Westlake Chamber of Commerce executive director Cathy Hoover told Community Impact in 2022 that Wonderfest "started many years ago as a simple Christmas tree on Bee Caves Road." In the same interview she said the tree didn't stay simple, because local businesses wanted to turn it into something they could take part in.
That one detail explains the festival families will walk into on Sunday, Dec. 6. Wonderfest is Westlake's business community hosting its neighbors for an afternoon. The pony rides, the robotics demos and the food are all booths, and every booth has a host. Entry is free, and the event has changed venues whenever there were more hosts than room.
A tree that local businesses wanted in on
Hoover's account to Community Impact describes three stages, and each one was driven by more participants:
- The tree. A single Christmas tree on Bee Caves Road.
- The Chamber office. Once businesses wanted a role, Wonderfest ran for several years at the Westlake Chamber office at Bee Caves Road and Westlake Drive.
- Westlake High School. In 2022 Hoover said the event had moved to the high school six years earlier, which puts the move at about 2016. The reason she gave was room for more vendors.
The bigger lot filled up. Hoover said the 2021 festival drew about 3,000 people, and the 2022 edition was planned with more than 50 vendor booths. In other words, a tree at a road intersection became an afternoon big enough to need a stadium parking lot, and the Chamber's members drove the growth.
Every booth in the lot has a host
The Chamber's 2026 registration page shows how the afternoon is built. Visitors pay nothing. The costs and applications sit with the businesses and groups that run the booths:
| Booth type | Terms on the Chamber's 2026 page |
|---|---|
| Game or activity booth | $100 at the member rate, $200 at the future member rate |
| Holiday market booth | Vendors apply for a booth before paying |
| Food vendor booth | Free, arranged through the Chamber office |
The table matches what families have found on the lot in past years. In 2022 all the food was free to visitors. The vendors that year included Texas Honey Ham, SusieCakes, Trianon Coffee, Amy's Ice Creams and Hat Creek Burger Company. Tumble Tech, the Westlake facility that coaches cheerleading, gymnastics, parkour and free running, set up a tumbling track for kids to run and jump on. The activity list that year read like a directory of booths: face painting, balloon artists, cookie decorating, a photo booth, games, a petting zoo, a bounce house and the Holiday Express Train.
Community groups take part as well. Before the 2024 festival, Shepherd of the Hills told its congregation it would have a booth. Its newsletter promoted "Santa's firetruck, food from top-notch vendors, pony rides, choral performances" and listed Goosehead Insurance among the booth participants.
Because the booths are hosted, the exact mix changes from year to year. A business that ran cookie decorating one December may not book again the next, and a new member may bring something no one has seen before. The 2026 Chamber announcement adds robotics demonstrations to the list. The Chamber's 2024 description had also mentioned robotics displays.
What has held steady while the booths rotate
Some parts of the program repeat every year, because the Chamber and the schools run them rather than individual vendors.
Santa arrives on the fire truck. Hoover said in 2022 that Santa "usually rides in on a fire truck." That year the Westlake High School drum line led the truck in, and Santa then stopped at a winter wonderland backdrop that parents could use for their official Christmas photo. The 2025 Do512 listing again described Santa's fire-truck entrance and a free professional photo with him. For 2026, the Chamber says Santa will make his entrance on the Westlake fire truck.
The kids perform. The 2022 festival featured all the local elementary school choirs. The 2025 Do512 listing again mentioned elementary school choir performances, and the 2026 announcement promises live performances by Westlake students.
Admission stays free. Free entry appears in the 2023 and 2025 Community Impact listings and in the Chamber's 2024 and 2026 descriptions.
The core program goes back further than the move to the high school. A 2017 Austin American-Statesman preview described the free event with children's choirs, face painting, train rides, bounce houses, a petting zoo, live music, games and Santa. Eight years later, the 2025 Do512 listing named a petting zoo, pony rides, an electric train, bounce houses, a cake walk, games, crafts and treats. Community Impact's 2025 holiday roundup called it a carnival and holiday market with train rides, live music and face painting. The setting has changed and so have the hosts, but the afternoon itself has stayed much the same.
Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m.
This year's Wonderfest is on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m., in the Chaparral Stadium parking lot off Camp Craft Road at Westlake High School, 523 Camp Craft Road. The Chamber's 2026 page describes the plan in its own words:
"Join us as Santa makes his grand entrance on the Westlake fire truck, enjoy live performances from our talented Westlake students, and explore booths hosted by Westlake's local businesses and community groups. Savor delicious food from neighborhood favorites, let the kids enjoy pony rides and hands-on activities like robotics demos, and be sure to capture a special photo with Santa himself!"
The Chamber calls the festival "our community's favorite way to kick off the holiday season" and says admission is free and everyone is welcome.
A few practical notes:
- Dress the kids for the photo. In 2022 Hoover suggested parents dress their children up and use the Santa backdrop photo as their official Christmas photo. The free professional Santa photo returned in 2025.
- Questions go to the Chamber. The event contact is Cathy Hoover at [email protected]. The 2026 listing is on the Westlake Chamber events calendar, and the calendar file there will put the date on your phone.
- Booth spots are still listed. A local business or group that wants to host can find the activity, holiday market and food booth options on the same page.
The Sundays around it at St. Michael's
For families who want more than one December outing, St. Michael's Episcopal Church has posted a run of Advent events around Wonderfest. Its 2026 calendar lists:
- Sunday, Nov. 22: the El Buen Angel Tree begins, recurring on Sundays.
- Sunday, Nov. 29: the First Sunday of Advent, with Lessons and Carols from 5 to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: Taco Sunday and an Evening Prayer for the Feast of St. Nicholas, on the same day as Wonderfest.
- Sunday, Dec. 13: Cookies and Santa! and a Taizé prayer service for the Feast of St. Lucy.
If Wonderfest is on your family's calendar, we'd love to say hello in the Chaparral Stadium lot on Dec. 6. And if you have questions about Westlake that a holiday afternoon can't answer, the Kathryn Scarborough Group is always glad to help. Contact Us.
