Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. Bee Cave's busiest stretch of the season comes the week before, from Thursday, October 22 through Sunday, October 25. In those four days the City of Bee Cave and Hill Country Galleria have lined up a haunted trail on two nights, an art festival, a classic car show and a trunk-or-treat. The haunted trail and the art festival are free, and the car show is free for spectators.
Bee Cave has held some of these events for years. The 2026 change is that an art festival that used to happen in early summer, and then in late September, landed on Saturday, October 24. That one move fills the gap between the trail nights and the Sunday car show. For anyone in Spanish Oaks, it means a full long weekend of things to do a short drive from the gate.
The four days, in order
| Day | Event | Hours | Where | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct. 22 | Bee Cave Haunted Trail | 7–9 p.m. | Trailhead near Chick-fil-A, 3600 Ranch Road 620 | Teens and adults |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Bee Cave Haunted Trail | 7–9 p.m. | Same trailhead | Teens and adults |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Common Ground Art Fest | 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Hill Country Galleria central plaza | All ages |
| Sun, Oct. 25 | Trunk or Treat | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | Hill Country Blvd. at the Galleria | Families with young kids |
| Sun, Oct. 25 | Rolling Sculpture Car Show | 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Hill Country Galleria | All ages |
Read from top to bottom, the schedule also runs from oldest audience to youngest. It opens with two nights the city recommends for teens and adults and ends with a Sunday morning built around candy for small children. Each household can pick the days that suit its ages without the events competing for the same crowd.
How an art fair ended up on Halloween weekend
The Saturday event comes from Contracommon, an artist-run nonprofit. Through a partnership with Hill Country Galleria, it runs an experimental gallery and affordable studio space for emerging artists. So the festival is put on by a group that works at the Galleria year-round, not a traveling show.
The festival's date has moved more than once. It started on Saturday, June 5, 2021, as the First Annual Summer Arts + Music Festival, with 30-plus artist vendors on the Galleria's central plaza. After four years as the Summer Arts Festival, it was renamed Common Ground Art Fest for its fifth year, held on Saturday, September 27, 2025, with 35-plus vendors. The sixth annual edition is Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It lists 30-plus creative vendors, four live music acts and free hands-on activities for all ages.
That's a move of more than four months across six years. The Galleria's own listing says the festival "directly supports the emerging artists and makers of Central Texas." In practice, it's now one of the better places in Bee Cave to buy something handmade before the holidays, and it happens to fall the day after the last haunted-trail night.
Thursday and Friday are for older kids and adults
The Bee Cave Haunted Trail runs both nights from 7 to 9 p.m. on the trail behind the Chick-fil-A at 3600 Ranch Road 620. The city's event page says the trail "is transformed into several scary scenes" and recommends it for teens and adults "because it is extra spooky." Costumes are encouraged.
Parking catches people off guard. The city tells visitors to park at Home Depot and walk down to where the trail starts behind Chick-fil-A. Plan for a short walk in the dark, and bring a phone light for the route back to the car.
The trail has been around for a while. Community Impact reported in 2022 that the city-run event was returning for its second year, after starting in 2021. The 2022 version added daytime family activities and ran on October 30. The 2026 version is different: two weeknight evenings aimed at an older crowd, with Hill Country Indoor as sponsor. The family-friendly part of the weekend has moved to Sunday at the Galleria.
The scares are staffed by volunteers. The city is recruiting through a sign-up form on the event page, and volunteers must be 18 or older. Adults who'd rather work the trail than walk it can sign up there.
Sunday is two events on one street
Sunday's two events overlap on purpose. The city's Trunk or Treat page says it runs "in conjunction with the Rolling Sculpture Car Show." Families can come in costume, walk down Hill Country Boulevard collecting candy and look at the cars along the way. Trunk or Treat runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 12700 Hill Country Blvd., and Target is the sponsor.
The car show starts at the same time but goes two hours longer, until 3 p.m. Its Galleria listing promises "collector cars, sports & exotics, modern classics, hot rods, art cars" lining the streets, with live music, awards from sponsors and free admission for spectators. It runs rain or shine, and show-car parking opens at 10 a.m. With young children, it makes sense to arrive early and finish the candy route before 1 p.m. Car fans who come later get a quieter street with the cars still on display.
All car show proceeds go to the Bee Cave Public Library. The Rolling Sculpture site says the show has raised $148,000 for the library since it began in 2008. Its About page gives a lower figure of more than $101,000. That page appears older, so the homepage total is the more recent number. The About page also says the money funds library scholarships and programs, including the Books and Bees Festival since 2022, and that the show has featured more than 200 collector vehicles. A Sunday spent looking at cars also helps pay for the library's children's programs.
The city's online calendar lists Sunday's events only as "Car Show" and "Trunk or Treat," both at 10 a.m. The "Car Show" entry is Rolling Sculpture. These are two separate events, coordinated to share one stretch of Hill Country Boulevard on the same morning.
The Saturdays before and after
The Galleria fills the Saturdays around the four-day stretch too, so the whole of October has something on.
- Saturday, October 10: the AIM Fun Run is on the Galleria's events calendar.
- Saturday, October 17, 3 to 7 p.m.: Oktoberfest at Hill Country Galleria brings live music, Oktoberfest-style food from The League Kitchen + Tavern, imported and local beers, yard games, face painting and balloon art. It also has a stein-holding contest and a costume contest with a YETI cooler as the prize. The winner is announced at 5:30 p.m., and the Galleria suggests bringing blankets and lawn chairs.
- Saturday, October 31: the Galleria has Halloween Trick or Treat on its calendar for the day itself.
Oktoberfest also sets up the costume theme a week early. A dirndl or lederhosen bought for the 17th can easily come back out for Sunday's Trunk or Treat on the 25th.
One practical note for families: the Galleria's event pages currently show the splash pad as temporarily closed. Don't count on it as a stop between the art fest and dinner. And because the trail parking at Home Depot and Sunday's events on Hill Country Boulevard are in different spots, it helps to know where you're going each day before you leave.
If you'll have family in town for the car show and someone starts asking what homes inside the Spanish Oaks gate actually trade for, Nicole Cooper can walk them through it on a live video call. You can set one up before the 25th or after the last candy is gone.
