Redwater's Holidays Start on a Monday Night, and the Weekends Go to the Lake

At 6 p.m. on a Monday last December, Redwater held its Hometown Christmas parade. The theme was "Christmas Around the World." Afterward the crowd moved to the football field for the Redwater Elementary Christmas Program, and the Junior Class sold baked-potato dinners to raise money. No other town on KKYR's 2025 holiday parade roundup had a parade like it. Linden and Atlanta held theirs on Saturday, December 6, and New Boston went on Sunday, December 7.

Redwater ISD's calendar now lists the 2026 Christmas Parade for Monday, December 7. That's another Monday, and it fits the rest of the season. In Redwater the holiday calendar falls mostly on weekdays, and it runs through the school campus. One new Saturday event stands out, and so does the lake's winter season. Plan around that and November and December get a lot easier to schedule.

Three Decembers, Three Mondays

The parade date moves every year, but the weekday hasn't changed in three years:

• 2024: Monday, December 9. KKYR's 2024 parade list reported that the parade started at the baseball park and finished at the football field.
• 2025: Monday, December 8, at 6 p.m. It was followed by the elementary program at the football field and the junior-class baked-potato dinner.
• 2026: Monday, December 7, listed on the Redwater ISD calendar.

The district's listing is just the date, marked "all day." It doesn't give a start time, theme or route yet. In 2024 the route ended at the football field. In 2025 the parade started at 6 p.m. and the elementary program and baked-potato dinner came right after at the football field, so the parade and dinner made one evening. For 2026 details as they're posted, watch the Redwater Hometown Christmas Facebook page, which KKYR linked in its 2025 guide.

The Monday date also leaves room for the bigger parade in town. Downtown Texarkana held its 41st annual Christmas Parade on a Monday night too, at 7 p.m. on December 15, 2025. Weather had pushed it back from December 1. In 2025 a Redwater family could go to both parades on two different Monday nights without giving up a weekend.

The Rest of the Season Runs on School Days

The parade is the biggest event on a district calendar that falls mostly on weekdays. Here are the community-facing November and December dates Redwater ISD has posted:

Only two of those eleven entries fall on a Saturday. The other nine fall on weekdays. Four of those are evening entries: the National Honor Society induction, the Education Foundation meeting, and the two Christmas concerts. The rest are daytime weekday programs, plus the parade, which the district lists as all day. That matters most to families with kids in the band program. December 7, 10 and 15 all come in the same ten-day stretch, so those weeks are the busiest of the season.

The blood drive and the garage sale are the two entries that bring in people without a student in the building. The LifeShare Blood Drive on November 18 runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a Wednesday. The Community Garage Sale on Saturday, November 7, is the only fall Saturday event before Thanksgiving.

The calendar then pauses twice. Thanksgiving break runs November 23 through 27. Christmas break runs December 21 through January 5. Classes are out during both breaks, and those weeks line up with the lake's winter season covered below.

The One New Saturday

The only new entry on the calendar this year is also the only holiday-season event set for a weekend. Duke's Christmas Workshop is billed as the first one ever. It runs Saturday, December 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Redwater ISD Cafetorium.

The district describes it as local vendors, food trucks and kids' activities. Proceeds go to the Redwater High School Freshman Class of 2030. The event page asks prospective vendors and donors to contact Anna Westberry through her district email. Anyone who sells handmade goods or runs a food truck should send that email soon, because a first-year market has no repeat vendors holding spots.

The timing works out. The market lands five days after the parade, between the two Christmas concerts, and still two weeks before Christmas for gift shopping. It's also the only December entry on the district calendar that falls on a weekend.

The Lake's Long-Stay Season Opens as the Crowds Thin

Wright Patman Lake keeps its own calendar, and it changes the same week Redwater's holiday events start. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers runs the lake's campgrounds on two seasons. During the recreation season, March 1 through October 31, campers can stay up to 42 days in any 60-day period. During the winter season, which starts November 1 and runs through the end of February, the Corps can approve stays for the entire 120-day season.

Not every park closes for the winter. According to the Corps' Wright Patman parks page:

1. Clear Springs Campground is open year-round. It has 88 campsites with water and electricity, nature trails, a boat ramp with a courtesy dock, and three screened shelters by the ramp at $32 a night. Its day-use pavilion rents for $40 a day.
2. Rocky Point Campground is open year-round, with 124 campsites, an amphitheater, nature trails and a $25 day-use pavilion.
3. Malden Lake Campground works the other way around. It's open October through May and closed June through September, so the colder months are its season. It has 39 sites and a walking trail.
4. Piney Point Campground closed for the season on September 30, but the park's page lists its public boat ramp as free.

The screened shelters and pavilions are the most useful pieces for a Redwater household. They fit a Thanksgiving-break afternoon or a gathering over the December 21 to January 5 Christmas break, when classes are out. One rule catches people. The Corps requires advance reservations at every Wright Patman campground, and reservations can't be made at the gatehouses. The parks page has no posted date, so call the lake office to confirm a park's status before you load the truck.

The water is high this fall. As of October 26, 2026, Water Data for Texas showed Wright Patman at 224.85 feet. That's 4.25 feet above the 220.60-foot conservation pool, and the site marks the lake "into flood pool." The level has been falling slowly since summer. It averaged 227.13 feet on July 25, 225.37 feet on September 25, and 224.86 feet on October 25. The site says the readings are provisional. Its reservoir page updates hourly and is worth checking before a weekend on the water. The Corps lists supplying Texarkana's water as one of the lake's missions, alongside flood control on the Sulphur and Red rivers, so the level matters well past the boat ramp.

Putting the Two Calendars Together

Put the district calendar and the Corps calendar side by side and the season looks like this. Weekdays go to the campus, including the National Honor Society induction on November 16, the Monday parade on December 7, and the concerts on December 10 and 15. Two Saturdays go to the campus as well, the garage sale on November 7 and Duke's Christmas Workshop on December 12. The other weekends, plus both school breaks, line up with the start of the Corps' winter season. Clear Springs and Rocky Point stay open, and Malden Lake is in its own season.

The 2026 parade details are the last piece still to come. Until they're posted, hold the evening of Monday, December 7, and check the Redwater Hometown Christmas page for the start time and theme.

Knowing which Monday the parade falls on and which campgrounds stay open in January is the kind of local knowledge is what Teresa Liepman brings to every conversation about homes here. If you're wondering what your place near the lake or the Redwater ISD campus would bring in today's market, Request Your Free Home Valuation and get an answer based on local knowledge.