Why do the rooflines on Colleyville Boulevard glow the same warm white, from shopping center to shopping center? The city wrote it into the rules. Since 2025, businesses along SH 26 that want help paying for holiday lights have had to use warm white C9 bulbs that are fully visible from the road, with the emphasis on rooflines and building outlines.
On Saturday, Nov. 21, the city lights its Christmas tree at Heroes Park at City Hall. The rebuilt park reopened in June, so this is the first tree lighting since it reopened. The light grant and the park get their money the same way. Both are funded through Colleyville's tax increment financing district. The look of the Boulevard and the setting for the city's biggest holiday night were paid for from the same place, and both were planned to last several seasons.
The Rules Behind the Rooflines
City Council approved the Christmas light grant at its Sept. 3, 2025 meeting, Community Impact reported. Assistant City Manager Adrienne Lothery told the outlet that businesses must use the same warm white lights the Boulevard had used in earlier years. The city also prefers large bulbs and lights that don't change color or flash. In other words, the grant takes a look the city already used along the road and carries it onto the buildings.
The application form spells out the terms:
| Rule | What the city's application says |
|---|---|
| Bulbs | Warm white, C9, fully visible from SH 26 |
| Placement | Rooflines and building outlines come first |
| Reimbursement | Up to 50% of approved lighting costs |
| Cap | $5,000 for shopping centers, $2,000 for individual businesses |
| Approval | Reviewed by the city's Beautification Committee |
| Duration | Lights are expected to be reused every year through 2031 |
| Payment | Issued only after installation is checked |
Two of those terms explain what you see driving the Boulevard. The 50% match means the business pays at least half the cost. The 2031 reuse clause means a business taking part is expected to put the same strings back up every year for several more years, and storage, repairs and maintenance are its own responsibility. Lights installed under the grant are meant to come back each season, not get swapped out for a new style.
The program is small. According to Community Impact, city officials set aside $50,000 a year for it from TIF funds. At the $5,000 cap for shopping centers, that covers ten centers at the full award. Lights on landscaping, trees and sidewalks can qualify too, if they can be seen from Colleyville Boulevard and are paired with roof and building outlines. The city's "Brighten Up the Boulevard" application window for 2026 runs Aug. 3 through Friday, Nov. 13. Expect the Boulevard to keep filling in over the next few weeks as approved displays go up.
The Same Fund Paid for Something Much Bigger
The light grant is a small line item. Heroes Park was a much larger project from the same fund. A January 2024 Community Impact report put the planned cost at $6.4 million, paid for with TIF funds. The city's Heroes Park page lists a construction contract of up to $6,076,985, plus a contingency of up to $500,000, also from TIF.
According to Freese and Nichols, the firm that designed it, the old memorial had become too small and isolated. When plans for nearby development changed, the city was able to expand the park and finish the civic campus. The rebuilt park covers 1.8 acres. It has a permanent performance pavilion, two shade structures, an entry portal and a large event lawn, all built next to the memorial walls.
Some of that design matters on a November evening. The stage pavilion was built with the structure, electrical service and equipment access needed for professional performances. The event lawn has drainage underneath so it recovers quickly after heavy rain. The project also added walking connections and reworked nearby roads, which link City Hall, the public library, Colleyville Plaza and Heroes Park more directly.
The park opened on June 26, 2026, the night of Stars and Guitars, with a grand opening and a ceremony honoring local heroes. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that 193 veterans would be honored at the opening, with roughly 430 spaces planned for recognition.
Since then, the city has moved its fall events there. National Night Out on Oct. 6 and the Harvest Festival on Oct. 17 were both held at Heroes Park at City Hall. The tree lighting is the next event on that list.
Tree Lighting Night, Nov. 21
The Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Main St. The city's posted schedule:
- 5:30 p.m. Gates open, with food trucks, balloon artists, photos with Santa and choir performances
- 5:45 p.m. Santa and Mayor Lindamood arrive down Main Street, and the tree lighting follows
- All evening Jingle Bell Junction, a Christmas trunk-or-treat run by local businesses and organizations
- All evening Santa's reindeer, plus a mailbox on the City Hall steps for letters to Santa
- Indoors The Community Decorated Christmas Tree Display, with winners announced that night
The decorated tree display is a change from past years. It is moving indoors, entries were due Nov. 2, and the city gave priority to Colleyville community groups. Jingle Bell Junction follows the same idea as the Boulevard lights, with local businesses supplying the decorations.
If you have children with you, get there by 5:45 p.m. Santa's walk down Main Street is the start of the evening, and the tree lighting comes right after it, so arriving late means missing both.
Before or After Santa, Walk the Memorial
Most people will come for the tree, but the rebuilt memorial opened in June, and you pass it on the way to the lawn. The park was designed so concertgoers walk past the memorial and families visiting the memorial tend to stay in the park. A short loop to take before the crowd builds:
- The flame sculpture. City leaders originally wanted an eternal flame at the center of the memorial plaza. An open flame next to City Hall raised safety concerns, so the designers built a custom metal flame lit from below and from the sides to look like a flickering fire. It shows up best after dark.
- The six bronze statues. Each represents a branch of the U.S. military. They stand in formation over the memorial plaza, saluting the national, state and military service flags.
- The six memorial walls. They trace major periods of American military history through timelines, maps, photographs and quotations. Each wall notes Colleyville's own connection to that period, and the last one looks ahead to a hope for lasting peace.
- The plaques and history walls. The lower walls carry engraved plaques for veterans and local heroes. The history walls tell how Colleyville grew from a rural farming community into the city it is now.
- The water walls. They sit between the stage and the memorial and soften the sound of performances. On a night with choirs on the stage, you can hear how they work.
The plaques can't be bought. The names on them come through the city's Heroes Park nomination process. Nominees can be military heroes who meet the honorable discharge and Colleyville-connection requirements, or community heroes whose service significantly benefited Colleyville. The Heroes Park Board reviews nominations during annual calls. If you notice a name you know on the walls on Nov. 21, that's how it got there.
The Rest of the Season
The city's business support runs through the rest of the year, too. Colleyville has run seasonal promotion programs every quarter since 2018. This quarter's program, #ColleyvilleGives, gives eligible businesses that collect sales tax up to $1,000 toward holiday advertising, plus another $1,000 if they donate $500 to a local nonprofit. Campaigns have to run by Dec. 31, 2026. When a local shop's holiday ad carries the #ColleyvilleGives hashtag, that's the program behind it.
Other dates on the calendar:
- First United Methodist Church of Colleyville Holiday Extravaganza. Craft fair, barbecue, bake sale and silent auction, with bidding closing Saturday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. Details are on the church's event page.
- Senior Holiday Party, Friday, Dec. 11. 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Colleyville Senior Center, with entertainment, lunch and a gift exchange, for $15.
- Holiday Dance, Wednesday, Dec. 16. 6 to 8 p.m. at the Senior Center, with music, refreshments and door prizes, for $5. Both Senior Center events are listed on Colleyville Parks and Recreation's special events page.
After the holidays, the next city event on the calendar is the 80s-themed Winter Ball for ages 4 to 12 at the Colleyville Center on Jan. 22, 2027.
At Rose Group Realty, we follow Colleyville's civic projects, from the TIF-funded park on Main Street to the business grants along SH 26, because they shape what everyday life looks like here. If you'd like to talk about what's changing near City Hall and along the Boulevard, schedule a free consultation with our team.
