Lakeway's Fall Calendar Runs Through One Building on Cross Creek
Between this Saturday and the end of December, most of the city of Lakeway's public calendar takes place at one address. That's the Lakeway Activity Center at 105 Cross Creek, plus the trail behind City Hall once the holiday lights go up. A silent-film night, a garage sale, a big band and a ballet excerpt all happen in the same rooms. Lakeway's larger park projects are still under construction or in design. For now, a modest recreation building with a new playground out front serves as the town square.
Here is the season in order, with each event's venue. Most of them point back to Cross Creek.
The busiest Halloween weekend already happened. On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Witches Ride costume parade went down Lakeway Drive from Live Oak Golf Course and ended with a carnival at City Hall. That morning, the new Floating Pumpkin Patch filled the Lakeway Swim Center pool with pumpkins. The rest of the season moves indoors and stays close to Cross Creek.
The Activity Center is also the one piece of Lakeway's 2024 parks plan that has already been finished.
Voters approved a $22 million parks bond covering five projects. Community Impact reported that the Activity Center project had a budget of $508,771. That paid for an inclusive playground with natural play features for different ages, new landscaping and picnic areas. The Rotary Club of Lakeway/Lake Travis gave $50,000 toward the playscape, and the city planned a plaque to recognize the gift. The ribbon cutting was on the city calendar for Sept. 27, 2025.
Next to the rest of the bond, that project is small. It's also the one that's finished. Here's where the other big projects stand this fall:
| Project | Reported cost | Status as of fall 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Activity Center park | $508,771 budget | Opened fall 2025 |
| Butler Rough Hollow Park | Not stated in recent coverage | Under construction, expected next summer |
| Lakeway City Park upgrade | $10.6 million | In design, construction bidding projected for fall 2027 |
The City Park plans are the most ambitious in the bond. Community Impact's Oct. 2 report lists a looped vehicle route, a pedestrian trail, a skate park, a pump track, pickleball courts and overlooks onto the lake. Writing in the Lake Travis View in September, Mayor Tom Kilgore said the city was still weighing whether more pickleball courts were needed and what they would cost. He also said residents had come to City Hall to give feedback on the skate park and bike skills areas. Renderings and updates for each project are on the city's 2024 Parks Bond page.
With bidding not projected until fall 2027, a lakefront venue at City Park is at least a couple of event seasons away. Until then, the Activity Center and the City Hall trail host the calendar.
This year's lineup comes at a time when the city is watching its spending. In the same Lake Travis View column, Mayor Kilgore described a significant budget gap for the new fiscal year. He attributed it mainly to slower residential and commercial development, which brought in less permit fee revenue than expected.
The council adopted a tax rate of 0.170076, lower than the 0.1760 first proposed. Kilgore wrote that this brought the added cost for taxpayers down from about $78 a year to about $29. With the approved budget, the gap for the coming year is $581,665, which the council directed be covered from reserves. Kilgore put the fund balance at a healthy 29%. The full approved budget is posted at lakeway-tx.gov/budget.
The fall events fit that kind of year. The Big Band Bash is free, and Arts in the Afternoon is a free series. The most expensive city ticket of the season is $7 for a live orchestra and a 1920s horror film. A building the city already owns, with a playground the bond already paid for, can host a full season without a new stage or venue rental.
On ordinary days, the Activity Center runs a steady schedule of classes. Its September 2026 newsletter lists adult fitness classes including chair yoga, strength and balance, Fit for Life and yoga, plus adult dance and bridge.
The Lakeway Arts Committee keeps the building busy on weekends too. Arts in the Afternoon brings chamber music and dance to the Activity Center. This season opened on Oct. 4 with a cello-and-violin Masterpiece Concert and continues with The Nutcracker Suite in November. The committee also runs the Cool Arts Show, which pairs live music with local visual art for sale. The Big Band Bash on Nov. 9 is part of a monthly series, not a one-off.
The garage sale, the orchestra night and the Nutcracker excerpts use the same rooms that host yoga classes and bridge games during the week. The playground outside, opened just over a year ago, gives families something to do before and after.
If you're driving to the Activity Center from the north side of the lake, plan around the RM 620 bridge at Mansfield Dam. The city warned that TxDOT lane closures there are expected to last through the middle of next year while crews repair expansion joints, upgrade the bridge railings and resurface the road. The city expects the biggest delays during morning and afternoon commutes. The 7 p.m. Saturday start for Nosferatu and the 4 p.m. Sunday start for The Nutcracker Suite both fall outside those peak hours.
Closer to Rough Hollow, crews are installing raised crosswalks near the roundabout at Highlands Boulevard and Bee Creek Road. The city asked drivers to be careful there over the next few weeks and to expect some minor delays. Austin Energy contractors and LCRA crews are also trimming trees around power lines across town this month to get ready for winter. Expect some trucks along the way to a concert.
The last stop of the year is on foot. Trail of Lights opens on the City Hall Trail at 6 p.m. on Dec. 12 and comes back Dec. 23, 28 and 30.
If you're curious how the parks bond projects, from Butler Rough Hollow Park to the City Park redesign, could shape Lakeway over the next few years, the team at Volt Realty follows these projects closely and is always happy to talk them through. Let's Talk.
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