December 2026 in The Villages: events, golf news, and the Savannah Center lineup

This week the community honors veterans. Honoring Our Veterans runs November 8 through 11 with memorial services and community tributes, a Veterans Day golf cart parade is set for Sunday, November 8, and a Veterans Day Concert is set for Wednesday, November 11 at 7 p.m. at the Tracy Performing Arts Center at The Villages High School. The Hometown Market keeps its Saturday rhythm too: every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Brownwood Paddock Square with fresh produce, handmade goods, and local vendors.

The squares are filling the calendar as the season builds. A College Football Watch Party is set for Saturday, November 7 at 3:30 p.m. at the Eastport Center Stage, and an outdoor screening of Memphis Belle happens Thursday, November 12 at 5 p.m. at the Farragut Softball Complex at Eastport. The first Dragon Boat Rodeo is Saturday, November 14 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Lake at Eastport, with races put on by the Grand Masters Dragon Boat Club. And live entertainment runs at all four town centers daily from 5 to 9 p.m. through the month, with seasonal drink specials and Shop & Dine Saturdays.

Then the holidays take over. Light Up The Villages, the community's first-ever community-wide tree-lighting ceremony, happens Tuesday, December 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. at all four town squares at once, with the tree-lighting ceremony at 6:30 p.m., thousands of lights, holiday music, and live entertainment. The Holly Jolly Arts & Crafts Festival fills Lake Sumter Landing Market Square on Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And Neon Night lights up Brownwood, Eastport, and Spanish Springs on Saturday, December 19 from 5 to 9 p.m. Black Friday has its own local flavor: Peterbrooke Chocolatier at Brownwood holds an appreciation party on November 27 from 2 to 6 p.m. with holiday raffles.

Around the community, the performing arts calendar stays full. The Temptations play the Savannah Center on November 13 at 7 p.m., listed as sold out on the official site, the Villages Philharmonic Orchestra performs Handel's Messiah at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center on Friday, November 20 at 7 p.m., and comedian Jeff Allen is in town November 22. In December, a Michael Bublé tribute, Feeling Good, plays the Old Mill Playhouse on December 2, the Original Lead Singers of Rock and Roll perform December 11, and the Villages Philharmonic's Holiday Celebration is December 16. The VHA also hosts free Residents' Information Nights on November 10 at the Ezell Recreation Center and December 8 at the Colony Cottage Recreation Center, a good stop for anyone new to the community. The full list is on the community's official calendars.

What this means for investors: the calendar is the community's engine. The stretch from Thanksgiving through New Year's is when the squares are busiest, and holiday programming gives seasonal renters and their guests more reasons to book December, not just the classic snowbird months. First-year events like Light Up The Villages and Neon Night extend the season deeper into the calendar, and an active square is a dependable draw for the people who keep the rental model moving.

The biggest story remains Legacy Place, the roughly 700-acre mixed-use district along Florida's Turnpike near CR 470 and Central Parkway, at the community's southern gateway. Announced by AdventHealth, Benderson Development, and The Villages, site work began around September 2026. It is planned as a super-regional development of roughly three million square feet, anchored by a new 80-bed AdventHealth hospital, and plans on file show a grocery store of about 50,700 square feet plus two retail buildings and a drive-thru building. Initial components are projected to open in 2027. For an investor, a hospital and a full retail and wellness district going in nearby is the kind of long-term infrastructure that supports demand and resale appeal.

Eastport, the fourth town square that opened in 2025, keeps filling in. Oak & Stone, the craft kitchen with a self-pour tap wall, opened October 6 at 7016 Central Lake Drive, joining Hotel Eastport with its Yamas restaurant and Sunset Island, plus Prime & Embers Steakhouse and Portside Coffee Bar, which opened earlier in the year. Tacos & Tequila Cantina and Peach Valley Café are poised to open, and Go Fish Clothing & Jewelry Co. was announced for the square in October. Construction also continues on the new Village of Green Hill Grove neighborhood and its recreation centers. The entertainment district is drawing big evening crowds, and each new restaurant and shop gives the square more everyday traffic, which is part of what makes a neighborhood rental-friendly.

Middleton, the town center south of the community, keeps growing too: Haru Japanese Restaurant opened there in late July, Piesanos opened October 13, Smalls Sliders is open, and a Publix is taking shape ahead of a 2027 opening. A Walmart Store of the Future Supercenter opened in March at 11115 Waxman Drive, with a Walmart Neighborhood Market expected in the fall at 16625 SE 91st Phillips Court. And Sawgrass Market added Southern Tender, Sizzle 'N Smash, and Papa Joe's Pizza & More over the summer. For an investor, this is the community's ecosystem widening: more everyday shopping and dining near the villages supports both rental demand and resale appeal.

The headline is El Santiago Executive, which reopens Friday, November 20, 2026, after a major renovation. The work included reconstruction of the greens, tees, and fairways, full-course re-grassing with Certified TifEagle Bermuda, re-grading, irrigation modernization, and drainage basin restoration. It is a nine-hole, par-27 course, and it returns just in time for the winter season.

Several other courses have already come back this year. Heron Executive reopened September 16, 2026 after a $1.081 million renovation, Havana Championship fully reopened in January 2026, Bogart Executive reopened February 24, 2026, and De La Vista Executive and Walnut Grove Executive both returned earlier in the year.

Still closed under renovation, per the District government's maintenance page: Redfish Run (closed since June, with a reopening planned for January 2027), Turtle Mound (closed since July, with a reopening planned for spring 2027), Roosevelt Executive (closed since August, with completion anticipated in December and a reopening planned for spring 2027), El Diablo Executive (closed since May 12, no date announced), and Yankee Clipper Executive (closed since January 2026 for rest and rehabilitation, with no set return). This year's drought added pressure too: the District moved to a Phase III Extreme Water Shortage, which brought extra turf-protection closures, and routine maintenance and overseeding closures continue. The District government also scheduled a Villages Recreation Department and Golf Update town hall for December 15, 2026, a good place to hear the plans directly. On the horizon, Meadow View, a new 27-hole championship course, is described by The Villages as its newest course with opening details still pending.

What this means for investors: golf is one of the biggest amenities in The Villages, and course renovations are the community reinvesting in what draws renters and buyers. El Santiago returning in time for peak demand supports the winter rental story, and the courses still closed are worth knowing about if you are evaluating a rental near one, since a closed course is a season-level consideration for a short-term rental.The Savannah Center: what is on now and coming up