December 5 Is the Day Oak Forest's Holiday Calendar Comes Together
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, December 5, runners in Santa hats will gather by the swimming pool area at T.C. Jester Park. At 1:30 that afternoon, families will be filing into the Conference Room at the Oak Forest Neighborhood Library on W 43rd Street. The run comes from the Oak Forest Homeowners Association and the library program from Houston Public Library, and the Saturday they share sums up the neighborhood's 2026 holiday season.
In Oak Forest, nearly everything on the November and December calendar comes from those two groups. One meets in a park community center and the other works out of a branch library. They run on their own schedules, but this year those schedules fit together well enough that a family can fill an entire Saturday without driving past W 34th.
The whole season fits on a short list of places, which helps when you're planning around nap schedules and soccer games.
| Organizer | Venue | What happens there this season |
|---|---|---|
| Oak Forest Homeowners Association | T.C. Jester Park, next to the pool area | Santa Fun Run, Dec. 5 |
| Oak Forest Homeowners Association | Candlelight Park Community Center, 1520 Candlelight Ln. | Open community meetings, Nov. 9 and Dec. 14 |
| Houston Public Library | Oak Forest Neighborhood Library, 1349 W 43rd St. | A.D. Players performance, Winter Family Fun, Noon Year's Eve, weekly storytimes |
Most of the dates below build toward the December 5 morning-to-afternoon run, so it helps to start a month earlier.
The first holiday-flavored date of the season is on a Wednesday. On November 4, from 4 to 4:45 p.m., A.D. Players Theater brings its version of C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" to the library's Meeting Room. The Houston Public Library listing aims it at kids ages 5 to 9 and preschoolers ages 3 to 5. It also calls for in-person registration, so the Meeting Room has a seat cap and showing up at 3:55 is a gamble.
Five days later, the homeowners association holds its monthly meeting on Monday, November 9, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Candlelight Park Community Center. OFHA's calendar lists it as open to all. The agenda includes updates on community events and beautification, and that's where the December plans get their last round of planning before race day.
On paper, the morning and afternoon pieces of December 5 belong to different organizations. Put the times side by side and they form a single schedule:
The run comes with a detail most holiday 5Ks skip. For $20, the "Snooze" registration is, in OFHA's words, "for those who prefer to stay in bed." It includes no shirt. Like every other tier, it sends all proceeds to the OFHA Patrol Program. So neighbors who want to back the event without lacing up at 8 a.m. on a December Saturday have an option.
Local business owners have another way in. The registration page lists a $500 Candy Cane Crew tier with a booth on race day, a logo at the event and social media mentions. The $1,500 Santa Sleigh Ride title sponsorship puts a logo on the shirt and banners and adds a booth at registration. It is capped at five sponsors.
Between a 10 a.m. finish and a 1:30 library program, a family needs a meal. Ella Blvd, along the Oak Forest and Garden Oaks edge, has two options this December that it didn't have last year.
Breakfast first. Einstein Bros. Bagels is open at 3321 Ella Blvd., near W 34th. The company's announcement, posted in August, declared the store "Now OPEN!" after WhatNow Houston reported in April that it was slated for summer 2026.
For lunch, or for the post-race crowd that isn't ready to go home, try Jax on the Tracks at 3452 Ella Blvd. The Houston Chronicle reported in February that Gr8 Plate Hospitality turned its former Union Kitchen space into this new version of the Jax Grill brand. The menu covers burgers, fried food, tacos and salads, and the patio has oversized games like giant Connect Four. The Chronicle also said kids-eat-free nights, trivia and karaoke were planned. A family with kids still wound up from a 1K will appreciate the patio games while they wait for food.
After December 5, the season goes back to its usual pace, still split between the association and the library.
OFHA's last open meeting of the year is Monday, December 14, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Candlelight Park Community Center. It comes nine days after the run, so it's the first chance to hear how race day went.
The library keeps its weekly programs going through the holidays. Bilingual Family Storytime in English and Spanish, Storytime & Songs for babies, Storytime for Toddlers and the Video Gaming: Level Up sessions for teens all repeat through December. A Family STEM Adventure and a Family Craft Adventure fill out the month. One toddler storytime in mid-December is marked canceled on the calendar, so check before you load the stroller.
The last date on the year's calendar is aimed at the youngest residents. The Toddler Noon Year's Eve Party is on Thursday, December 31, at 11:30 a.m. in the Meeting Room. The countdown hits zero at lunchtime, well ahead of nap time.
The Santa Fun Run is the one Saturday that draws a crowd to T.C. Jester Park. OFHA also runs a smaller, weekly version. Its Running/Walking Club page invites neighbors to "Come Join Us Every Saturday Morning!" and credits La Mex at Stomping Grounds as the community sponsor. For anyone training up for the 5K, the club is the obvious warm-up.
For neighbors who would rather swing a racket, Oak Forest Park at 2100 Judiway has a newly finished option. Space City Tennis reported that the park's two refurbished tennis courts reopened on June 17, 2026, after long-awaited repairs. The Houston Parks Department added pickleball lines to one of them, so both sports share the resurfaced surface. The same report traces the courts' revival to community efforts that started in the 2010s. Those efforts included a $20,000 grant in 2017 from the National Recreation and Park Association and The Walt Disney Company through the "Meet Me at the Park" campaign. That was roughly nine years between the grant that started the court upgrades and the morning the nets went back up.
Mild December weather makes the courts a decent plan for the Saturdays between the run and New Year's. The Oak Forest Pool at 1400 Du Barry is off the list until spring, because Houston Parks and Recreation says the 2026 pool season has ended and city pools are closed.
At Revilo Real Estate, we keep close track of what's new in Oak Forest, from the latest openings on Ella Blvd to which Saturdays are already spoken for. If you'd like neighborhood updates like this along with new homes as they come up, sign up to Receive Exclusive Listings and we'll keep you in the loop through the holidays and into 2027.
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