"In general [Bee Cave businesses] loved the event, saw increased business and inquired if this could be a city tradition." City communications specialist Dori Kelley told Community Impact that in March 2023, after the rink's first winter. That sentence explains why the rink came back.
Bee Cave on Ice opens again on Friday, Nov. 13, and runs through Jan. 18, 2027, behind City Hall at 4000 Galleria Parkway. The city runs the rink, and the Galleria doesn't. Council treats it as a business stimulus first, and that shapes how it gets paid for, what a ticket costs, and which nights are the best deal.
Hotel-tax money paid for the first winter
Bee Cave voted in 2022 to bring in an open-air holiday rink and set aside up to $300,000 in hotel occupancy tax funds for installation and operations. The Hill Country Galleria put in $100,000, and the city agreed to pay it back in full. That's laid out in a March 28, 2023 council memo. The first rink went up in front of the Bee Cave Public Library at the Galleria. Its opening celebration was set for Nov. 5, 2022, and the city projected $382,000 to $540,000 in gross receipts at $15 a skate, according to Community Impact's preview.
Here's how that first season, Nov. 4, 2022 through Jan. 2, 2023, turned out on paper:
| 2022–23 season | Figure |
|---|---|
| Skaters | More than 25,000 |
| ZIP codes represented | More than 100 |
| Gross revenue | $392,748.32 |
| Sales tax generated | More than $29,000 |
| Net after taxes, card fees and admin fees | $340,919.68 |
| Reimbursed to the Galleria | $100,000 |
| Left over, deposited to the general fund | About $240,000 |
| Total season expenses | $400,000 |
Gross revenue came in at the low end of the city's own projection, and below the $400,000 it cost to run the season. About $100,000 of that cost went to one-time electrical work and the platform the rink sits on, which the memo says would be reused for another season and for a Magnolia Theater summer musical. Community Impact had to correct one detail in its reporting. The roughly $240,000 left over went into the general fund. It didn't go back into the hotel-tax fund.
That split is how the rink works. Money collected on hotel stays covers the setup. What the rink brings in after fees goes to the city's general fund, along with sales tax from people shopping at the Galleria.
Council measures the rink by what it does for local shops
The 100-plus ZIP codes come up again and again in the city's materials, and for good reason. Every skater from outside Bee Cave is a possible dinner, gift purchase or shopping trip at the Galleria. Community Impact reported that city documents counted another 75,000 visitors who came during the first season on top of the skaters.
On March 28, 2023, council unanimously made Bee Cave on Ice a permanent annual city event and approved up to $250,000 in hotel occupancy tax funds for the 2023–24 season. City staff said sponsorships would help bring the city's cost down, Community Impact reported. A year later, the council's March 26, 2024 agenda item restated the reasoning. Council had found "that the economic stimulation of the local businesses and community created by the event is a positive impact on the city as a whole."
The test council set is whether the rink brings people to Bee Cave's businesses. The rink's own revenue doesn't decide it, and that standard has kept the rink coming back as its costs went up.
The bill rose, and the ticket price went up a dollar
That same March 2024 item asked council to approve a $316,565 service agreement with Crown Rinks for the 2024–25 season. In the staff recommendation, the vendor is called Crown Events. The payment schedule started with $48,420.45 due March 31, 2024. That's about $66,500 more than the $250,000 hotel-tax cap approved one season earlier.
Ticket prices moved much less. When KXAN visited in December 2024, a skate with rental cost $15 plus tax, the same as the 2022 projection. KXAN also noted that the rink is real ice and sits next to Bee Cave City Hall. The 2026–27 price is $16 plus tax for 50 minutes of skating with rental included, the same as last season.
So contract costs rose by tens of thousands of dollars while the ticket went up by one dollar. Admission never had to cover the full bill, because the program is designed to bring in Galleria customers.
The calendar for the 2026–27 season
The city's schedule is built around two things, Galleria traffic and the Lake Travis ISD calendar. Regular hours this season:
- Monday through Thursday: 3 to 9 p.m., last session at 8
- Friday: noon to 10 p.m., last session at 9
- Saturday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., last session at 9
- Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., last session at 6
On LTISD school holidays, Nov. 23 through 27 and Dec. 18 through Jan. 5, the rink switches to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a 6 p.m. last session. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day run the same 10-to-7 hours.
The best deal is Tuesday Community Night, at $11 plus tax instead of $16. That's $5 off, close to a third. There are only five this season, so put them on the calendar now:
- Tuesday, Nov. 17
- Tuesday, Dec. 1
- Tuesday, Dec. 8
- Tuesday, Dec. 15
- Tuesday, Jan. 12
Thanksgiving week falls entirely inside the school-holiday window, so expect daytime hours and a 7 p.m. close all week.
Where the rink overlaps with the Galleria's holiday events
The Hill Country Galleria fills the same weeks with its own holiday events, and some of them cross paths with the rink's hours in ways that matter when you're planning an evening.
Light up the Plaza, Saturday, Nov. 28, 5 to 8 p.m. The Galleria lists a tree lighting, live music, skating, giveaways, face painting and refreshments, with free admission and parking. Nov. 28 comes after the Nov. 23–27 school-holiday window, so the rink is back on its regular Saturday hours, open until 10 p.m. with a 9 p.m. last session. That leaves time for a session after the tree lighting.
Jingle Bell 5K, Saturday, Dec. 5. Festivities start at 7 a.m. and races at 8. The rink opens at 10 a.m. that day.
Bee Cave Holiday Market, three December weekends in Central Plaza. It runs Fridays Dec. 4, 11 and 18 from 4 to 9 p.m., and Saturdays Dec. 5, 12 and 19 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with rotating local makers and family activities. On Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, the rink stays open until 10 p.m. after the market's 9 p.m. close. Dec. 18 is different. It's the first day of LTISD's winter break, so the rink closes at 7 p.m. while the market keeps going until 9. If you want to skate and shop that evening, skate first. Saturday, Dec. 19, has the same 7 p.m. close for both.
Last December, local school choirs performed at the rink, according to Mayor Kara King's column in the Statesman. The city hasn't posted a choir schedule for this season.
What's next nearby
Two restaurants on the way to Bee Cave won't open until long after the rink comes down. In October, Bee Cave extended special-use permits for CAVA and Chipotle on East Ladera Boulevard. Site work was expected to start in October, with both restaurants projected to open in May or June 2027, Community Impact reported. Both are listed at 13714 East Ladera Blvd. in Community Impact's October roundup of Lake Travis–Westlake business updates.
Tickets for the rink are booked through the City of Bee Cave's Bee Cave on Ice page, which also posts any changes to the hours above.
The rink is one of the clearest examples of how much the Galleria shapes life in Bee Cave, and that's part of what you're paying for when you live within a few minutes of it. If you're curious how being close to the Galleria shows up in your home's value, I'm happy to put together a free home valuation, in English or Spanish. Hablemos at Maria Aguirre, and I hope to see you on the ice on a Tuesday night.
