Belle Meade's Holiday Season Opens Eight Days Before the Lights Come On
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Belle Meade's 2026 holiday season runs on two clocks, and it starts before Cheekwood's Holiday LIGHTS does. Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery opens it for free on the evening of November 12. Cheekwood switches to winter daytime hours on November 3, and its decorated Historic Mansion is open by daylight as well as after dark. Holiday LIGHTS begins November 20 and covers the evenings. Warner Parks fills the weeks in between with its own small calendar.
If you live off Harding Pike or Belle Meade Boulevard, you can spread the season across November and December and skip the coldest, most expensive nights.
Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery's Holiday Open House runs Thursday, November 12, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m., and admission is free. The decorated Mansion is open for first-come, first-served walkthroughs. Santa and Mrs. Claus, carolers, crafts, tastings, food and seasonal cocktails round out the evening, and the shops and restaurants stay open throughout.
Arrive early if the Mansion is the reason you're going, since the walkthroughs aren't ticketed or timed. It's also the cheapest decorated-house visit of the season. A regular 45-minute Mansion Tour costs $32 for adults, $30 for seniors 65 and up and $20 for ages 5 to 17. Children 4 and under are free.
The site has a separate holiday option after the Open House. Its Holiday Family Tour runs from mid-November through December, with a Christmas-themed room-by-room tour of the Mansion and crafts. The grounds keep regular daytime hours, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Mansion tours leaving every 30 to 45 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
For lunch on the property:
A week after the Open House, on November 19, the site holds The Wine Workshop pt. 2 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. It's for ages 21 and up and costs $35, with optional charcuterie add-ons at $15 or $30. Cheekwood's Holiday LIGHTS Member Preview Night is the same evening.
On the west side of the neighborhood, Cheekwood switches to holiday hours on November 3. It will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and those hours run through January 29, 2027. Every guest needs a timed-entry ticket booked online, members included. Cheekwood is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
This year's Mansion installation also keeps daytime hours. An Enchanted Noel is a French-inspired holiday installation by Holiday Artistic Director Laura Dowling, a former Chief White House Floral Designer, and Guest Designer Mauricio Clavero Kozlowski. Each room presents a different French setting, from château celebrations and Versailles-inspired rooms to Marie-Antoinette's Hameau. A vintage-inspired hot air balloon with a blue-and-white striped canopy, handcrafted by Studio Cera Marie, hangs above the Loggia. The installation's posted hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. by day and 4:30 to 10 p.m. by night, from November 20 through January 3.
By day, you see it with a Gardens + Mansion ticket, which includes the Historic Mansion & Museum, its period rooms and the galleries. A Gardens Only ticket doesn't include the Mansion. One change on the grounds: the Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail is closed until further notice for construction.
Here's how the two shifts compare for one adult nonmember:
| Daytime visit | Holiday LIGHTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | Tue–Sun, 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | Nightly, 4:30–10 p.m. |
| Gardens only | $20–$26 | $26 non-peak, $29 peak |
| With Mansion | $26–$29 | $29 non-peak, $32 peak |
| Youth | $13–$22 depending on ticket | $20–$26 |
| Extras | $2 service fee, parking fee | $5 parking per vehicle |
The prices are close. The real difference is the conditions. By day you see An Enchanted Noel in natural light and still have time for lunch on Harding Pike, while the evening gets you a million lights outdoors in December temperatures.
Cheekwood's daytime calendar also has its own events:
From December 12 on, Santa is at Cheekwood during the day, so families with small children can see him without staying out late.
Holiday LIGHTS runs November 20, 2026, through January 3, 2027, from 4:30 to 10 p.m. It's closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is open the night of New Year's Day, even though Cheekwood is closed that day. The one-mile walking path goes past the Peppermint Path, the Star Field, a 28-foot Pixel Pine over the Bradford Robertson Color Garden and the permanent TRAINS! exhibit decorated as the Dancing Lights of TRAINS!
New this year are heated outdoor igloos. Each seats up to eight and includes blankets, a charcuterie or dessert board, a bottle of champagne and gardens admission. The Merry & Bright package costs $130 for members and $155 for nonmembers. It covers two adult Gardens & Mansion passes, two drink tickets, two s'mores kits and 10% off at the Holiday Marketplace, and it's good on any night at any time. Perenn serves hot chocolate, spiced cider and cookies from 4:30 to 8 p.m. on LIGHTS nights.
Late Night LIGHTS is the cheapest way in after dark. It's a garden-only entry at 8:30 p.m. on select Monday through Thursday nights, never on peak nights, for $20 per nonmember. Members pay $17 for adults and $13 for youth. If you live a few minutes away on Belle Meade Boulevard, a weeknight after dinner works well.
A few things to know before you go, from Cheekwood's Know Before You Glow page:
Since tickets can't be refunded and the path is uncovered, check the forecast before you book a night. A daytime ticket is a timed visit to the gardens and Mansion, and much of it is indoors.
Edwin and Percy Warner Parks have their own fall calendar, and it's busiest in early November. Friends of Warner Parks holds its annual Sunday in the Park luncheon on November 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Warner Park Nature Center's fall schedule includes:
The Nature Center is closed on Veterans Day, November 11, and over Thanksgiving, November 26 through 28. The parks are open seven days a week from sunrise to 11 p.m. That makes them the one place in the neighborhood open on Mondays, when Cheekwood's gardens are closed during the day.
Here's the whole season on one calendar:
The busiest stretch on the calendar runs from November 12 through November 21.
One thing the calendar doesn't have yet is anything new on Harding Pike. The Belle Meade Village redevelopment finished blasting on April 3, 2026, and moved into vertical concrete construction, according to City Now Next. AJ Capital has set 2028 as the completion target. For this year's holiday shopping and lunches, that leaves the Holiday Marketplace at Cheekwood and the shops and restaurants at the Historic Site.
If you're hosting family near Harding Pike this season and want to know what your home is worth before the new year, Jessica Cassalia can put together a free home valuation between your Cheekwood visits. Request yours anytime, and enjoy the Open House on the 12th.
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