The holiday season is officially underway, complete with jingle bells, Santa sightings, holiday light displays and outdoor ice rinks popping up everywhere.
For generations of Bay Area denizens, the holidays aren’t complete without a trip to San Francisco’s Union Square to gaze at the window displays and take a turn around the rink. But here are five other dazzling ways to frolic much closer to home.
Christmas in the Park, San Jose
Christmas in the Park — a grand Santa Clara Valley tradition that’s free for all — will open for its 45th magical season the day after Thanksgiving.
For the following 33 days, through New Year’s, more than half a million people will visit the fantasyland at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in the heart of downtown San Jose. Hot chocolate in hand, they will stroll through the two acres of whimsical displays and decorated trees, reveling in the hometown charm and big-city lights.
“It’s a place to create memories and feel joy,” said Debbie Degutis, managing director of the nonprofit that runs the city’s largest annual event. “It’s what you expect in a Hallmark movie. It’s a town square like you’d find in the Midwest.”
The attraction, founded in 1980 by community leaders, draws crowds for its animated displays (33 this year); the more than 600 Christmas trees decorated by local students, clubs, scout troops, companies and elected officials; and the daily and nightly entertainment on a stage near the 65-foot-tall tree, the focal point of the festival. Visits with Santa in his specially built cabin are a big hit, and it’s free to take photos.
This homespun tradition can trace its history back to the 1950s at the Lima Family Mortuary in Willow Glen. Owner Don Lima put up a nativity scene in front of the family business — and the displays grew every year. Today, a Lima Train with enchanting railcar scenes honors the family. (Check out the lumberjacks sawing away; they’re the oldest figures in the park.)
The charming Little Swiss Clockmaker Shoppe, with its crowing rooster, and the Holiday Choir are among the most popular with parkgoers.
Stage entertainment comes in every form imaginable, Degutis said, from family trios, rappers and taekwondo groups to large school choirs and flamenco dance troupes. The diverse array “truly does represent the best of San Jose,” she said.
Musicians from San Jose Jazz will take the stage every Thursday evening during the season. And, she said, she always looks forward to whenever a musician puts out a call for fellow saxophonists to convene. About 100 typically show up.
Other park highlights include snow-blowing machines for kids to frolic under and the Park Tavern, where adults can warm up with wine, beer and snacks.
Since 2020, there’s also been a Christmas in the Park Drive-Thru, just a few miles away at History Park, with a mile’s worth of holiday decor — more than 200,000 lights. The drive costs $25 a car, and the proceeds go toward bringing Christmas in the Park back next year.
Families would be wise to heed the expert advice from Degutis: Come early in the season and consider visiting on weekday evenings, when it’s much less crowded than weekends. Rainy evenings can be enchanting. And don’t wait until Christmas Eve for those all-important chats with Santa, unless you want to brave a line as long as the distance to the North Pole.
Details: After a tree-lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, the displays will be open — rain or shine — from noon to 10 p.m. daily Nov. 30-Jan. 1, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Admission is free. Find transit and parking info and the schedule of events at https://christmasinthepark.com.
Christmas on the Island, Alameda
Santa’s home in the North Pole is insular, set back in time and seemingly perfect. In other words, just like Alameda. And there’s plenty to do this holiday season on the island by the Oakland Estuary, from its famed neighborhood Christmas displays to a parade of light-bedazzled yachts.
A good time to soak in the festive cheer is early December, when multiple events take place. First up is the Downtown Alameda Winter Market on Dec. 2. The open-air bazaar features local vendors, live entertainment, tasty bites and festive tipples for mom and dad, including seasonal beers and Glühwein, a spiced wine served hot. (Details: noon-8 p.m., Central Avenue between Park and Oak streets and in Parking Lot C.; downtownalameda.com/events/holiday-activities.)
Alameda’s Hot Cocoa Stroll is the same evening, with sips and snacks offered by more than a dozen places centered around Park Street, including a toy shop, wine lounge and the local movie theater. This is also the first appearance of Santa in Alameda, who will be touring the downtown streets and posing for photos – he reappears each Thursday night leading up to Christmas. (Details: 6-8 p.m.; downtownalameda.com/events/hot-cocoa.)
When the sun goes down, the lights come on, and the city’s famed Christmas Tree Lane will blaze for the season beginning Dec. 1. Visit this perennial favorite neighborhood-lights extravaganza, which draws crowds from all over for Ho-ho-hollywood-worthy special effects and tableaus. (Details: 5:30-10 p.m. nightly on the 3200 block of Thompson Avenue, between High Street and Fernside Boulevard; facebook.com/christmastreelane.)
For another light show befitting Alameda’s nautical culture, on Dec. 7 the island will hold its “Merry Estuary” lighted-yacht parade with local skippers vying for prizes by bedecking their boats to look like Santa’s sleigh, a police car, the Abominable Snowman and so on. The vessels will assemble at a staging area by the Fortman Marina public pier, then around 5:30 p.m. float west down the estuary toward the Bay before turning around at Oakland’s Jack London Square and returning to the starting point. Visitors can cheer the parade on from either side of the estuary. (Details at lightedyachtparade.com.)
The Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink, San Ramon
Holiday magic starts in the imagination, and the Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink at City Center Bishop Ranch is leaning into the fantasies this season.
The tree-lighting ceremony on Friday set the scene for magical moments at the rink, where Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi will be hosting several events. Yamaguchi, who grew up in Fremont and graduated from Mission San Jose High School, became the first Asian-American woman to win a gold medal in figure skating at the 1992 Olympics, where she met her future husband, ice hockey player Bret Hedican.
To celebrate her achievement, Mattel introduced the Kristi Yamaguchi Barbie, which will be signed and distributed to everybody who purchases a ticket ($75) for the ice skating event which starts at 9 a.m. on Dec. 7.
She’ll also be hosting a skating clinic ($50) at 9 a.m. Dec. 23 to teach children basic skating techniques. A portion of the proceeds will benefit her Always Dream foundation, dedicated to providing books to low-income families. In five years, the rink has raised $160,000 for the foundation.
On other nights at the rink, Elsa from “Frozen” and the Grinch from “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” will make appearances while music from the movies plays over the speakers. There will also be K-Pop night, Sabrina Carpenter night and Taylor Swift night.
Feel the season with holiday beers from Fieldwork Brewing Company or cheerful cocktails from Social Affair. Warm up afterwards with coffee and hot chocolate from Philz or Starbucks. There will also be holiday pop-up stores selling educational toys and streetwear.
And don’t miss a visit with Santa, who will be posing for photos and giving out gifts beginning on Black Friday and every weekend through the season from 12 to 4 p.m., and select Fridays at 5 p.m. at the ice rink.
Details: The ice rink is open from 1 to 8:30 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekends at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon. Tickets ($20-$26) for 90-minute skate sessions include skate rental; citycenterbishopranch.com.
Winter Lodge, Palo Alto
Outdoor ice rinks abound during the holidays, but Palo Alto’s Winter Lodge — the Peninsula’s go-to ice skating destination since it opened in 1956 — is the only year-round outdoor rink west of the Sierra Nevada. Over the years, the nonprofit rink has weathered its share of challenges, from redevelopment threats to a seven-month pandemic closure, but it’s still standing, offering visitors festive, icy fun for skaters of all ages.
No regulation hockey — the rink isn’t big enough, but plenty of figure skating, youth hockey, skating lessons and family-friendly fun, says executive director Linda Stebbins Jensen.
“We’re leaning into what we are: the fun family place,” she says. “This is our thing. We’ve been doing it for 69 years.”
Expect the autumnal hay bale and pumpkin decor to evaporate the day after Thanksgiving, as the lodge’s signature Christmas tree, holiday lights and winter adornments go up. Skate under the stars and twinkle lights, then grab a perch by one of the toasty fireplaces to warm up and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and snacks.
Or continue the fun down the street at Covour Coffee, where you’ll find creative offerings like burnt honey and tiramisu lattes, matcha drinks and hazelnut chocolate and pistachio berry croissants.
Details: Open skate sessions are by reservation at 3009 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto; winterlodge.com. Covour Coffee opens at 8 a.m. daily at 2706 Middlefield Road; www.covourcoffee.com.
Dickens Christmas Fair, Daly City
Humbug, you say? Not at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. This festival, held annually since 1970, is a sure tonic for the holiday blues.
On weekends from Nov. 23 through Dec. 22 (plus the Friday after Thanksgiving), the Cow Palace in Daly City is transformed into Charles Dickens’ Victorian-era London, with rows and rows of artisan and vendor stalls interspersed with stages, pubs, tearooms and music halls. About 1,000 costumed characters play roles and stroll around. (Never have so many chimney sweeps amassed in one place in the United States.)
Visitors will arrive at Victoria Station to find a new experience, a miniature live-steam train. They can take a ride and talk with steam train enthusiasts before disembarking into yesteryear to enjoy the daily Father Christmas Parade, the Sherlock Holmes mystery-solving experience, the entertainment at Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House and more. Throughout the four-acre site, shows, games and crafts for children abound.
Vegan and pan-Euro dishes join the traditional culinary lineup of meat pies, bangers and fish and chips. Libations hot spots include the Bohemian Absinthe Bar, the Port and Chocolate Tasting and a new Champagne Experience, with buttery shortbread paired with the bubbly.
And the popular Dark Garden Corset Experience returns this year to the fair, with advance reservations highly recommended for the corset fittings (with sparkling wine).
Details: Must purchase tickets online, $18-$45, as daily attendance is limited. Extra fee for special tastings and experiences. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at 2600 Geneva Ave., Daly City;
