Garland's city calendar still has an old entry called "A Garland Christmas at Firewheel." It's dated December 2, 2021. This year the city's tree lighting is on the other side of town. Visit Garland lists Garland Christmas on the Square for Friday, Dec. 4, from 5 to 9 p.m. at Downtown Garland Square, with the tree lighting at 6:30 p.m.
Firewheel still has a holiday season, and its first event comes two weeks before the tree lighting. It runs on Firewheel Town Center's own schedule, which is mostly built around weekend late mornings, a restaurant breakfast and reservations. If you live off Firewheel Parkway or Bunker Hill, you're really planning around two calendars this year. They only line up for four days in early December.
The center's first holiday event is Saturday, Nov. 21
Simon's holiday page for Firewheel Town Center covers Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. The first dated event on it is Santa's Arrival Parade on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with performances and hot cocoa. Santa photos start the same day and run through Christmas Eve.
| Event | Date | Time | Where / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa's Arrival Parade | Sat., Nov. 21 | 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | Performances, hot cocoa |
| Santa Photos | Nov. 21 to Dec. 24 | By reservation | Book through Simon |
| Santa's Breakfast Bonus | Weekends, Nov. 21 to Dec. 20 | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Ferah Tex-Med, with booked Santa photos |
| Santa Paws | Sun., Nov. 29 | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Pet photos with Santa |
| Sip, Shop & Be Merry | Thu., Dec. 3 | 6 to 9 p.m. | Evening shopping event |
| Storytime with Santa | Sat., Dec. 5 | 2 p.m. | Barnes & Noble |
| Caring Santa | Sun., Dec. 6 | 10 to 11:30 a.m. | Sensory-friendly, reservations required |
Five of the seven events fall on a Saturday or Sunday. Only one starts after dark on a weeknight. Most of Firewheel's season happens around lunchtime on weekends, so if you're trying to fit it in, look at Saturday mornings more than weeknights.
Two events need booking ahead. Santa photos go through Simon's reservation page, and Caring Santa is a private, sensory-friendly visit that requires a reservation. Santa Paws falls on the Sunday evening of Thanksgiving weekend. Simon's listing links to a booking page for pet photos too.
The weekend breakfast goes through one restaurant group
Santa's Breakfast Bonus is the event that sets the rhythm for most weekends. Every weekend from Nov. 21 through Dec. 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., kids who've booked Santa photos get a free pancake meal at Ferah Tex-Med. That's five weekends, or ten days. It's the only event on the calendar that repeats.
Ferah Tex-Med's group also has a newer restaurant at the center. Local Profile reported in June that Herb & Ember had opened at Firewheel. It's an American-style restaurant and craft cocktail lounge from Ferah Hospitality Group, the team behind Ferah Tex-Med Kitchen, and it sits across from Gloria's Latin Cuisine. Simon's current Firewheel directory lists it as a tenant.
This is Herb & Ember's first holiday season at the center. It also means one local restaurant group now runs both the daytime family breakfast and a cocktail-lounge dining room in the same open-air center. A Saturday can start with pancakes at Ferah Tex-Med after Santa photos. A Thursday night out for Sip, Shop & Be Merry can end across from Gloria's.
Dec. 3 through Dec. 6 is when both calendars meet
For most of the season, the Square downtown and the center on Cedar Sage Drive aren't competing for the same night. The first weekend of December is different. In four days, Firewheel's three December events surround the city's tree lighting:
- Thursday, Dec. 3, 6 to 9 p.m. Sip, Shop & Be Merry at Firewheel Town Center, with festive sips, special offers and in-store experiences.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 5 to 9 p.m. Garland Christmas on the Square at Downtown Garland Square. The tree lighting is at 6:30 p.m. The Visit Garland listing also mentions DJ Pree on an LED dance floor, Santa visits, interactive projector activities, a mega ball pit with slides, and La Grande's Feliz Navidad with holiday food, student performances and the North Pole Tubing Slide.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 2 p.m. Storytime with Santa at Barnes & Noble at Firewheel.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 10 to 11:30 a.m. Caring Santa, the sensory-friendly visit, by reservation.
The Breakfast Bonus also runs that Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you want to see as much as possible in a short stretch, that weekend fits two Santa visits, a bookstore storytime, a tree lighting and a weeknight shopping event into four days, with a free pancake meal for the kids on the weekend.
It also explains why the old "at Firewheel" listing can confuse people. If you search for Garland's Christmas event and land on the 2021 city calendar entry, you'll get the wrong place and the wrong date. The 2026 tree lighting is on the Square, Dec. 4, at 6:30 p.m.
Firewheel's directory has new names this season
The holiday calendar is set at a center that has added tenants since last December. According to the June 24 Local Profile report, these were already open by early summer:
- Herb & Ember, the Ferah Hospitality Group restaurant and cocktail lounge, across from Gloria's Latin Cuisine
- Oh K-Dog and Egg Toast, a Korean street food spot known for rice hot dogs with mozzarella, squid ink batter, rice cakes and potato coatings, next to Palio's Pizza Café
- Hertz Rent-A-Car, between Ulta Beauty and Men's Wearhouse
Two other names from that announcement have since shown up in current listings. LaserAway's own clinic locator lists a Dallas–Garland clinic at 320 Cedar Sage Drive and takes consultation bookings. Local Profile had placed it between Express and Kay Jewelers. J.Crew Factory, which was slated for the space next to Old Navy, now appears in Simon's Firewheel store directory.
For a December shopping list, that changes the walk. A stretch that runs from Old Navy past Express and Kay Jewelers has new neighbors on it this year. The food end of the center now includes a Korean street food counter next to a long-standing pizza café.
Past the center, two Firewheel projects to watch
The Firewheel area outside the shopping center has changed too. Garland city news lists the complete renovation of the Firewheel Golf Park Old Course among the City's recent accomplishments. So a December round on the Old Course is on the redone layout.
Garland's Aug. 12, 2026 economic development update says an H-E-B is planned for a 21-acre site between Crist Road and Firewheel Parkway along the President George Bush Turnpike, near Firewheel Town Center. For now, it's a planned site to watch on the drive along the Turnpike, not a stop for this year's holiday errands.
Back at the center, Simon lists the hours as 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The parade on Nov. 21 starts at 10:30 a.m., just after the doors open.
Planning your December around Firewheel and the Square, or trying to sort out which Saturdays you'll actually be home? At Jeanie Marten Real Estate, we live these northeast Dallas calendars too, and we're happy to talk about what's happening near you. Call Jeanie, and let's find your forever home.
