Bulverde's Thanksgiving Weekend Is Built to Keep Its Spending Local

When you pay for a Turkey Trot bib, the vendor booths at a tree lighting, or a jar of something at a weekend market, where does the money go? In most towns you'd have to dig for the answer. In Bulverde, all three events tell you up front.

Over three days, November 26 through 28, Bulverde holds a Thanksgiving race, the Chamber's Christmas Tree Lighting, and a Saturday market. A different group runs each one. Each also says plainly whom it serves. The race raises money for a Bulverde nonprofit. Local businesses sponsor the tree lighting. The market is set up for small vendors. Taken together, the weekend works less like a holiday calendar and more like a local economy running for three days straight.

Thursday Morning Pays for a Bulverde Classroom You Have Probably Driven Past

The 6th Annual Bulverde Turkey Trot starts Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 26, at Bulverde Community Park. The kids' run for ages 12 and under starts at 8 a.m., the 5K follows at 8:15, and the race window closes at 9:30. So you finish before most turkeys go in the oven.

Early pricing ended October 31, when every category rose by $5. Here's what registration costs now:

• 5K: $45, up from $40
• Kids' run, 12 and under: $35
• Virtual Turkey Trot: $25
• Deadline: Registration closes Tuesday, November 24, at 6 a.m. Central

The race page says more than 1,278 people took part in 2025. It also notes that the 2026 race lands in the year of America's 250th anniversary. Twelve hundred runners is a big crowd for a Thanksgiving morning in Bulverde, which helps explain why a sixth-year race already bills itself as a community tradition.

Proceeds go to The Centre, which describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for medical education and research, based in Bulverde and focused on procedural medicine through education, clinical training and research. It lists its address as 32304 Short Hill in Bulverde, and Alison McCully is its chief executive officer. The race page says the money supports hands-on learning, internships, mentorship, workforce development and career exploration for students and young adults headed into healthcare and science.

Plenty of holiday 5Ks send their proceeds to a national charity. This one keeps them a few miles from the starting line.

On getting there: the race listings give slightly different street addresses for the park, so map to Bulverde Community Park by name and check the race page before you leave. The park opens at 6 a.m. every day, so early arrivals have somewhere to warm up.

Friday Night Is Paid For by the Businesses That Line Bulverde Road

The next evening, the town moves to the Old Village of Bulverde. The 2026 Bulverde Christmas Tree Lighting runs Friday, November 27, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at 2360 Bulverde Road. The Bulverde Spring Branch Area Chamber of Commerce organizes it, and Redemption Roofing & General Contracting is this year's presenting sponsor. The vendor area runs along Bulverde Road from 2265 to 2360. One of the businesses at that address is Hatch Cafe & Bistro, a breakfast, brunch and lunch spot.

The Chamber's own write-up of the event describes the order of things:

"The Mayor of Bulverde will light up the tree just before Santa arrives on a fire truck courtesy of the BSB Fire and EMS."

The same Chamber page mentions artificial snow for kids to throw, plus vendors and food. It also says why the event exists. Local businesses take part and sponsor it "in an ongoing effort to build community cohesiveness and as a reminder to always shop locally whenever possible."

Last year the city's listing called it the 35th Annual Bulverde Christmas Lighting. Highlights included the tree lighting ceremony, vendors, pictures with Santa, food trucks and a FunZone. To get into the FunZone, you brought a canned good, a monetary donation or a new unwrapped toy. That was the 2025 setup. Watch the Chamber's 2026 page for this year's details, but it's an easy habit to keep a can or a toy in the car Friday evening.

If you run a small business, the deadline comes before the holiday

The vendor rows at the tree lighting are where Bulverde businesses actually sell, and getting a spot is cheap. The Chamber's vendor signup page lists these rates:

Registration and payment are due November 13, and vendor setup starts after 2 p.m. Last year's vendor instructions, still posted on the page, had booths assigned first-come, first-served and required payment to hold a spot. They also had vendors bringing their own extension cords, lighting, tables, chairs and trash cans, with every vehicle out of the event area by 4 p.m. Check with the Chamber at (830) 438-4285 to confirm the 2026 rules. If you've thought about trying a booth this year, the decision is due about a week after this post goes up.

Saturday Hands the Weekend to the Makers

Saturday, November 28, is the fourth Saturday of the month. In Bulverde, that means Bulverde Market Day. The market sets up from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2545 Bulverde Road, also known as 2545 FM 1863. It runs on the second and fourth Saturday all year, rain or shine. More than 30 vendors sell art, handmade goods and specialty foods under the oak trees. The Chamber's listing puts it across from Living Rock Academy.

The market's tagline is #ShopLocalBulverde. Friday night's tree lighting is a "reminder to always shop locally." Saturday morning is where you act on it, at booths run by the makers themselves, the morning after Black Friday. The market isn't a holiday pop-up either. It's a year-round fixture that happens to land on Thanksgiving weekend this year.

If you still have guests in town Sunday, the Chamber's calendar lists a Honey Creek Guided Walk at Guadalupe River State Park on November 29. The creek still requires a guide, even with the new trailhead covered in our look at Honey Creek's new access.

November 14 Is the Dress Rehearsal

The same lineup shows up two weeks earlier in a smaller version. Saturday, November 14, is the second Saturday, so Market Day runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2545 Bulverde Road. The same day, the 2026 Bulverde Jubilee & Craft Show runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bulverde Spring Branch Activity Center, 30280 Cougar Bend. Both events overlap from 10 to 2, so one Saturday covers two rounds of local gift shopping. That's a useful head start on lists you'd otherwise fill at the big-box stores along US 281.

Here's the whole stretch, from the November 14 warm-up through Thanksgiving weekend:

Our fall Saturdays guide covered the weekend events that shape Bulverde through autumn. This late-November stretch stands out because each event's purpose is printed right on its page: a hometown nonprofit, sponsoring businesses, makers at their own booths.

Our team lives and works along these same roads, and Thanksgiving weekend is one of our favorite times to be out in Bulverde. If you'd like to know what your home is worth in a market where this kind of community calendar carries real weight, Sunrise Realty Group can run a quick instant home valuation for you, and we're happy to talk it through over coffee after the tree lighting.