Three Towns Picked December 5 for Christmas. The Rest of the Austin Corners Season Happens at an 1890s Store on SH 205.
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
If you live in Austin Corners, which Christmas celebration counts as your hometown one this year? Your HOA describes the neighborhood as a subdivision of McLendon-Chisholm, 4 miles southeast of downtown Rockwall. That puts you within reach of several cities' holiday traditions. In 2026 those traditions mostly land on the same Saturday.
The City of Heath has moved Christmas in Heath to the first Saturday in December. That's December 5, the same day as Rockwall's Hometown Christmas and Forney's Christmas on Main. So the busiest part of the season now fits into one long day. For the rest of November and December, the most active calendar near Austin Corners belongs to a single building on State Highway 205.
The City of Heath's Christmas in Heath page announces the change in its own heading:
Moving to The First Saturday In December
The City of Rockwall's Hometown Christmas schedule also lands on Saturday, December 5, 2026. Forney's official calendar lists Christmas on Main in Downtown Forney the same day. If you live between all three, the question is less whether to go and more how to order the day.
Here is how the official schedules line up.
| Time on Dec. 5 | Rockwall | Forney | Heath |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 a.m. | 57th Annual Kiwanis Christmas Parade begins | ||
| 10:00 a.m. | Hometown Christmas Festival opens on Rockwall Square | ||
| 12:00 p.m. | Festival continues | Christmas on Main begins | |
| 4:00 p.m. | Festival continues | Christmas on Main continues | Christmas in Heath begins at Towne Center Park |
| 5:00 p.m. | Festival ends; tree lighting events start at City Hall | Christmas on Main ends | Continues |
| About 6:15 p.m. | Tree lighting | Continues | |
| 7:00 p.m. | Tree lighting events end | Continues until 8:00 p.m. |
The table shows three overlaps. Forney's noon-to-5 window sits entirely inside Rockwall's festival hours. From 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., all three events are running at once. Rockwall's tree lighting falls right in the middle of Heath's 4-to-8 evening. Nobody can do all of it. You can do a morning, an afternoon and an evening, though.
Rockwall runs the longest schedule of the three, and the day starts early. The Kiwanis parade, now in its 57th year, sends more than 100 floats along a 1.5-mile route from the Rockwall County Library on Yellowjacket Lane into Historic Downtown Rockwall. It starts at 9:00 a.m. and goes rain or shine. The streets on the route close while it runs.
Parking is usually the hard part, and the city has a plan for it. Lots at The Center, 108 East Washington Street, and City Hall, 385 South Goliad Street, are open to the public. A free trolley runs from the First Baptist Youth Parking Lot at 710 South Goliad Street to The Center from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. That 12-hour trolley window is longer than the festival itself. If you park once at 710 South Goliad, you can stay downtown from the parade through the tree lighting without moving the car.
After the parade, the Hometown Christmas Festival fills Rockwall Square from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Santa and the Grinch are in San Jacinto Plaza all day with their sleigh. Kids can try a snow play area, slides, bounce houses and train rides. The holiday market leans toward food gifts, with artisan chocolate, pecans, pound cakes, dips, jellies and jams, and spices.
The 43rd Annual Tree Lighting takes place across the street at CityPlace on the City Hall campus from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The lights go on around 6:15. The Rockwall Women's League provides holiday cookies, and there's hot chocolate and a Santa photo.
Heath's event is the one built for the evening. The city says an expanded 2026 Christmas in Heath returns to Towne Center Park from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. It promises Santa, miniature train rides, free home-baked cookies, food trucks and live music. The City of Heath Special Events Board presents it. The city's page still tells visitors to watch for an updated schedule, so the hour-by-hour program may come later. The date, the park and the four-hour window are already set.
That gives Austin Corners families a workable plan for December 5. Spend the morning at the Rockwall parade and on the square, then choose between Rockwall's 6:15 tree lighting and Heath's evening at Towne Center Park. Forney's Christmas on Main, with vendors, crafts and activities from noon to 5:00 p.m., fits the afternoon for anyone who would rather leave Rockwall's square after lunch.
Three big celebrations on one day leave the other weekends of the season wide open. Closer to home, those weeks have their own calendar.
Chisholm Country Store sits at 1251 S. State Highway 205. It's open Tuesday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and closed Sunday and Monday. Blue Ribbon News once placed it in McLendon-Chisholm "at the blinker light." According to the store, the building has stood since the 1890s and has been a church, a general store and a restaurant. Today the shelves hold jams, jellies, preserves, dressings, syrups, sauces, salsas, pickles and specialty groceries, plus a café.
That shelf list overlaps with what Rockwall's holiday market advertises for December 5, with jellies, jams and food-basket fillers. The store stocks them five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday.
The café side is Heart of Texas Tea House. According to the tea house's own history, Jennifer Jones started it in Lavon in 2021, and it now has a permanent home inside Chisholm Country Store. Most of the store's holiday calendar comes from that partnership. Here's what's on the books after this week:
The listings for paid events say "Register Here," so the classes and teas take signups in advance rather than walk-ins.
The store's Fall Vendor Market on November 14 comes three weeks before the shared December 5 celebrations. Its Christmas Vendor Market and Christmas High Tea on December 19 come two weeks after. Every other holiday class on the store's list sits on a different date from the three city events.
On December 5, an Austin Corners household is choosing between a parade route, a trolley line and Towne Center Park. Two days earlier, the Victorian Christmas Tea Class runs on a Thursday afternoon, 1:00 to 2:30, in a building that's been on SH 205 since the 1890s. The mocktail class on December 17 keeps the same weekday time slot. Both vendor markets are on Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The last dated events on the store's calendar fall on Saturday, December 19. The Christmas Vendor Market runs from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Christmas High Tea seats from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for $35, with registration through the store's site.
Around the holidays, we hear from a lot of Austin Corners neighbors who are thinking about spring and want to know where their home stands before the new year. If that's you, The Sarah Naylor Team would love to help with a quick, no-pressure look at your home's value, so you can enjoy December 5 and the weeks around it with that question answered. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
Lifestyle
Sarah has strong negotiation skills, professional expertise, work ethic, and intimate knowledge of the Rockwall County area, and her reputation is backed by multiple “Best Real Estate Agent” awards.
Get in Touch With Our Team to Learn More
3125 RIDGE RD ROCKWALL TX 75032