At 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 12, 2026, the Lone Star Christmas Parade leaves CB Stuart in Montgomery and turns west onto SH 105. At noon, about the time those floats finish, the Downtown Conroe Christmas Parade starts its run through downtown Conroe.
If you live around the lake, both towns are within reach, and both are throwing their biggest holiday day of the year on the same Saturday. The schedules line up well enough to do both. The catch is a single fact about Montgomery's route, and it decides which order works.
Montgomery's parade uses the highway between the two towns
The City of Montgomery's 2026 route map has the parade starting at CB Stuart, heading west on SH 105, north on SH 149, then east on Clepper Street and back toward CB Stuart. The map also marks parade staging, shuttle stops, and spectator parking at the stadium. The city has scheduled the parade for 10 a.m. to noon. Entries are capped at 100, and registration closes October 31 or when the cap fills. You can see the route map from the city's Lone Star Christmas Parade page.
The city's 2026 notice doesn't say when streets close. The most recent closure details come from 2024. That year, Montgomery County News reported that SH 105 would close at 9:45 a.m. and stay closed until the parade ended. It also pointed visitors to city shuttles from the MISD stadium, running every 10 minutes from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. That's last cycle's plan, not a 2026 promise. Still, it shows how the day has worked before. While the Lone Star parade is moving, the stretch of SH 105 through historic Montgomery belongs to the parade.
That's why the order matters. If you start in Montgomery at 10, you'll be leaving as the noon parade in Conroe begins. If you start in Conroe, you'll miss Montgomery's morning entirely.
Montgomery's day keeps going after the parade
The parade is the City of Montgomery's piece. Most of the day belongs to the Montgomery Historical Society, which runs Christmas in Historic Montgomery from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The city's own notice says each event has its own organizer and its own registration, even though the two groups plan the day together.
The society's schedule, as listed for 2026:
- Holiday Marketplace, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Montgomery Community Center, 14420 Liberty Street, with handmade gifts, arts, and crafts
- 36th Annual Cookie Walk, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., same building. You fill a box with decorated holiday cookies and candies at $10 per pound, while supplies last
- 49th Annual Candlelight Home Tour, 4 to 7 p.m., covering historic churches, homes, landmarks, and Ferland Historical Park lit by luminaria
Candlelight tour tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students, and free for children 4 and under. You can buy them online at mhs-tx.org or in person at the N.H. Davis Museum, 14264 Liberty Street. The Cookie Walk and the tour are the society's signature fundraisers. The money helps maintain its historic buildings and funds scholarships for seniors at Montgomery's two high schools.
The society's 2026 page links a flyer and a press release for the day, and those are the place to look for this year's tour stops. What you can count on is the hour. The tour starts at 4 p.m., as daylight fades, because luminaria need dark to do their work.
The schedule shapes the whole day. Montgomery front-loads its parade and saves its best evening event for last, with the middle hours given to shopping and cookies. That leaves a natural window to cross to the other side of the lake and come back.
Conroe holds the middle of the day
Conroe runs on a tighter clock. The City of Conroe's Toby Powell Conroe Christmas Celebration runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Heritage Place, 500 Metcalf Street. The Downtown Conroe Association's parade goes from noon to 2 p.m., timed to work with the celebration. Admission is free, and the family activities at Heritage Place include a visit with Santa.
This year's parade theme is "An American Christmas Celebrating the 250 years of our Country." Expect floats, marching bands, decorated vehicles, first responders, and local organizations. Barsh Auto is the presenting sponsor. In July, the Houston Chronicle reported that the parade will follow its traditional route. No 2026 street-by-street route or closure schedule has been published yet.
Conroe's schedule fits neatly inside Montgomery's gap. Heritage Place closes at 4 p.m., the same hour the Candlelight tour opens. One town's events wind down just as the other's evening begins.
One Saturday, in order
These are the times as published. Keep in mind that the drive back to SH 105 depends on closures nobody has announced for 2026.
- 9 a.m., Montgomery. The Holiday Marketplace opens at the Montgomery Community Center. If you plan to shop, this is the early window.
- 10 a.m., Montgomery. The Lone Star Christmas Parade steps off. Based on the 2024 pattern, look into the MISD stadium shuttle instead of hunting for parking near the route.
- 11 a.m., Montgomery. The Cookie Walk opens. Cookies go while supplies last, so if they're on your list, buy them before you leave town.
- Late morning to midday, cross to Conroe. The Downtown Conroe parade starts at noon. If you watched all of Montgomery's parade, you'll get to Conroe after it starts. The parade runs until 2 p.m., and Heritage Place stays open until 4.
- Afternoon, Heritage Place. Santa and the family activities run until 4 p.m.
- 4 to 7 p.m., back to Montgomery. The Candlelight Home Tour runs at dusk. Buying tickets online ahead of time saves a stop at the N.H. Davis Museum.
If you'd rather see the Conroe parade start to finish, flip the morning. Do the Marketplace at 9, leave Montgomery before its parade begins, spend noon to 4 in Conroe, and come back for the luminaria. You give up the Lone Star parade and the Cookie Walk, which opens at 11 and closes at 4, and you keep the Marketplace, all of Conroe, and the Candlelight tour.
Conroe opens the season eleven days earlier
If December 12 is already spoken for, Conroe has a weeknight that comes first. The City of Conroe's Tree Lighting Ceremony is Tuesday, December 1, at Heritage Place. The city's page lists it for 6:30 to 7 p.m., while the Downtown Conroe page gives a 6 p.m. start, so confirm the time closer to the date. Christmas Around the Square is downtown at 210 North Main Street that same evening, with free activities, vendors, Santa, and entertainment.
The same week, a quieter contest gets underway. For Visit Conroe's Deck the Hall contest, local organizations decorate trees from November 23 to 25. The public votes December 1 through 11, and the winner is announced December 15. The trees are on display at the Visitors Center at City Hall. Voting closes the night before the double Saturday, so if you plan to cast a vote, the December 1 tree lighting is a good time to do it.
The lake has no confirmed date of its own
The water itself has no confirmed holiday event yet. Last year, Lake Conroe LIVE posted that there would be no official Lake Conroe Christmas Boat Parade in 2025. The group said it was putting its effort into a "ONE OF A KIND Community Event for 2026," asked people to check its official site and social media for updates, and warned about misleading information. That page gives no date, location, or format for the 2026 event.
A lighted boat parade on Lake Conroe does have history. Montgomery County News listed a Lake Conroe Christmas Boat Parade of Lights on Saturday, December 12, 2020. That was six years ago, and nothing confirms a repeat. If Lake Conroe LIVE does announce a date, check it against December 12 before you commit to the two-town loop.
If December on the lake has you wondering which side you'd rather be close to on a parade Saturday, Montgomery's square or downtown Conroe, Melissa King can walk through how each part of the lake connects to both towns. Book a complimentary home strategy call, and we'll take care of the details.
