"Put on a jacket and scarf, and join your neighbors for a magical meet-up to welcome wintertime at Westbank." That's how Westbank Libraries describes its Mini Horses & Cocoa morning on December 12. It's one of about a dozen dated holiday events in and around West Lake Hills between now and New Year's Eve. Nearly all of them come from three hosts: Hotel Viata on Capital of Texas Highway, the Westlake Chamber of Commerce, and the Westbank library system.
Each host runs a different kind of event. The hotel sells tickets to sit-down meals and offers one free evening. The Chamber hosts a single afternoon in a stadium parking lot. The library's programs are free and small. Their calendars also overlap. Two December weekends carry most of the season, and one of those Saturdays puts two events in the same late-morning window. So the season takes a little sequencing.
The season at a glance
| Date | Event | Host and place | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 20 | Eat the Film: Elf | Hotel Viata courtyard | 7:30 to 10 p.m. | $110; $45 ages 12 and under |
| Sun, Nov 22 | Tree Lighting | Hotel Viata courtyard | 5 p.m. | Free |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Holiday Princess Tea Party | Hotel Viata, Cypress Ballroom | 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | $60; $45 ages 12 and under |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Holidays Around the World | Laura's Library Commons | 2 to 3 p.m. | Free |
| Sun, Dec 6 | Breakfast with Santa | Hotel Viata, Cypress Ballroom | 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | $60; $45 ages 5 to 12; 4 and under free |
| Sun, Dec 6 | Westlake Wonderfest | Westlake High School, Chaparral Stadium lot | 1 to 4 p.m. | Free in 2025 |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Mini Horses & Cocoa | Westbank Library | 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Free |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Holiday Princess Tea Party | Hotel Viata, Cypress Ballroom | 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | $60; $45 ages 12 and under |
| Sun, Dec 13 | Breakfast with Santa | Hotel Viata, Cypress Ballroom | 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | $60; $45 ages 5 to 12; 4 and under free |
| Sun, Dec 20 | Winter Wonderland Celebration | Laura's Library | 1 to 3 p.m. | Free |
| Thu, Dec 31 | Noon Year's Eve | Laura's Library Commons | 11 a.m. to noon | Free |
Five of the eleven dates are confirmed free for 2026, and Wonderfest was free last year. Every ticketed event is at Hotel Viata.
November belongs to the hotel courtyard
The season starts in the courtyard at Hotel Viata, 320 S Capital of Texas Hwy, across two nights in the same week.
On Friday, November 20, the hotel runs Eat the Film: Elf, an evening built around the movie in its courtyard. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the evening runs from 7:30 to 10. Tickets are $110 per person, or $45 for ages 12 and under. It's the most expensive event on the calendar, and it's held outside, so plan for a November night on a hillside.
Two days later, on Sunday, November 22 at 5 p.m., the same courtyard hosts the hotel's Tree Lighting, listed as "Complimentary Access." The page has an RSVP link. The hotel lists a Christmas tree lighting, a Christmas market with gifts from local artisans, Santa photos, a live choir singing carols, and a station for letters to Santa and ornament decorating. It also promises "a 100% chance of snow."
That Sunday is the best free start to the season in West Lake Hills. It also covers part of what the later weekends offer. Families who get Santa photos and an ornament on November 22 may not need a $60 breakfast seat in December.
December 5 and 6 stack four events in two days
The first weekend of December is the busiest on the calendar. Its events fit together without overlapping.
Saturday, December 5 opens with the hotel's Holiday Princess Tea Party in the Cypress Ballroom from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $60, or $45 for ages 12 and under. Thirty minutes after the tea ends, Westbank Libraries hosts Holidays Around the World with Elizabeth Kahura at Laura's Library Commons, from 2 to 3 p.m. That half hour is enough time to go from a ballroom to a library program in one afternoon.
Sunday, December 6 has the same shape. Breakfast with Santa runs in the Cypress Ballroom from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 for adults and $45 for ages 5 to 12, and children 4 and under eat free. At 1 p.m., the Westlake Chamber opens Westlake Wonderfest in the Chaparral Stadium parking lot at Westlake High School, 523 Camp Craft Road, entering off Camp Craft. It runs until 4.
The Chamber's 2026 page is set up for vendors. It offers game and activity booths at $100 for Chamber members and $200 for future members, a separate application for holiday market booths, and free booths for food vendors. That mix of games, a holiday market and food fits the 2025 event. Community Impact's 2025 holiday roundup described last year's Wonderfest as a carnival and holiday market with a petting zoo, train rides, Santa photos, live music, games, pony rides and face painting, and listed admission as free. That's last year's lineup, held at the same 1 to 4 p.m. time slot as this year's.
Taken together, the weekend works as two half-days. A family could book one hotel event and go to one free event each day, with a short drive and a lunch break in between.
December 12 is the one Saturday where two events overlap
The second weekend repeats the hotel's events, and on Saturday they collide with the library's best event of the season.
Mini Horses & Cocoa runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the backyard at Westbank Library, 1309 Westbank Drive. The library lists miniature horses, Silly Sparkles balloon creations, hot cocoa from Trianon, and a silent auction for the Friends of the Westbank Library. A quilt raffle drawing closes the program. The listing is for adults, teens and kids.
The second Princess Tea Party starts at 11:30 that same morning at Hotel Viata. The two events overlap for most of the morning, which leaves three ways to plan it:
- Book the tea for December 5 instead of the 12th. That leaves the 12th open for Westbank and fits the December 5 tea with Holidays Around the World that afternoon.
- Go to Westbank early, then the hotel. Arrive at 11 for the horses and cocoa and leave in time for the 11:30 seating. You'd miss the quilt raffle drawing at the end.
- Stay for the full library morning. The silent auction and raffle support the Friends of the Westbank Library, and staying until the drawing is the only way to hear it.
Sunday, December 13 is calmer. The second Breakfast with Santa runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Cypress Ballroom, at the same prices as December 6. If December 6 is already planned around Wonderfest, the 13th is the easier breakfast date.
The library carries the season to the end
After December 13, every dated event on the calendar is a Westbank Libraries program, and every one is free. The library's FAQ says programs are free and open to the public, and you don't need a membership or library card. Registration is only needed when a program's description says so.
- Winter Wonderland Celebration, Sunday, December 20, 1 to 3 p.m., Laura's Library. Mini goats and cookie decorating, the Sunday before Christmas week.
- Noon Year's Eve, Thursday, December 31, 11 a.m. to noon, Laura's Library Commons. A concert by Mr. Will that wraps up at noon.
By late December, the hotel's ticketed events are over. The season closes with a free Sunday afternoon of goats and cookies and a free late-morning concert on New Year's Eve.
Booking order, if you're planning this week
The hotel events are the ones that take tickets, and the library's programs need no card or sign-up unless a listing says so. Here's the order that keeps the most options open:
- Eat the Film: Elf first, since November 20 is about a week away.
- The tea and breakfast dates next, picked to fit Wonderfest on December 6 and the Westbank morning on December 12.
- The Tree Lighting RSVP for November 22, which is free.
- The library programs go straight on the calendar.
If your December includes a house project, a move, or just a question about what's changing along Bee Caves Road, Katherine Beckworth is glad to talk it through between the tree lighting and the cocoa. Let's Connect.
