On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Downtown Saturday Market sets up in Avalon Park Wesley Chapel at 10 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m. Three hours after the market closes, the opening night of Symphony in Lights starts at The Shops at Wiregrass. That night includes a 300-drone show, Santa arriving on a Pasco County Fire Rescue truck, and a tree lighting under more than 300,000 lights. Four weeks later, on Dec. 12, Avalon Park hosts both events that day: the morning market and then Avalon Aglow in the evening.
That pattern holds for the whole season. Wesley Chapel now has three places that host holiday gatherings, and each one keeps a different schedule. Wiregrass runs every night. Avalon Park runs on set Saturdays. The Hub at Lexington Oaks, the newest of the three, plans its courtyard gatherings for the third Friday of each month. Once you know which schedule a place keeps, you can plan the next seven weeks.
Wiregrass Keeps the Nightly Schedule
The Shops at Wiregrass is the only one of the three with something on every night. After the Symphony in Lights Opening Night Spectacular on Nov. 14, which runs from 5 to 9:30 p.m. and is presented by AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, the light show repeats nightly from Nov. 15 through Dec. 31. Shows start at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m., weather permitting. SkyElements is producing the opening-night drone show, and the tree lighting comes after it.
Since the shows start on the hour, you can treat Wiregrass as a weeknight stop. Pick a show time, finish dinner, and walk out for the next one. Cowboy Claus is listed at the center from Nov. 17 through Dec. 22, which covers most of the season. MINISO also scheduled its grand opening and ribbon-cutting at Wiregrass for Nov. 7 at 10 a.m., so the center has a new store heading into gift season.
The S.R. 56 restaurant row near Wiregrass is also changing over the holidays. The Tampa Bay Beacons reported that Darden Restaurants planned to close the Bahama Breeze at 25830 Sierra Center Blvd. on Nov. 7, after eight years there, and convert the building into a Yard House, with opening expected Dec. 9. The same report says Yard House is a sports bar-style restaurant known for a long menu and a large draft beer list, and that its other Tampa location is at Water Street. If the Dec. 9 date holds, the restaurant opens with just over three weeks of Symphony in Lights left.
Avalon Park Keeps a Saturday Schedule
Avalon Park Wesley Chapel has no nightly show. It holds its events on specific Saturdays. Its events calendar lists the Downtown Saturday Market on four dates through the end of the year, each from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 14
- Saturday, Nov. 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving
- Saturday, Dec. 12, the same day as Avalon Aglow
- Saturday, Dec. 26, the day after Christmas
The downtown also has a new space this season. Avalon Park Group opened a community park there on Sept. 25 with live music and family activities, according to the Tampa Bay Beacons. At the opening, the group announced the winner of a naming contest. The park is now Avalon Park Common, a name submitted by community member Desiree Gutierrez. A bandshell is scheduled to open there in early 2027.
Avalon Aglow is the busiest date on Avalon Park's calendar. It runs Saturday, Dec. 12, from 5 to 9 p.m. at 4424 Friendly Way, with pictures with Santa, vendors, live music, a bounce park and a fireworks show to close the night. The organizer lists it as free and open to the public. A Kids Market runs alongside it during the same hours, and the community's event page also links to a front porch decorating contest.
Avalon Park also lists phone and email contacts for questions about its events: 813-783-1515 or [email protected].
The Hub Plans Its Courtyard Around Third Fridays
The Hub at Lexington Oaks is the third gathering place. It is at 26967 Halter Loop, on the southwest corner of Wesley Chapel and Lexington Oaks boulevards, in front of the Sentosa Lexington Oaks apartments. It held its grand opening in late October. The center has six buildings around an open-air courtyard shaded by decorative artificial trees. According to the Tampa Bay Beacons, the covered courtyard hosts live DJs and family events, plus markets and gatherings on the third Friday of each month. For the rest of 2026, those third Fridays are Nov. 20 and Dec. 18.
Those two Fridays fill gaps in the other calendars. Avalon Park's events fall on Saturdays, and Wiregrass's light show plays every night. The Hub's Friday evenings fall between them. Its tenants also cover more ground than a typical holiday stop. The Beacons' list of tenants includes:
- Farmer's Milk Café and Bakery, a Ukrainian café with more than 20 locations in Ukraine, opening its third U.S. location here after Miami and Chicago. It is known for its Kyiv cake, made with layers of crunchy pastry, buttercream and hazelnuts, and it makes its yogurt, coffee drinks and pastries from scratch with milk from a farm in Okeechobee.
- The Clubhouse, an indoor golf simulator lounge with six bays and more than 3,000 courses, owned by brothers Mark and Tyler Ward.
- Bonchon, a sit-down Korean pub with a full bar, and La Creación Bistro, which serves American-Puerto Rican fusion at brunch, lunch and dinner.
- Cinnaholic, a cinnamon roll bakery with 20 frosting flavors.
- Brew Bar Self Pour and Urban Crunch Creamery Café, which share a space with a self-pour tap wall in the back and ice cream and specialty lattes in front.
- Tampa Joe's Restaurant and Sports Bar, relocated from its original spot on Anderson Road in Tampa.
- Pet Wants and Headlines Barber Shop.
Mark Ward grew up in Wesley Chapel and graduated from Wesley Chapel High School. He told the Tampa Bay Beacons that the goal is for a group "to split the price with your foursome and be able to play golf year-round, even when it's hot and muggy outside." Bays rent by the hour for one player or a group.
The Hub lists four more tenants as coming soon: Saigon Pho, The Monk's Indian Fusion Cuisine, Island Grill, which serves Caribbean fusion, and The Landing Bar & Grill.
The Season on One Calendar
When you put the three schedules side by side, the two busiest Saturdays bookend the season, the Fridays fill the gaps between them, and Wiregrass runs under all of it.
| Date | Day | Where | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 14 | Saturday | Avalon Park | Downtown Saturday Market, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Nov. 14 | Saturday | The Shops at Wiregrass | Symphony in Lights opening night, 5–9:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 15–Dec. 31 | Nightly | The Shops at Wiregrass | Light shows at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m. |
| Nov. 17–Dec. 22 | Listed span | The Shops at Wiregrass | Cowboy Claus |
| Nov. 20 | Friday | The Hub at Lexington Oaks | Third-Friday courtyard gathering |
| Nov. 28 | Saturday | Avalon Park | Downtown Saturday Market, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Dec. 9 | Wednesday | 25830 Sierra Center Blvd. | Expected Yard House opening |
| Dec. 12 | Saturday | Avalon Park | Market, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.; Avalon Aglow and Kids Market, 5–9 p.m. |
| Dec. 18 | Friday | The Hub at Lexington Oaks | Third-Friday courtyard gathering |
| Dec. 26 | Saturday | Avalon Park | Downtown Saturday Market, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
The Roads Between the Three
Getting between the three centers means using the interchanges and corridors where FDOT is working this season. The most immediate closure is tonight. FDOT scheduled an overnight closure of the southbound I-75 Exit 279 ramp to CR 54 from 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, to 6 a.m. Friday, weather permitting, with Sunday, Nov. 15, as the alternate. The detour sends drivers to Exit 282 at Overpass Road and then Old Pasco Road. If weather moves the work to Nov. 15, the closure falls on the night after Wiregrass's opening. The project widens that ramp for dual left turns onto eastbound CR 54, toward Avalon Park, and has an estimated completion of spring 2027.
On the Wiregrass side, FDOT's resurfacing of S.R. 56 runs from west of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to east of Meadow Pointe Boulevard. It also covers Bruce B. Downs from S.R. 56 to south of CR 54. Work began Aug. 24, 2026, and has an estimated completion of fall 2027, so it will continue through this holiday season and next.
Overpass Road, the detour route for the Exit 279 closure, is also the site of a coming business. The Tampa Bay Beacons reported that Andy's Frozen Custard received a Pasco County site-development permit on Sept. 8 and a building permit on Sept. 25. The plans call for a standalone shop in the Epperson Ranch Town Center, just west of the Chase Bank near Curley Road. They include a drive-thru, a walk-up window and a 747-square-foot covered area.
Our team spends a lot of time in Wesley Chapel, and we keep track of what is opening, what is moving and which roads are closed, because those details matter to the homeowners we work with. If you're thinking about how this season's changes along S.R. 56, CR 54 and Wesley Chapel Boulevard affect your own home's value, the Brenda Wade Team is glad to walk you through it whenever you're ready.
