December has arrived in Austin, and the city is trading festival wristbands and outdoor concerts for Christmas lights, holiday markets, special dinners, new restaurants and plenty of reasons to get out of the house. After a year when many of Austin’s traditional holiday traditions looked very different, this December’s calendar is packed with familiar favorites returning alongside new events, restaurants and nightlife options.

The biggest holiday attraction in town is, of course, the Austin Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. The city’s enormous holiday light display returns for its 57th year, turning the park into one of Austin’s most recognizable Christmas destinations. The 2021 Trail of Lights runs from December 10 through December 23, with millions of lights spread throughout the park and dozens of illuminated displays creating a walking route through Zilker.

For anyone who hasn’t visited in a few years, this year’s Trail of Lights is worth putting back on the calendar. The event is more than simply a drive-by Christmas-light display. Visitors walk through the park surrounded by enormous trees covered in lights, holiday installations and colorful displays. The famous Zilker Tree remains one of the centerpiece attractions, and the combination of the lights, music and food vendors makes the Trail of Lights feel like its own little holiday festival.

One of the best things about the Trail of Lights is that it gives Austin something many other local holiday events don’t: a genuine reason to spend an evening outside. Families can make a full night of it, couples can walk through the displays, and groups of friends can stop for food and drinks before or after making their way through the park. The event has also become one of those Austin traditions that works for both longtime residents and visitors who are seeing the city during the holidays for the first time.

And this year, there is another reason to make the trip. The Trail of Lights is continuing to expand its food and beverage experience, with local vendors providing everything from snacks to drinks along the route. For Baller ATX readers, that’s important because the event isn’t just about looking at Christmas lights anymore. It has become part holiday festival, part food outing and part Austin tradition.

If you’re looking for something a little more grown-up after the lights, Austin’s restaurant and bar scene has plenty going on.

One of the most interesting developments heading into the holiday season is the continued growth of Tiki Tatsu-Ya, the highly anticipated tiki bar from the team behind Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto. The bar has been designed as an immersive tropical experience rather than a traditional cocktail lounge, complete with elaborate drinks, food and a heavily themed interior.

That makes Tiki Tatsu-Ya one of the year’s most interesting additions to Austin nightlife. Austin has never been short on bars, but the city’s cocktail scene has increasingly moved toward places that offer an experience in addition to the drink itself. Tiki Tatsu-Ya fits directly into that trend.

The bar is especially notable because it isn’t trying to be subtle. This is the kind of place where the décor, drinks and atmosphere are part of the entertainment. For anyone looking for somewhere different to take friends or out-of-town visitors this month, it’s exactly the kind of Austin nightlife destination that can turn a normal night into an event.

December is also a good time to explore some of Austin’s newer restaurants before the holiday crowds become overwhelming.

One of the year’s most talked-about openings is Canje, the East Austin restaurant from the team behind Emmer & Rye. The restaurant focuses on Caribbean food, bringing flavors and dishes inspired by places including Guyana, Jamaica and Puerto Rico into Austin’s increasingly diverse restaurant scene.

Canje is particularly interesting because it represents where Austin’s food scene is going. The city is still famous for barbecue, tacos and Tex-Mex, but the restaurant landscape has become much more international. Caribbean cuisine, Southeast Asian food, Japanese restaurants, Indian concepts and other global influences are increasingly becoming part of the everyday Austin dining experience.

For December, that makes Canje a strong choice for anyone who wants to try something different rather than going back to the same holiday dinner spots.

The restaurant scene is also benefiting from the continued expansion of Austin’s food-hall culture. St. Elmo Public Market remains one of the city’s major food destinations, bringing several different food and drink concepts together in the South Austin development. The project is particularly well suited for groups because everyone can order something different without having to agree on one restaurant.

That is becoming increasingly important in Austin.

The city’s restaurant scene has grown so large that choosing where to eat can sometimes be harder than deciding what to eat. Food halls provide an easy solution. One person can get pizza, another can get tacos, someone else can grab a drink and everyone can sit together.

December is also bringing plenty of holiday food opportunities.

Austin restaurants are rolling out special Christmas menus, holiday cocktails, brunches and New Year’s Eve events. Reservations are becoming increasingly important for some of the city’s more popular restaurants, especially as office parties, family gatherings and holiday visitors begin filling dining rooms.

For anyone planning a December night out, the best strategy is to think of it as an itinerary instead of a single restaurant reservation.

Start with dinner.

Find a nearby bar.

Walk around a holiday light display.

Catch live music.

Finish with late-night food.

That’s one of the things Austin does particularly well, and December provides plenty of opportunities to put together an entire night without leaving the city.

Music remains part of the December calendar as well. Austin’s live-music venues continue booking local and touring performers throughout the month, giving the city plenty of options for people who aren’t ready to put the festival season behind them.

Instead of massive outdoor festivals, December’s music calendar shifts toward clubs, theaters, lounges and smaller venues.

That change in atmosphere can actually make December one of the better months for discovering Austin musicians.

A packed festival crowd can make it difficult to focus on a performer you’ve never heard before.

A smaller venue is different.

You can walk in, grab a drink, stand near the stage and discover a local artist without having to navigate a giant festival crowd.

For visitors coming to Austin during the holidays, that’s a much better way to experience the city’s music identity.

December also means the return of holiday markets and shopping events throughout the city. Local makers, artists and small businesses use the holiday season to showcase products that make particularly good gifts, and Austin’s markets have become an important part of the December experience.

Instead of ordering everything online, shoppers can find local art, clothing, jewelry, food products, home goods and Austin-themed gifts while supporting small businesses.

For Baller ATX readers, that’s another reason not to spend the entire month inside a shopping center.

Austin’s independent businesses are part of what makes the city interesting.

December is the perfect time to explore them.

And then, of course, comes New Year’s Eve.

Even though the biggest celebrations won’t happen until the final days of the month, bars, restaurants and venues are already preparing for one of Austin’s biggest nightlife nights of the year. Expect special dinners, ticketed parties, live music, DJ sets, champagne packages and plenty of people looking for somewhere to spend the final hours of 2021.

For anyone planning to go out on New Year’s Eve, waiting until December 31 to make plans is probably a mistake.

The best parties and restaurant reservations tend to fill early, and Austin has enough options that it is worth deciding what kind of night you want before buying a ticket.

Do you want a big downtown party?

A rooftop?

Live music?

A fancy dinner?

A neighborhood bar?

A brewery?

A DJ?

Austin has all of them.

The biggest challenge is choosing one.

But before New Year’s Eve arrives, the Trail of Lights remains the event that will dominate the first half of the month.

There is something particularly Austin about the Trail of Lights. It is enormous without feeling like a corporate holiday attraction. It takes over one of the city’s most recognizable parks and turns it into a Christmas wonderland for a few weeks.

For families, it is an annual tradition.

For couples, it is an easy holiday date night.

For visitors, it is one of the easiest ways to experience Austin during December.

And for longtime Austinites, it is a reminder that some traditions survive even as the city around them changes.

That may be the biggest theme of December 2021.

Austin is changing quickly.

New restaurants are opening.

New bars are appearing.

Neighborhoods are developing.

The food scene is becoming more diverse.

The nightlife scene is becoming more elaborate.

But some things remain unmistakably Austin.

The Trail of Lights.

Live music.

Food trucks.

Local restaurants.

Breweries.

Holiday markets.

Late-night tacos.

And people looking for something fun to do on a Friday night.

So if you’re trying to figure out what to do in Austin this December, don’t limit yourself to one event.

Make a night of it.

Start at the Trail of Lights.

Grab dinner afterward.

Find a new cocktail bar.

Catch some live music.

Or spend an afternoon exploring one of Austin’s newer restaurants before heading downtown for the evening.

December is giving Austin plenty of opportunities to do exactly what it does best: eat, drink, listen to music, explore something new and find a reason to stay out a little later.

And with New Year’s Eve waiting at the end of the month, Austin isn’t slowing down anytime soon.