.m. It's the easiest sit-down meal close to the tour start, a short walk from the Lodge.
- Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It closes 30 minutes into the parade, so go in the morning. Groups need to schedule tours ahead.
- Texas Star Winery, 10587 Old Chappell Hill Rd. Open Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's open an hour after the tour and parade end, which makes it the one late-afternoon stop on this list.
- Bevers Kitchen, 5162 Main St. Its posted hours show it closed on Saturdays. Save it for a weekday visit rather than tour day.
One Saturday habit won't carry into December. The Chappell Hill Farmers Market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mercantile on Main, 5030 Main St. Its posted schedule ends November 21. The market's last few Saturdays, October 24 and 31 and November 7, 14 and 21, all come before the $25 ticket deadline. A market morning is a good time to talk with Garden Club members and lock in tickets.
Why one Saturday carries the whole season
October in Chappell Hill is busy. The Scarecrow Music Festival filled Main Street on October 10 and 11, and its proceeds went to the Historical Society, the fire department and the Chamber. We wrote about the new operators and the reworked lineup in The October Weekend Chappell Hill Just Got Back. After that, the public calendar is quiet until December 12. The Chamber also lists a Business After Hours event at Our Legacy at Foxx Place on November 19, but that's a member gathering, not a holiday event.
That's why December 12 matters. Ten years of Garden Club tours and a parade with roots in the Christmas Fayre all happen on the same Saturday, along the same few blocks between the Lodge at 5055 Main and Grapevine at 5120 Main. Buy tickets by November 30, decide how to spend the 3:30 overlap, and eat lunch somewhere that's open on Saturdays.
Our team lives and works along this stretch of Highway 290, and the Christmas tour is one of the Saturdays we plan around too. If you're thinking about what your own Chappell Hill home could look like on a future tour, or what it's worth today, The Lindi Camaron Team is happy to help. Start with our Chappell Hill neighborhood page or request a home valuation.
