How many chances does Wesley Chapel get to see the lights at The Shops at Wiregrass this year? Opening night is Saturday, Nov. 14. After that, Symphony in Lights runs every night from Nov. 15 through Dec. 31, with a show at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m., weather permitting. That adds up to 47 more nights and four shows on each one.
So the useful way to plan the season is to treat the opening as one night among dozens. Opening night is where the big extras happen. The weeks after it are when the shows line up with a December night market, a new Turkish restaurant on Paseo Drive, a free festival at Avalon Park and an outdoor hockey tournament down the road.
What Saturday Night Packs Into Four and a Half Hours
The Symphony in Lights Opening Night Spectacular, presented by AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, runs Nov. 14 from 5 to 9:30 p.m. It is the one night of the season with extras you won't find on the other 47:
- Santa's arrival on a Pasco County Fire Rescue fire truck
- A 300-drone light show by SkyElements, followed by the tree lighting countdown with Santa
- Live big band music from Late Night Brass all evening
- A holiday market with local vendors
- Strolling performers, including stilt walkers, plus balloon artists and face painters in the Dillard's and JCPenney courtyards
- Two 50-foot Alpine Tubing Slides, one at each end of Paseo Drive
Opening night also starts the giving season. Unwrapped gifts for Wesley Chapel's Mason Dixon Christmas Wish Fund go in the large drop-off box near Santa's Cottage through Dec. 23, so you don't have to bring a gift on Nov. 14 to take part. Photos with Santa begin the same night and run through Dec. 24.
Everything else about the season keeps going after Saturday. The mall describes the nightly run as synchronized musical tree light shows, performances by local community groups, holiday music and snowfall, set against more than 300,000 lights. Each show is a choreographed set of lights and music. Coming at 7 p.m. on a random Tuesday in December gets you the same show as the opening crowd, minus the drones and the slides.
The Season Calendar, Night by Night
With the nightly shows running underneath everything, the useful question for any December evening is what else is happening around them. These are the dated events in and around Wesley Chapel this season:
| Date | What | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Symphony in Lights Opening Night Spectacular | The Shops at Wiregrass | 5–9:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 15–Dec. 31 | Nightly Symphony in Lights shows | The Shops at Wiregrass | 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m. |
| Nov. 14–Dec. 24 | Photos with Santa | The Shops at Wiregrass | Mall hours |
| Wed., Dec. 9 | 2nd Wednesday Night Market by Glasshouse Productions | The Shops at Wiregrass | 5:30–9:30 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Avalon Aglow | 4424 Friendly Way, Avalon Park Wesley Chapel | 5–9 p.m. |
| Dec. 18–23 | Florida Winter Pond Hockey Classic | AdventHealth Center Ice, 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd. | Tournament schedule |
Of all the nights in the table, Dec. 9 lines up best with the shows. The 2nd Wednesday Night Market runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., so all four of that evening's light shows fall inside it. Glasshouse Productions bills the monthly market as live music, food, local makers and family activities. On a weeknight in early December, that means you can shop the market, watch a show and finish dinner without leaving Paseo Drive.
Dinner Between Shows on Paseo Drive
The restaurants are a big part of why a midweek show makes a good night out this year. The lineup around the light shows has changed since last season.
Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine is now open for dinner at The Shops at Wiregrass, next to Brighton Collectibles. Last holiday season it wasn't there at all, and its dinner hours suit a 7 or 8 p.m. show.
Dessert is set to arrive mid-season. The mall says Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café is expected to open in December at Center Court, with outdoor patio seating. A Center Court patio with crêpes in the middle of a nightly light show is the kind of thing that changes how a family spends a weeknight, so keep an eye on the mall's announcements once December starts.
New shops are opening along the same stretch. MINISO is now open at 28329 Paseo Drive, Suite 150, which makes it one of the newest storefronts on the walk between shows. Flip Flop Shops is listed as coming soon to Paseo Drive, between JD Sports and 365 Caffè Italiano.
If you'd rather eat away from the mall before an evening show, 1916 Irish Pub opened July 18 at 27315 Wesley Chapel Blvd., by Old Pasco Road, in Towne Centre at Wesley Chapel, in the space Beef O'Brady's used to fill, according to Best of Pasco's summer 2026 roundup. This will be its first holiday season in Wesley Chapel.
Two Weekends That Belong to the Rest of Wesley Chapel
Since the light shows run every night, residents can give a December weekend evening to another part of Wesley Chapel and still catch the Wiregrass show on another night.
Avalon Aglow takes over 4424 Friendly Way on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 5 to 9 p.m. The free public event lists Santa photos, vendors, live music, a bounce park and fireworks. It is the season's other one-night event, with a town-center setting and fireworks where Wiregrass has drones.
The next weekend, AdventHealth Center Ice at 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd. hosts the 2026 Florida Winter Pond Hockey Classic from Dec. 18 to 23. It is an adult tournament, and registrants get a Dec. 20 Tampa Bay Lightning watch party at Top Shelf Sports Lounge. For Wesley Chapel's adult hockey players, that puts the week before Christmas on the ice, and the light shows at Wiregrass will still be running when the tournament ends.
How the Mall's Hours Bend in the Last Two Weeks
Late December is when shopping and shows overlap most, and the mall stretches its hours to match. According to The Shops at Wiregrass hours calendar:
- Dec. 18: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Dec. 19: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Dec. 21–23: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day
- Dec. 24: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Dec. 25: closed
- Dec. 26: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On the 10 p.m. nights, stores stay open an hour past the last show at 9. Someone finishing a gift list on Dec. 22 can watch the 9 p.m. show and still have time to shop afterward. Dec. 23 is also the last day for the Mason Dixon Christmas Wish Fund drop-off, so that evening covers the gift box, a final round of shopping and a show.
The Dining Additions Still Taking Shape
Some of the restaurant news along Wesley Chapel Boulevard is still under construction. A new Olive Garden, a Seasons 52 and a Heartland Dental office are going up at the southwest corner of Wesley Chapel Boulevard and Gateway Drive, and Little Greek Fresh Grill is under construction at 33787 Wesley Chapel Blvd. in Phase II of the Shops at New River, the Wesley Chapel Record reported in August. Bubbakoo's Burritos has signed on in that same Phase II, next to 2+2 Restaurant at C.R. 54 and New River Road, according to Neighborhood News. Further out, Wright's Gourmet House plans a Wiregrass Ranch location west of Cooper's Hawk off S.R. 56, targeting summer 2028, per Tampa Bay Beacons.
For this season, the dinner options are the ones already serving on Paseo Drive and Wesley Chapel Boulevard, and the nightly shows give you seven weeks to try them.
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