"Trains arrived filled with families and couples using the convenience of TEXRail," Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau executive director Paul W. McCallum said after last season, in a statement reported by the Fort Worth Report. TEXRail logged 129,115 rides in December 2025, up from 103,312 in December 2024. The outlet tied that 25% jump to holiday travel and to the events in downtown Grapevine.
Last December was also the first holiday season with DART's Silver Line running into Grapevine, and the Fort Worth Report noted that the new line shares two stations with TEXRail. For 2026, the new attractions sit farther from Main Street than the old ones, and the downtown closure schedule has gaps you can plan around. The CVB's 2026 Writer's Reference Guide lists more than 1,400 events over 40 days. For someone who lives here, the closure calendar near the bottom of that guide is the part you'll actually use.
When Historic Main Street closes to traffic
The CVB's guide, current as of October 15, gives these closure windows for Historic Main Street:
| Closed from | Reopens | What's driving it |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 22, 1 p.m. | Mon., Nov. 30, 6 a.m. | Carol of Lights kickoff Nov. 23, Thanksgiving week, Christmas Market opening Nov. 27 |
| Thu., Dec. 3, 6 p.m. | Mon., Dec. 7, 6 a.m. | 47th Annual Parade of Lights and the weekend after |
| Mon., Dec. 7, 6 p.m. | Midnight | 6th Annual Merry & Bright Drone Show |
| Fri., Dec. 11, 6 a.m. | Mon., Dec. 14, 6 a.m. | Mid-December weekend |
| Fri., Dec. 18, 6 a.m. | Mon., Dec. 28, 6 a.m. | The final run-up to Christmas |
Apart from the one-evening drone show closure on Dec. 7, every closure covers a weekend and reopens on a Monday morning. So most weekdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas still have Main Street open to cars: November 30 through the afternoon of December 3, December 8 through 10, and December 14 through 17. The longest stretch runs ten days, from December 18 to December 28. If you have shopping, a dinner reservation or a gift pickup downtown, those Monday-through-Thursday windows are the ones to book. The guide notes that all dates, times and prices can change.
What fits in the open weekdays
The Historic Palace Theatre at 300 S. Main St. runs most of its $10 classic Christmas films on weeknights that fall outside the closures:
- A Christmas Carol, Monday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
- Meet Me in St. Louis, Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
- It's A Wonderful Life, Wednesday, Dec. 2 and Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.
- A Christmas Story, Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m.
- White Christmas, Wednesday, Dec. 9 and Monday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
The Texas Tenors' "Deep in the Heart of Christmas" also falls in a gap. It plays the Palace Tuesday, Dec. 15 through Thursday, Dec. 17, with tickets at $48. Out at Historic Nash Farm, 626 Ball St., "A Handmade Christmas" begins Tuesday, Dec. 15. Guests bake old-fashioned cookies by the 1892 wood-burning stove and string popcorn garland, with sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and $5 advance tickets.
Some of the season's best options run all the way through it, so you can pick a quiet weekday instead of a packed Saturday. Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery, 701 S. Main St. #103, offers ornament-making at the furnace from Nov. 11 through Jan. 2 for $70, with reservations required. JudyPie at 520 S. Main St. holds $65 gingerbread house classes on varying dates. The International Porcelain Artists Museum at 204 E. Franklin St. does make-and-take ornaments Tuesday through Sunday for $10, or $15 kiln-fired.
This year's new attractions sit away from Main Street
The new additions for 2026 are spread across the city.
The biggest change is at the Gaylord Texan, 1501 Gaylord Trail. ICE! runs Nov. 13 through Jan. 3 with a Harry Potter theme, sculpted from more than two million pounds of colored ice. In 2025, the CVB described the attraction with traditional Christmas scenes.
The guide also marks Christmas at Dig World as new. It's at 2200 W. Grapevine Mills Circle, where kids and adults can run real heavy machinery among holiday lights, and Construction Santa poses for photos. It runs Friday, Dec. 18 through Thursday, Dec. 24, with day passes from $30. Those dates line up almost exactly with Main Street's longest closure, so one of the season's new draws is open on the opposite side of town during downtown's busiest days.
The drone show is getting bigger and narrower at once. In 2025, the City of Grapevine announced two shows, on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, with 400 drones each. For 2026, the 6th Annual Merry & Bright Drone Show is a single night, Monday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m., with 600 drones launching from the Northwest Highway end of Main Street. With one date instead of two, everyone who wants to see it will be there the same evening. Main Street closes for it at 6 p.m., just 12 hours after reopening from the parade weekend.
Downtown still has a couple of new details. The Town Square Gazebo at 325 S. Main St. has a brand-new Christmas tree with a train running inside a drum. And on Sunday, Dec. 13, RTown Gallery at 314 S. Main St. hosts a new candle pop-up with Studio Assemblage from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, candles start at $28, and you can bring your own vessel.
December 3 is the day the train leaves town
The 47th Annual Parade of Lights is Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., with more than 100 lighted floats and marching bands under the theme "Christmas Miracle on Main Street." Last year's parade was on Thursday, Dec. 4, so the same weeknight slot stays in place.
Santa's North Pole Express runs from Nov. 27 through Dec. 30 out of 705 S. Main St., but it skips Grapevine on parade day. Its schedule shows it closed Dec. 3, 24 and 25, and the Dec. 3 run departs from and returns to Stockyards Station in Fort Worth, 140 E. Exchange Ave. Tickets for that run are $45 per person or $90 for a two-person bench. Parking there typically costs $15 per vehicle, and there's no shuttle. Grapevine departures are listed at $45 to $50 per person, with $6 lap-rider tickets. The railroad asks riders to arrive 90 minutes early on weekends and an hour early on weekdays, and it doesn't refund missed trains.
If an adults-only Christmas Wine Train was on your list, it's already full. All three dates, Nov. 20 and Dec. 10 and 17, are listed at capacity for 2026.
The Silver Line's second holiday season
DART's Silver Line started carrying passengers on Oct. 25, 2025, just before last year's season began. Its DFW Airport North station, at 1867 E. Dallas Road in Grapevine, connects to TEXRail. To get downtown, riders switch there to TEXRail for Grapevine/Main Street Station at 815 S. Main St. That puts them at Peace Plaza, home to Grapevine's live Christmas tree and the outdoor ice rink, which opens Nov. 21 at $20 for an hour including skates.
The two lines run on different frequencies. Under DART's timetable effective Oct. 19, 2026, the Silver Line runs hourly on weekends. Trinity Metro's 2026 TEXRail brochure lists the same schedule seven days a week, holidays included, with trains about every half hour during the day.
Fares depend on where your trip starts. Trinity Metro's fare table lists $2 for a single TEXRail ride and $4 for a local one-day ticket. That $4 ticket doesn't cover a DART leg. A regional one-day ticket, which covers DART, DCTA and Trinity Metro, has been $9 since March 1, 2026.
If you'd rather drive, the guide lists free parking at the Grapevine Convention Center, 1201 Municipal Way, with a free shuttle, and at 307 W. Dallas Road, 410 W. Dallas Road and 636 S. Main St. The Grapevine Main garage at 255 E. Dallas Road charges a fee. The CVB says the holiday shuttle starts Friday, Nov. 27.
Before the first closure
A few things happen before Main Street closes on Nov. 22. Bad Santa's Boathouse opens Nov. 6 at Big Daddy's Cantina at Scott's Landing Marina, 2500 Oak Grove Loop S, with reservations encouraged. Santa arrives at Bass Pro Shops, 2501 Bass Pro Drive, on Saturday, Nov. 7, and photo reservations open Sunday, Nov. 1. ICE! opens Nov. 13. The Holly Jolly Pop-Up Bar at Third Rail, inside Harvest Hall at Grapevine Main Station, opens Nov. 20.
The Carol of Lights kickoff follows on Monday, Nov. 23, from 4 to 8 p.m. It's the day after the first closure begins, and the season runs from there. Dr. Sue's hot chocolate bar at 150 W. College St. and RE:defined Coffee House's cookie-and-coffee flight boards at 200 W. Northwest Hwy. both start Nov. 27.
At The Verrett Team, we spend a lot of time around Grapevine and care about how the city works during its busiest weeks as well as its quiet ones. If a holiday-season move or a question about life near Main Street is on your mind this winter, contact us and we'll be glad to talk it through.
