The lights go on at Main Plaza on Friday, Nov. 20. For most of the four days around it, though, the Sophienburg Museum & Archives sets the schedule. The museum holds a gala on Thursday night. On Friday evening it runs a free sled hill on West Coll Street, and from Friday to Sunday it runs a three-day German holiday market at the Civic & Convention Center. It also supplies the postcards for the visitor center's new home in the city's first hand-cut German limestone building. You can plan the whole weekend around the Sophienburg's events and still get to the city's lighting with time to spare.
Here's how the weekend lays out, in order.
Thursday, Nov. 19: The Night Most People Skip
The 38th Weihnachtsmarkt starts with a gala the night before the market opens. It runs Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New Braunfels Civic & Convention Center. The Sophienburg's Weihnachtsmarkt page lists dinner, a full bar, live music and shopping.
The gala ticket also gets you into the market Friday through Sunday. That matters if you're already planning to go back on Saturday, because a regular weekend pass costs $35 on its own.
It's also your only chance to shop the market before the Friday crowd. Everything after Thursday runs on public hours.
Friday, Nov. 20: Four Openings on One Night
Friday is the busy day. Four separate things start that night, and three of them are downtown.
Main Plaza, 500 Main Plaza, 6 to 9 p.m. The city's Downtown Lighting & Santa's Arrival is free. The city describes it as the night "thousands of twinkling lights are turned on" downtown. Santa photos are free, but you take them yourself on your own phone or camera in front of a backdrop built for the night. The Holiday Haus Vendor Market is a small tabletop market with a limited number of vendors, chosen with priority for holiday-themed treats and gifts. The city says plainly that there are no food truck spots at this event.
That last detail shapes the rest of the night. If you're planning to eat outdoors, Main Plaza isn't where the food trucks will be.
Sophienburg Museum & Archives, 401 W. Coll St., also 6 to 9 p.m. Weihnachtsmarkt Under the Stars runs during exactly the same three hours as the lighting. It has a snow sled hill, live music, food trucks and local vendors, and both the event and the museum are free all evening. The food trucks for Friday night are here. Of the two downtown events, this one has the sled hill and the dinner, and the plaza has the lights and Santa.
The Hinmann House, 161 S. Castell Ave. The New Braunfels Visitor Center is relocating from 237 I-35, where it started as a standalone highway facility in 1997, to the Hinmann House across the street from Krause's Cafe. Community Impact reported that the house was built around 1868 and was the city's first building made from hand-cut German limestone. The center planned to open there during Downtown Spooktacular on Oct. 29 and to hold its grand opening on Nov. 20, the same night as the lighting.
The Sophienburg is part of this one too. The center's "Postcard Place" uses historic postcards the museum provides. Community members can sign up there to become pen pals with residents of local retirement homes. Children can write and mail letters to Santa, play on a playscape with New Braunfels-themed toys, and look at a river mural. For families, it's a natural first stop. Kids can write their letters before they meet Santa at Main Plaza.
Gruene Ice Rink, 1622 New Braunfels St. The fourth opening is across town. The Gruene Ice Rink runs Nov. 20 through Jan. 3 behind The Pomegranate, with free parking throughout the Gruene Historic District. Community Impact describes a 100-by-40-foot rink near H.D. Gruene Jr.'s Private Office, with skate rentals plus hot cocoa, cookies and souvenirs for sale. Check the rink page for session times and ticket prices before you go. The rink stays open for six weeks, so it's the easiest of Friday's four openings to save for another night.
A Friday Night Route That Works
Main Plaza and the Sophienburg both run from 6 to 9 p.m., so doing both means deciding which one gets the first half of the evening.
- Park at City Hall, 550 Landa St., and take the free shuttle. It runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. and drops off on West Mill Street.
- Start at the Hinmann House on South Castell for the Santa letters.
- Go to Main Plaza for the lights and your own Santa photos.
- Finish at the Sophienburg on West Coll for food truck dinner and the sled hill. It runs until 9 p.m. like the plaza, and the museum is free all evening.
You can also flip the order and eat first at the Sophienburg. Either way, you're picking which event to arrive at early and which to arrive at late, because both end at 9.
Saturday and Sunday: Two Markets, Two Price Points
Over the weekend, the two big markets are in different parts of town and charge differently.
| 38th Annual Weihnachtsmarkt | Old Gruene Market Days | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Nov. 20–22 | Nov. 21–22 |
| Hours | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Where | Civic & Convention Center, 375 S. Castell Ave. | Historic Gruene District |
| Admission | $15 general, $35 weekend pass | Free |
| What's there | German collectibles, ornaments, holiday goods | About 100 vendors, handcrafted food and goods |
| Santa | Breakfast with Santa, Sat. 9–10:30 a.m. | Photos with Cowboy Kringle |
Weihnachtsmarkt admission isn't just a gate fee. Community Impact reports that the proceeds pay for the Sophienburg's operations and educational programs. The museum that put on a free Friday night pays for it in part through this weekend.
The market also has ticketed events between shopping hours:
- Friday brunch, Nov. 20, 9 to 10:30 a.m.
- Breakfast with Santa, Saturday, Nov. 21, 9 to 10:30 a.m. One purchase covers one child and one adult. Each additional adult needs a $15 market admission ticket.
- Holiday Tea, Sunday, Nov. 22, 1 to 3 p.m., an English afternoon tea service.
Breakfast with Santa is the one families should plan around. It starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and wraps at 10:30, half an hour after Old Gruene Market Days opens. If your Saturday goal is two Santas before lunch, start at the Civic Center with breakfast, then drive to Gruene for Cowboy Kringle while the market runs until 5 p.m. From Gruene, the ice rink behind The Pomegranate is a short walk for the afternoon.
Thanksgiving Week Comes Next
The kickoff weekend leads straight into Thanksgiving week, and several of those dates are already set.
The New Braunfels Farmers Market holiday market series has Wednesday dates on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25. The Nov. 25 date falls the day before Thanksgiving.
On Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 26, Comal Cops for Kids holds the 18th Annual Gruene Turkey Trot 5k & Kids Turkey Chase at Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road. Registration and packet pickup start at 7 a.m. The 5k is open to runners and walkers, and kids can join a quarter-mile chase of a turkey mascot. Prices depend on registration, and the proceeds support local charities whose law enforcement efforts help New Braunfels children.
Gruene Hall stays busy that weekend. Community Impact's live music roundup lists Aaron Watson with guest Jake Watson at 8 p.m. Nov. 27, 9 p.m. Nov. 28 and 7 p.m. Nov. 29.
If you'd rather eat out than cook the Saturday after Thanksgiving, two places opened this fall. Terry Black's Barbecue opened Sept. 15 at 1310 E. Common St. The Roo Pub, an Australian-themed bar and grill, opened Oct. 28 at 2055 Central Plaza.
Back to Main Plaza on Dec. 3
The season returns to Main Plaza on Thursday, Dec. 3, for Wassailfest, from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is free, with wassail tastings, live music, food and local vendors. Wassailfest has its own City Hall parking and shuttle setup. Parking at City Hall is free, and the shuttle runs from 5 to 11 p.m., later than the lighting-night shuttle.
Main Plaza bookends the stretch, with the lighting on Nov. 20 and wassail on Dec. 3. The Sophienburg's part comes earlier and is busier, from the Thursday gala through Sunday's Holiday Tea. Put those four days on the calendar first, then fit the Main Plaza lighting, the Gruene rink and Wassailfest around them.
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