Your Holiday Guide to Fort Worth
Celebrate the Holidays in Fort Worth
Few cities do the holidays like Fort Worth. In the Stockyards, more than a century of Western tradition meets the season head-on: cattle drives in December cold, lights down Exchange Avenue, Santa in a cowboy hat.
This guide covers the city’s best of the season, from Christmas markets to New Year’s Eve. Whether you’re planning a family getaway, a romantic escape, or one legendary New Year’s Eve, consider this your trail map to the most wonderful time of the year.
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Christmas in the Stockyards
If there’s one tradition worth hitching your wagon to, it’s Christmas in the Stockyards. Each holiday season, the historic Fort Worth Stockyards transforms into a Western winter wonderland.
- The Stockyards Cattle Drive: Catch the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive down Exchange Avenue, led by real Texas cowhands. If you time it right, you might even spot a certain man in red riding alongside the herd.
- Stroll Mule Alley: Take photos with Cowboy Santa, sip hot cocoa while live music drifts from The Backyard, and catch holiday performances at Cowtown Coliseum.
- 12 Days of Drover: Our guest-exclusive 12 Days of Drover experience brings holiday magic to life with fireside s’mores, festive cocktails, and special appearances by Cowboy Santa and his live reindeer.
Christmas in Fort Worth
Beyond the Stockyards, Christmas in Fort Worth shines from every corner of the city.
- Sundance Square Tree Lighting: Downtown Fort Worth kicks off the season in grand style with the Sundance Square Tree Lighting, when a towering tree flickers to life in the heart of the plaza.
- Christmas in the Garden: The Fort Worth Botanic Garden dresses up for the holidays with Christmas in the Garden, a glittering trail of lights winding through the grounds.
- Beyond Cowtown: Dallas Zoo Lights: Feeling like a short trail ride east? The Dallas Zoo Lights display turns the zoo into a glowing menagerie of larger-than-life lanterns and light displays, about 45 minutes from the Stockyards.
Holiday Markets in Fort Worth
No holiday roundup is complete without a little Christmas shopping, and Fort Worth does markets right.
- Clearfork Holiday Market: Set along the Trinity River, the Clearfork Holiday Market gathers local artisans, makers, and merchants for a festive open-air shopping experience. It’s the place to rustle up one-of-a-kind gifts you won’t find anywhere else.
- Mule Alley & The Stockyards: Closer to home, the shops of Mule Alley offer premium Western retail, handcrafted goods, and gifts with genuine Texas soul. Custom hats, handmade boots, artisan leather, the kind of presents that get better with age.
New Year's Eve in Fort Worth
New Year’s Eve in Fort Worth is a boot-scootin’ affair, and nobody rings in the new year quite like the Stockyards.
- Billy Bob’s Texas: Dance into the new year at the world’s largest honky-tonk
- 97 West Kitchen & Bar: Keep it closer to the home with an elevated evening at 97 West Kitchen & Bar, where wood-fired Texas fare and a raised glass of bubbly make for a mighty fine send-off to the year.
Make it easy on yourself: book a room upstairs, at Hotel Drover, celebrate as long as your boots hold out, and greet the new year with a slow morning and a strong cup of coffee on the veranda.
Stay Awhile This Holiday Season
From Christmas in the Stockyards to New Year’s in Fort Worth, the season is best spent where the lights are warmest and the welcome is genuine. Make Hotel Drover your holiday homestead: rustic luxury, legendary hospitality, and the whole festive West right outside your door.
