"Life needs to be celebrated," Sherry Cheng told Freese and Nichols, the firm where she managed the design of Heroes Park. "Although this is a memorial park, it should also be a place where people gather, celebrate and reflect on the important things in life."
This Saturday, November 21, puts that idea to its first holiday test. The city calendar lists the Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration at Heroes Park, 97 Piazza Lane, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. It's the first tree lighting since the park opened in June. Most people coming for Santa and the tree have never been to the new park. To reach the lawn, they'll pass memorial walls, bronze statues and an illuminated flame, and the park was designed to work that way.
From the City Hall steps to a 1.8-acre event lawn
The tree lighting has been held in front of City Hall for years. The new venue is right next door, but it was built for a different purpose.
- November 23, 2024: The city listed the celebration at the Plaza at City Hall, 90 Main Street. That year it had a giant snow globe, a Christmas light tunnel and Polar Express hot chocolate drinks from local businesses.
- November 22, 2025: The Dallas Morning News again listed it outside City Hall at 90 Main St. Mayor Bobby Lindamood and Santa came down Main Street before the 5:45 p.m. lighting. A city-sponsored preview in Community Impact said the event had been moved earlier in the season to give residents more time with the lights.
- November 21, 2026: Same hours, now at Heroes Park. The park sits just south of City Hall, so the city's event description still talks about the tree outside City Hall and a mailbox on its steps.
The old Heroes Park was a small memorial next to City Hall. According to Freese and Nichols, the city decided it had become "too small and isolated." When plans for nearby development changed, there was room to expand the park and finish the civic campus. The new 1.8-acre park cost $6.08 million, paid from Colleyville's Tax Increment Finance fund. Freese and Nichols describes it as "the centerpiece of Colleyville's Town Center and civic campus."
A stage, a lawn, and a memorial on the way in
Before this year, the tree lighting happened on a plaza in front of a government building. Heroes Park has a permanent performance pavilion, two shade structures, an entry portal and a large event lawn. The design team planned for crowds of thousands, and Freese and Nichols says the pavilion has the structural and electrical systems needed for professional performances. The lawn has drainage underneath so it recovers quickly after heavy rain. That matters for an outdoor event in late November.
The memorial and the event space are not separate areas. Water walls next to the stage soften the sound of performances, and the memorial walls mark the edge between the lawn and the quieter plazas. "Visitors attending a concert naturally encounter the memorial," Freese and Nichols writes. Here's what you'll pass on the way to the tree:
- Six memorial walls. They cover major periods of American military history with timelines, maps, photographs and quotations, and each one ties that era to Colleyville. The last wall looks toward lasting peace.
- Six bronze statues, one for each branch of the U.S. military, standing in formation over the memorial plaza.
- The flame. City leaders wanted an eternal flame, but an open flame so close to City Hall raised safety concerns. The designers built a custom metal flame instead, lit from below and from the sides, which looks like it flickers. After dark, it's one of the park's most recognizable features.
- Engraved plaques on lower walls for veterans and local heroes, plus history walls that tell how Colleyville grew from a farming community.
The first group of honorees had 193 names, mostly veterans with ties to the community. The city's nomination page says the walls have room for more than 400. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Scotty Richardson, who served on the park committee, described the goal before the opening:
"It'll be very visual; it's not a way off somewhere forgotten. There's going to be a lot of events and we will always remember our veterans while there."
He said that in a city-sponsored Community Impact feature. The park's first big event was Stars & Guitars on June 26. The Star-Telegram reported plans for an opening ceremony and hero induction followed by a Craig Morgan concert. Freese and Nichols confirmed that the celebration took place at the new pavilion. Saturday will be the park's first holiday event.
Saturday, in order
The city has published the program. Here's the order of the evening:
- 5:30 p.m. The event starts. It runs until 8:30 p.m.
- 5:45 p.m. Santa and Mayor Lindamood arrive down Main Street.
- Right after the arrival, the tree is lit.
The city also lists these activities for the evening without set times: balloon artists, photos with Santa, food trucks, choir performances, Santa's reindeer, and Jingle Bell Junction, which it describes as a Christmas-themed trunk-or-treat run by local businesses and organizations. Children can drop letters in the magic mailbox, and the city says Santa and Mrs. Claus will deliver them in person at the event.
The program is three hours long, but the main moment comes 15 minutes after the start. To see the Main Street arrival and the lighting, plan to be there when the event opens at 5:30. The memorial walls are there for the rest of the evening.
The Village gets a winter crowd
Heroes Park sits inside The Village, which includes City Hall, the library and the surrounding shops. The Village has been working to become a destination, and Saturday adds a holiday crowd to that effort.
In March 2026, Community Impact reported that retail and restaurant occupancy in The Village rose from 63% in January 2025 to 88.3% in January 2026, according to Chelsea Rose, Colleyville's economic development director. The same article said The Village had just two restaurants at the time, Temple Coffee & Eatery and Chick-fil-A. Council member Mark Alphonso told the outlet that the next step was "continued growth in restaurants and retail."
So the new park has a lawn built for thousands, and in March the blocks around it had two places to eat. That makes the food trucks a bigger part of Saturday's dinner plans. Some other options:
- Temple Coffee & Eatery in The Village. Colleyville Chamber President Hannah Mack told Community Impact she often sends groups there.
- Zalat Pizza, at 5615 Colleyville Blvd., Suite 310, in Colleyville Town Center. It opened on Feb. 23, Community Impact reported.
Parking has long been an issue in The Village. Erin Letz, a co-owner of Modern Grace and Co., told Community Impact that the area needs to be easier to park in to feel like "that walkable, charming destination we all picture." The city made a parking map for The Village. Rose also said a new road from Terra Cotta Way to City Hall, part of the Heroes Park project, would open up more parking once construction was done. Freese and Nichols says the project reworked nearby roads and added walking connections between City Hall, the library, Colleyville Plaza and Heroes Park. Saturday will be the first time those connections carry a holiday crowd.
Before and after Saturday
Friday, Nov. 20, 9 a.m. Little Diggers has its grand opening at 5600 Colleyville Blvd., Ste. J. It's a 1,200-square-foot indoor sandbox for children 7 and under. Community Impact's August list of upcoming openings had expected it to open in October.
Friday, Dec. 11. Colleyville Parks and Recreation holds its Senior Holiday Party at the Colleyville Senior Center, 2512 Glade Road. It includes lunch, entertainment and a $10 gift exchange. The fee is $15, and you need to register by Dec. 4.
Through Dec. 30. Hero nominations are open. The city's rules accept nominations each year from July 1 to December 30, and the Heroes Park Board reviews them. New honorees are announced at Stars & Guitars, which is usually held in June. The nomination page has separate forms for military and community heroes. If you see a family member's name on the walls Saturday or notice one missing, this is the window to submit it before next summer's induction.
At Torelli Properties Group, we spend a lot of time in Colleyville's civic heart, from Main Street to the Village blocks around Heroes Park. If you'd like to talk about how the Town Center is changing and what it could mean for your own plans, Schedule Your Personalized Consultation.
