Why University Park's Tree Lighting Is Leaving Snider Plaza This Year
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
University Park will light its holiday tree in Centennial Park on Sunday, Nov. 29. The event runs from 3 to 7 p.m., and the tree goes on at 6:30. The venue moved because Snider Plaza now has a new fountain. For years the big tree stood over the old fountain, and the redesign took away that spot.
The ceremony isn't the only thing changing. Its two pieces are splitting up. The stage, the Santa line and the moment the lights come on move to the park on University Boulevard. Snider Plaza keeps its holiday decorations, now arranged around the fountain at its center. So the season has two places to visit this year where it used to have one.
The past three seasons show the pattern.
| Year | Venue | Date | What stood at the center |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Centennial Park, 3800 University Blvd. | Sunday, Dec. 1 | The city's holiday tree in the park |
| 2025 | Snider Plaza | Sunday, Nov. 30 | Four smaller trees in place of the traditional large tree over the fountain |
| 2026 | Centennial Park, 3800 University Blvd. | Sunday, Nov. 29 | The city's holiday tree, lit at 6:30 p.m. |
The 2024 lighting went to the park the same year Snider Plaza was torn up for its improvement project. In June 2024, People Newspapers reported that Phase One construction was underway, covering new sidewalks and streets, landscaping, lighting and accessibility upgrades. By the next holiday season the plaza was finished, and the lighting went back. The 2025 program had music, live entertainment, Santa photos, an ice rink, a snow slide, and a 6:30 p.m. lighting of the plaza trees. That lineup looks a lot like this year's. The one thing missing was the large tree that had always stood at the plaza's center.
The renovated plaza opened by late August 2025. People Newspapers described a new fountain at its heart, similar in design to the one before it but fitted with newer, more efficient equipment and lighting. In its January 2026 newsletter, the city called the Snider Plaza Improvements Project complete as of 2025. The work delivered new pavement, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and the fountain.
To most people walking past, the fountain looks familiar. For the holiday crew, the changes underneath mattered. When the first post-renovation tree lighting came around, the city couldn't put up the usual centerpiece. In August 2026, People Newspapers reported that in 2025
"the traditional large tree over the fountain was replaced by four smaller trees due to changes in the fountain's design."
The same report covered the City Council's Aug. 18 work session, where members and staff planned this year's event. The lighting would move back to Centennial Park. Staff talked about adding food trucks and about whether to use a live or artificial tree. They also told the council the city still plans to decorate Snider Plaza, including the area around the new fountain.
That last point is why there are two holiday spots this year. The fountain's new design ended the single large tree at the plaza's center, so the ceremony moves to the park while the decorations stay around the fountain.
The city's Nov. 2 announcement lists the program for the afternoon of Nov. 29:
The food trucks connect straight back to the August work session, where staff discussed the idea. It makes sense in the park. On Snider Plaza, the plaza's own restaurants and cafes are the food. At 3800 University Boulevard, the city has to bring the food in.
Centennial Park is the old Goar Park, which was first dedicated in 1947. The City Council approved the new name on April 2, 2024, to mark University Park's centennial. The city's park page lists a gazebo, a picnic area along the Vassar side, soccer fields and trails.
This will be the park's second tree lighting since the rename. The first was on Dec. 1, 2024, the same year the new name took effect.
The ceremony leaves the plaza, but the plaza stays decorated. With no crowd gathering for a countdown, December on Snider Plaza is quieter. You see the decorations on a coffee run, a weeknight dinner, or a walk past the fountain after dark.
Two of the plaza's newest tenants share an address, 6600 Snider Plaza. Kilo Coffee opened in Suite 110 in September 2026. It's run by siblings Alex, Victoria and Ryan Vu with Anthony and Bao Nguyen, and Daily Coffee News covered the opening in late October. The same address is home to the Snider Plaza location of Sueño. It comes from founders Julio Pineda and Cristian Lujano, in partnership with The Bellomy Group, according to PaperCity.
Both arrived in 2026, after last year's plaza lighting. This season they'll be part of how the decorated plaza looks and feels, with the holiday crowd gone and the fountain lit.
Moving the lighting to Centennial Park also puts it the night before SMU's own tree lighting. Here's the calendar from Thanksgiving weekend into early December.
The first two dates come one night apart this year. The city's Sunday ceremony is the last day of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and SMU's lawn lights up Monday. With the UP Public Library running crafts at the park on Sunday and its Friends group holding the book sale the next weekend, the library shows up at both ends of the stretch.
For the city's own event, the details to plan around are on the University Park news flash: Centennial Park, Sunday, Nov. 29, lights at 6:30. The decorated fountain on Snider Plaza is there all season.
At Modern Living Group, we pay attention to how a fountain, a park, or the timing of one evening shapes life on the blocks around it. If you're thinking about which part of University Park fits the way your household spends its seasons, Let's Start a Conversation.
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