Ten minutes east, Wesley Chapel's holiday season started with a big-production opening. The Shops at Wiregrass opened Symphony in Lights on Saturday, November 14, with a holiday market, Santa and a tree lighting from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Now the light shows run every night through December 31, at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m. If you want a set time and a light show any night of the week, that's the place.
Land O' Lakes does the holidays differently. Here the public holiday events this December come from community venues. There's a dining hub, a clubhouse and a welcome center, spread between Bexley and Angeline, and the main events fall on two Friday nights. Friday, December 11 is the busiest of them, with two separate markets running in Bexley the same evening. A week later, Friday, December 18 splits between a Santa visit in Bexley and a holiday market at Angeline.
If you live off State Road 54 or along the Suncoast, those two Fridays are the ones to circle on the fridge calendar.
The December calendar
Here are the dates in order, including the ones on the Wilderness Lake community calendar.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Dec. 4 | Lighting of the Menorah | Preserve at Wilderness Lake CDD calendar | 6:30–7:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 5 | Santa's Arrival & Tree Lighting | Preserve at Wilderness Lake CDD calendar | 4–7 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 11 | Friday Moonlight Market | The Hub at Bexley, 16954 Focus Loop | 5–9 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 11 | Christmas Night Market | Bexley Clubhouse, 16950 Vibrant Way | 6–10 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 18 | Visit From Santa! | The Hub at Bexley | Time TBD |
| Fri, Dec. 18 | Discovery Days at Angeline: 2026 Holiday Edition | Angeline Welcome Center, 11725 Angeline Blvd. | 5–9 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 19 | Breakfast with Santa | Preserve at Wilderness Lake CDD calendar | Not listed |
The Wilderness Lake dates are covered further down. They come from a community development district calendar, and that's a different kind of event from the Bexley and Angeline markets. Most of the public calendar sits in the middle of December, on the 11th and the 18th.
December 11: two markets, one Bexley evening
The Hub at Bexley has hosted the Friday Moonlight Market since fall. The organizer, Florida Penguin Productions, now lists it on the second and fourth Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. Its page describes the location as "in the heart of Land O Lakes off HWY 54 and Memorial Highway." The Hub's own events calendar shows one Moonlight Market in December, on Friday, December 11. That's the date to go by.
The Moonlight Market has a specific mix. The organizer says it's looking for "night-friendly vendors with unique items, activities, and community sponsors," and that food trucks can't attend. Its AllEvents listing calls it family-friendly and pet-friendly. The no-food-truck rule makes sense once you look at the venue, because dinner is already built into the property. More on that below.
On the same Friday, Magana Markets is holding a separate event, the Christmas Night Market, at the Bexley Clubhouse, 16950 Vibrant Way. It runs 6 to 10 p.m., and Santa is there from 6 to 8 p.m. for free photos. The listing calls it a free, family-friendly event. Its lineup reads like a gift list:
- Handmade jewelry, candles and soaps
- Dog treats and goodies
- Kids items, clothing and custom creations
- Books
- Baked goods and holiday sweets, plus coffee and fresh bread
- Lemonade and specialty drinks
- Food trucks, interactive vendors and kids activities
The two markets overlap from 6 to 9 p.m. They also complement each other. The Clubhouse market brings food trucks and runs an hour later. The Moonlight Market leaves food to the restaurants around it and closes at 9. If you're bringing kids for the Santa photos, aim for the Clubhouse between 6 and 8, because that's the whole Santa window.
What the Moonlight Market sits next to
The Hub at Bexley calls itself a place to "Sip. Savor. Socialize." Its website splits the property into eat-and-drink tenants and shops-and-services tenants. That's why a Friday market there feels different from a market in an open field. Its Eat & Drink roster lists ten names:
- Banh mi & boba
- BellaBrava
- Bengaluru Cafe
- Egg Bred
- Grain & Berry
- Spanky's Place
- Taco bus
- Urban Crunch Creamery Cafe
- Mr Bear Cotton Cheesecake
- Stillwaters Tavern
That list covers most of an evening. There's Vietnamese sandwiches and boba, Italian at BellaBrava, Indian at Bengaluru Cafe, tacos, a tavern, and two dessert stops in Urban Crunch Creamery Cafe and Mr Bear Cotton Cheesecake. Since food trucks aren't part of the Moonlight Market, these are your dinner options for that market. It's worth checking each restaurant's own hours before you head over on December 11.
The Hub's calendar also brings the property back into the holidays a week later. It lists "Visit From Santa!" for Friday, December 18, with the time still marked TBD. If Santa photos at The Hub matter to your family, check that calendar the week of the 14th.
December 18: Angeline's market moves to the evening
The same night, a few miles away, Angeline hosts its holiday market. Discovery Days at Angeline: 2026 Holiday Edition runs Friday, December 18, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Angeline Welcome Center, 11725 Angeline Blvd. Tampa Bay Markets hosts it in partnership with Metro Development Group. The event listing describes it as a holiday stop where "neighbors, families, and visitors" can shop from local makers. It also promises complimentary gift wrapping, a visit with Santa and festive music.
Discovery Days is a quarterly "Meet the Makers" series with local vendors, food trucks, community partners and family activities. The series' June 13 Summer Preview was scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Welcome Center and the surrounding property. The Holiday Edition moves the series to a Friday evening, so it falls on the same kind of night as the Bexley markets.
The Angeline event is also one stop in a regional holiday series. Tampa Bay Markets lists it alongside holiday markets in downtown Dunedin, downtown New Port Richey, Trinity and Midtown Commons in Tampa. Those other stops are 30 minutes or more away. For Land O' Lakes, the December 18 date is the nearby one.
The free gift wrapping is the practical draw on the 18th. A week before Christmas, you can buy from a local maker and leave with the gift already wrapped. If you missed the Bexley markets on the 11th, this is your second Friday to do it.
On December 18, the Bexley Santa visit and the Angeline market overlap. If the Hub posts an evening time for Santa, you'll have to pick one. If it posts an earlier time, families with small kids could do both: Santa in Bexley first, then the 5 p.m. opening at Angeline.
Wilderness Lake's own calendar
The Preserve at Wilderness Lake community development district publishes its own December calendar. It lists a Lighting of the Menorah on Friday, December 4, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Santa's Arrival on Saturday, December 5, from 4 to 7 p.m., with The Lodge at Wilderness Lake Preserve, 21320 Wilderness Lake Blvd., as the listed location. The district's November meeting materials also list Breakfast with Santa on December 19, and they call the December 5 event "Santa's Arrival & Tree Lighting."
These are neighborhood events on a district calendar, not public markets with an open invitation like the Bexley and Angeline listings. If you live in Wilderness Lake, check the district calendar or call the district office for attendance details. If you don't, the two Fridays in Bexley and Angeline are the events built for anyone who shows up.
Putting the two Fridays together
From your house, December in Land O' Lakes adds up to about three evenings. On Friday, December 11, plan dinner at The Hub, a walk through the Moonlight Market before 9, and a stop at the Bexley Clubhouse for Santa photos before 8 and the Christmas Night Market until 10. On Friday, December 18, pick between the Hub's Santa visit and Angeline's Holiday Edition, or fit in both if the timing works. If you live in Wilderness Lake, your district calendar adds December 4, 5 and 19.
If you still want the big light show, Wiregrass runs it every night through New Year's Eve. The local markets only happen on these two Fridays.
I'll be out shopping local on those Fridays too, and if you see me at a market, come say hello. And if a December evening in Bexley or Angeline gets you curious about what homes there look like, Shells Florida Realty is happy to walk you through them. When it's time to buy or sell, call Shell!
