On Saturday, a few hours before Michigan State and North Dakota face off at the H-E-B Center, the arena will set up a free pregame party with a mechanical bull, armadillo racing, a custom hat bar and a longhorn photo opportunity. The setup is made for visitors. Much of the crowd will have flown in from Grand Forks and East Lansing, and this is their picture of Texas.
Exactly one week later, on Nov. 7, the City of Cedar Park's Fall Roundup comes to Lakeline Park from noon to 4 p.m. It has armadillo races, a mechanical bull, live music, a petting zoo and Western-themed crafts. Same props, different audience. Cedar Park is putting on the Western afternoon twice this fall, first for hockey fans and then for the people who live here. For a Twin Creeks household, that settles how to plan the next six weeks. The headline weekend is the expensive, crowded one. Its local version follows right behind it at no cost.
A Halloween weekend built for out-of-town fans
The 2026 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game starts at 7:07 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, with Michigan State playing the University of North Dakota. The Austin Chronicle reported in September that this is the first time the game has been held in Texas. Organizers call it a destination-game weekend, and the itinerary shows it.
The H-E-B Center's schedule fills three days:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Thursday evening, Oct. 29 | Opening gathering |
| Friday morning, Oct. 30 | Golf tournament |
| Friday evening, Oct. 30 | NoDak Palooza |
| Saturday, Oct. 31 | Free pregame party, then the 7:07 p.m. puck drop |
NoDak Palooza is for North Dakota fans who traveled south. When UND announced tickets, it listed four tiers at $155, $175, $195 and $225 before fees and taxes, all as mobile tickets through Ticketmaster. Visit Austin's listing now shows a starting price of $168, so check current prices before you buy.
The induction itself happens elsewhere. USA Hockey has scheduled the Class of 2026 induction celebration for Monday, Nov. 30, in Washington, D.C. The Cedar Park weekend is a college game with a party around it, and the pregame party is the free part.
Cedar Park's own Halloween event comes earlier in the week. Spooktacular runs today, Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Lakeline Park. It falls on the same evening as the hockey weekend's opening gathering. One event draws a crowd from out of town and the other draws a crowd from the neighborhoods, on the same night, in the same city.
The residents' version, one week later
The Fall Roundup is the city's own take on the Saturday pregame. The City of Cedar Park's announcement lists armadillo races, a mechanical bull, live country music, dancing, food and drinks, a petting zoo and Western-themed crafts at Lakeline Park on Nov. 7 from noon to 4 p.m. The hockey party adds a longhorn photo and a hat bar. The Roundup adds the petting zoo and four hours of afternoon daylight.
The same morning has a smaller event. Hotworx at 800 W. Whitestone Blvd. has new owners, and Community Impact reported a grand reopening on Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon. It ends just as the Roundup opens.
After that, the H-E-B Center's November dates belong to a regional audience again. Leanne Morgan plays Nov. 12 and Nov. 13, both shows at 7 p.m., and Intocable takes the stage Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. So the arena hosts three straight nights of shows, and the city's free calendar goes quiet until December.
December goes back to the parks
The city's December calendar has three evening events, one at the start of the month and two on back-to-back nights the following week:
- Tree Lighting, Dec. 2, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Heritage
- A Jolly, Bright, Lakeline Night, Dec. 11, 6:30 to 9 p.m., at Lakeline Park
- Tail of Lights, Dec. 12, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Lakeline Park
Lakeline Park is where the season keeps returning. Spooktacular, the Fall Roundup, and both December light events all take place there. The arena hosts the headline nights, and the park hosts the city's own events in between.
What stays open after the visitors leave
Since late summer, a run of openings has filled in Cedar Park's restaurants, grocery aisles and indoor play spaces, and these places will still be here when the hockey weekend is over.
The newest table is Sangam Chettinad Indian Cuisine & Bar, which opened Sept. 22 at 14300 Ronald Reagan Blvd., Bldg. 1, Ste. 104-106. Two weeks earlier, Patel Brothers opened on Sept. 9 at 11066 Pecan Park Blvd., Ste. 101. The Indian grocery chain specializes in South Asian products and spices, per Community Impact. With both open within a month of each other, Cedar Park has a new place to order Chettinad dishes and a new place to buy the spices to cook them at home.
Dave's Hot Chicken opened Aug. 7 at 1500 E. Whitestone Blvd., Ste. 100, Community Impact reported.
The biggest opening was SCHEELS, which opened Aug. 29, according to WilCo Guide's opening-day account. The store at 2150 Cedarview Drive has an indoor Ferris wheel, an aquarium, a candy shop and a cafe. That makes it an indoor outing for the December evenings between the light events, as well as a sporting goods store.
The Crossover at 1717 Scottsdale Drive added two tenants in September:
- MonkeySports opened Sept. 12 in Ste. 100. It specializes in hockey, lacrosse and baseball equipment. The store's timing fits a city about to host its first Hall of Fame hockey game.
- Strong Sprouts opened Sept. 23 in Ste. 200 with an indoor playground and a children's gym, and a cafe is planned alongside them.
Three more are due before the year ends. Malina Flowers is expected to open in late November at 309 N. Bell Blvd., in time for holiday tables. SafeSplash Swim School was scheduled to open in November at 410 W. Whitestone Blvd., Ste. 302. A state filing shows construction of a 7 Brew at 2901 E. Whitestone Blvd. finishing in December, with no opening date announced yet.
Closer to home, at the club
Inside the neighborhood, Twin Creeks Country Club at 3201 Twin Creeks Club Drive finished a multimillion-dollar renovation of its dining spaces. The work covered the main and private dining rooms, the bar and lounge, and the patio. Community Impact's report on the project put the redesigned upstairs patio at up to 60 seats and indoor dining at 150, along with a revamped menu. The renovation dates to early 2025, so the space is no longer new. Still, a 60-seat patio is the closest outdoor table to home for members on a cool November evening.
One small change is on the way at the neighborhood's front door. Twin Creeks Club Drive at Anderson Mill Road is one of 11 Cedar Park intersections in a $495,000 design contract for turn-lane and intersection improvements, funded by the city's 2022 bonds. That contract covers design only. No construction schedule has been announced.
The six weeks, in order
From tonight through mid-December, Cedar Park's fall calendar looks like this:
- Oct. 29: Spooktacular at Lakeline Park, 5 to 8 p.m., the same evening the hockey weekend opens
- Oct. 31: Free pregame party at the H-E-B Center, then Michigan State vs. North Dakota at 7:07 p.m.
- Nov. 7: Hotworx reopening, 10 a.m. to noon, then the Fall Roundup at Lakeline Park, noon to 4 p.m.
- Nov. 12 to 14: Leanne Morgan on two nights, then Intocable, at the H-E-B Center
- Late November: Malina Flowers opens on N. Bell Blvd.
- Dec. 2, 11 and 12: Tree Lighting at Heritage, then two light nights at Lakeline Park
Twin Creeks sits in a city that is hosting a national sporting event and repeating its best parts for residents a week later. The armadillo races at Lakeline Park on Nov. 7 are free, and they run in daylight.
If this season has you wondering how Twin Creeks fits with the rest of Cedar Park, from the club patio to the new tables along Ronald Reagan, Chris Krueger knows this part of the map well and is happy to talk it through. Let's Work Together.
