Holidays in Bellaire, 2026

October: pumpkins and a hunt

The Nature Discovery Center holds its Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch on Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The nature center sits in Russ Pitman Park, the city park at 7112 Newcastle St. The festival has no admission fee posted, but games and activities need a wristband, sold in advance online or at the event as a single-day or weekend pass. Pumpkins are sold at the Pumpkin Tent in several sizes, with curbside pickup, and wagon rides need a timed ticket bought ahead. The program lists festival games, crafts and face painting, a moonwalk and obstacle course, costume contests for people and for dogs, live animals, food trucks and local vendors. The center does not refund wristbands, wagon tickets or pumpkins.

The city's own Halloween event is the Great Pumpkin Hunt, on Thursday, October 29. The city's page says the hunt starts at 4:45 p.m. sharp, in capital letters, and invites children to come in costume if they like and hunt for toys, candy and prize-filled pumpkins, with music and face painting. Prizes go by age group: 2 and under, 3 to 4, 5 to 7, and 8 to 10. The city's page does not name a venue, so this guide does not either. It mentions no cost or registration, and the contact it lists is the parks department's address, the Bellaire Rec Center at 7008 5th St, so that is where to ask.

On Halloween morning, Saturday, October 31, West University Place, the small city next door, holds its Halloween Dash 5K and Kids Fun Run at its community center at 6104 Auden. The 5K starts at 8 a.m., the stroller and dog division at 8:10 and the one-mile Kids Fun Run at 8:45. Registration for the 5K is $40 through October 28 and $45 after that, and the Kids Fun Run is $35 through October 28 and $40 after.

November: Tents in Town

Tents in Town, an urban campout in its 17th year, runs from 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, to 10 a.m. on Sunday, November 8, at the Bellaire Civic Center and Great Lawn, 7008 S Rice Ave. Food and activities are included, with bounce houses, and you can bring your own tent or book a VIP spot where the organizers supply the tent, beds and linens. Tickets are sold online through Patrons for Bellaire Parks, the group behind the parks events site at bellaireparks.org: a family of four is $200 plus a $5 service fee, and the VIP family of four is $600 plus $15.

Thanksgiving week

City offices are closed on Thursday and Friday, November 26 and 27, for Thanksgiving, and the city's holiday list says there is no trash or recycling pickup on those dates. Trash and recycling are then collected on your next regular collection day, and the city asks you not to put them at the curb early. The city's Public Works department, which the city lists at 5808 S. Rice Avenue, runs collection itself rather than through a private hauler. The city's special events page lists no community Thanksgiving meal or turkey trot this year.

December: Santa and Holiday in the Park

Selfies with Santa is on Wednesday, December 2, at the Civic Center. Families decorate cookies and take pictures with Santa ahead of his official arrival at Holiday in the Park. The city's page lists time slots starting at 4:30 p.m., asks you to bring your own camera and carries a registration link with separate opening dates for residents and non-residents. That page still shows the 2025 date and dates, so expect the 2026 details to replace them.

The city's page does not name a venue, so this guide does not either.

Holiday in the Park is the city's welcome to the season, on Thursday, December 3, at Bellaire Town Square, 7008 S Rice Ave. The event's own page posts the 2026 date, the 6 to 8:30 p.m. time and the venue, and it promises music from local choirs, food and family fun. The page also mentions snow for the evening, which in Houston is a line to enjoy rather than plan around. It does not use the words tree lighting, and the city's special events page lists no Christmas parade or light display, so the festival is the season's one fixed point.

City offices close again on Thursday and Friday, December 24 and 25, for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and again there is no trash or recycling pickup. Which section of the city you are in comes from the service-area map. Applying the next-regular-day rule to the posted schedule, a Thursday trash section waits until Monday and a Friday section until Tuesday, at Thanksgiving and at Christmas alike, and Section E's Friday recycling waits a week.

Fireworks and open burning

Fireworks are not legal to discharge in Bellaire. The city's FAQ answers the question with a no and calls it a violation of city ordinance, cited as Ordinance No. 582, and Section 22-7 of the city code makes it unlawful to manufacture, store, sell, possess or set off fireworks within the city. The ban has no season, so it covers New Year's Eve as much as the Fourth of July.

Open burning is against the ordinance too. The city's FAQ says city ordinance does not allow any type of open burning, which puts the Harris County burn ban in effect since September 17, 2026 beside the point inside the city: that ban covers unincorporated Harris County, and Bellaire is an incorporated city with its own rule. The Bellaire Fire Department, at 5101 Jessamine St, has the FAQ page that lists both questions, and it is the place to read before you light anything.

Before you go

- Confirm the time for Selfies with Santa on the city's event page, which still shows last year's listing even though the Special Events page confirms the 2026 date, and read the Holiday in the Park page for any change to the 6 to 8:30 p.m. schedule. - Ask the Bellaire Rec Center where the Great Pumpkin Hunt is held, because the city's page gives a start time and prizes but no venue. - Buy Nature Discovery Center wristbands and wagon tickets with care, since the center does not refund them or the pumpkins. - Keep trash and recycling in the garage on closure days, because the city collects on your next regular collection day after a holiday. - Leave fireworks out of the city and skip the fire pit, because both are against city ordinance.

Sources

- City of Bellaire, The Great Pumpkin Hunt: https://bellairetx.gov/901/The-Great-Pumpkin-Hunt - City of Bellaire, Special Events: https://bellairetx.gov/715/Special-Events - City of Bellaire, Selfies with Santa: https://bellairetx.gov/1361/Selfies-with-Santa - City of Bellaire, Holiday in the Park: https://bellairetx.gov/717/Holiday-in-the-Park - City of Bellaire, City Holidays: https://www.bellairetx.gov/1877/City-Holidays - City of Bellaire, Solid Waste and Recycling Collection Schedules: https://www.bellairetx.gov/1241/Solid-Waste-and-Recycling-Collection-Sch - City of Bellaire, Fire Department FAQs: https://www.bellairetx.gov/faq.aspx?TID=3 - City of Bellaire, FAQ on fireworks: https://www.bellairetx.gov/m/faq?cat=0&searchTerms=fireworks - City of Bellaire, Code of Ordinances, Chapter 22 (Municode): https://library.municode.com/tx/bellaire/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH22OFIS - Nature Discovery Center, Pumpkin Patch Fall Festival: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/pumpkin-patch/ - Patrons for Bellaire Parks, Tents in Town 2026: https://www.bellaireparks.org/events-1/tents-in-town-2026 - City of West University Place, Halloween Dash and Kids Fun Run: https://www.westutx.gov/1453/West-U-Halloween-Dash-and-Kids-Fun-Run - Harris County Fire Marshal's Office, burn bans: https://www.hcfmo.net/Resources/Wildfire-Burn-Bans

En español

Bellaire celebra las fiestas a pequeña escala. El Nature Discovery Center tiene su Fall Festival y Pumpkin Patch el 17 y 18 de octubre, y la ciudad organiza la Great Pumpkin Hunt el jueves 29 de octubre a las 4:45 p.m. en punto; la página no indica el lugar. Tents in Town es el 7 y 8 de noviembre en el Bellaire Civic Center, con boletos en línea. Selfies with Santa es el 2 de diciembre y Holiday in the Park el jueves 3 de diciembre, de 6 a 8:30 p.m., en Bellaire Town Square. Las oficinas de la ciudad cierran el 26 y 27 de noviembre y el 24 y 25 de diciembre, sin recolección de basura. Los fuegos artificiales y la quema al aire libre están prohibidos por ordenanza municipal.