When Can You Put Up Holiday Lights in The Woodlands, TX?

In The Woodlands, TX, winter holiday lights and decorations can go up starting the second Monday in November, and they have to come down by January 15 of the following year. That window comes from The Woodlands Township’s residential standards, and the Township’s own seasonal notice in Community Impact’s October 2025 edition says it covers outdoor lighting, yard displays and seasonal inflatables. For this season, the window opened Monday, November 9, 2026, and closes January 15, 2027.

So if your neighbor’s roofline is already glowing, they are not jumping the gun. And if your lights are still up on Valentine’s Day, that is the part that gets a letter.

Why a Rule Covers Your Lights at All

The Woodlands is not a city. There is no city code deciding what your yard can look like, so the deed restrictions and the Township’s standards do that job instead. They run with the land, which means they bind every owner, whether or not anyone read them at closing.

Most of what they cover is the permanent stuff: paint, fences, additions, the shed in the backyard. Our piece on what The Woodlands’ deed restrictions let you do to your home walks through that side. Seasonal decorations are the short-term version of the same idea. The rules care about what the street sees, and for how long.

The Window, Plainly

Here is the Township’s holiday rule in the form most people actually need:

• Earliest date: the second Monday in November. November 9 in 2026.
• Lit when: from that Monday through January 15.
• Down by: January 15 of the following year.
• What it covers: outdoor holiday lighting, yard displays and seasonal inflatables, per the Township’s notice.
• The standard behind it: decorations should stay limited in scope and not become a nuisance to the neighborhood.

You will find other dates floating around online, including a “30 days before, 14 days after” version on a rules-lookup site. That one does not match what the Township publishes. Go with the Township, and if your situation is unusual, ask.

“Limited in Scope” Is the Part to Think About

The dates are easy. The judgment call is the nuisance language. The Township has not published a number of inflatables or a wattage limit, at least not that we could find. What it has said is that a display should not become a problem for the neighbors.

In practice, that points at the same things that cause trouble any other time of year. Light shining straight into a neighbor’s bedroom window. A display that draws so many cars the street backs up. Extension cords run across a shared path. If you are planning something big, the kind of yard people drive across town to see, call Covenant Administration at 281-210-3800 first. The village Residential Design Review Committees are made up of residents, so the people reading a complaint likely live a few streets away.

The Township also runs its own displays, and the village associations have run their own lighting contests with Township support. Those are separate from the rules for your house. A contest entry still has to follow the same dates.

If You Are Buying or Selling This Season

This comes up more in real estate than you would think. Listing photos taken in early November with a dark house, then a second round in December with lights on, can make the same home look like two different listings. If you are selling in the next couple of months, decide early whether the photos go up with or without decorations, and stick with it.

Buyers closing in late November or December get a quick lesson in all of this, usually from a neighbor. The decorations rule is one small piece of the same rulebook that covers fences, trash cans and RVs in the driveway. If you are new to the area, our explainer on what The Woodlands Township is and what it does is the place to start, and our guide to trash, recycling and bulk pickup in The Woodlands covers the holiday collection days.

We live in The Woodlands, and we read these covenants for clients before every offer here. The Move Live Love TX Team™ is a husband-and-wife real estate team with CB&A, Realtors, serving The Woodlands, Houston and the surrounding areas.

Frequently Asked Questions

When can you put up Christmas lights in The Woodlands, TX?

The Woodlands Township's residential standards allow winter holiday lights and decorations to go up and be lit starting the second Monday in November. In 2026 that date was November 9, so lights already up in your village are within the window.

When do holiday decorations have to come down in The Woodlands?

Winter holiday lights and decorations must be taken down by January 15 of the following year, per The Woodlands Township's published standards. For the 2026 season, that means by January 15, 2027.

Are inflatables allowed in The Woodlands?

The Township's seasonal notice covers outdoor lighting, yard displays and seasonal inflatables under the same window. It also asks that decorations stay limited in scope and not become a nuisance to neighbors, so keep the display modest and call Covenant Administration before going big.

Who do I call about a holiday decoration question in The Woodlands?

Call The Woodlands Township's Covenant Administration department at 281-210-3800. It handles the residential standards and can tell you what applies to your village and your lot.