Winter’s Eve is an old fashioned Christmas celebration in Wimberley featuring festive foods, holiday lighting, music, and late night shopping as all the merchants around the Square stay open late to accommodate Christmas shoppers.

The festival takes place from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on December 8 around the Wimberley Café on the Wimberley Square, according to Cissy Yates, president of the Wimberley Merchants Association, which is sponsoring the event.

Santa Claus will, of course, be available for photographs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the Wimberley Café patio.

Live entertainment will be special this year, Cissy says. The featured band will be Texas Renegade. The band plays all over Texas, has recorded three albums, and three of the five members hail from Wimberley. Lead vocalist and Wimberleyite Andrew Bertelsen was nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Texas Music in 2008.

They will be joined by The Distractions—also Wimberley musicians—with lead singer Amy Cartee-Cox.

In the spirit of Christmas, participants will also have the chance to take home all sorts of goodies. A raffle will give away an iPad3, a 32-inch flat-screen television, a Kindle Fire, and a $200 HEB gift card. And for the winner who has everything else, there’ll be a helicopter ride over the Wimberley Valley.

“In addition, we’ll be giving out Christmas Cash that may be used for any purchases during the evening at any of the participating Wimberley Merchants Association shops in town,” Cissy says.

The musicians and food vendors will be under the big tent located on the Square’s parking lot, while beer and wine will be on the Wimberley Café’s patio bar. Each child also receives a light stick.

“Winter’s Eve will be a fun, festive event,” Cissy says.

The Wimberley Merchants Association members represent more than 40 eclectic shops, restaurants and inns in this Hill Country village.

For more information, call 512-757-4881 or visit the website at wimberleymerchants.com.