29 Magical Holiday And Christmas Events To Discover Around San Francisco (2024)

Table of Contents
1. Take a spin around a festive Bay Area ice rink 2. Go gift shopping at a holiday market 3. Scout out some of the most stunning SF Christmas tree displays 4. Explore all the famous festivities at Union Square 5. Attend a magical classical concert lit by hundreds of twinkling candles 6. Walk among flurries of “snow” at Thrive City’s Winter Wonderland 7. Explore the Fairmont Hotel’s famous giant gingerbread house 8. Walk among glowing LED tree sculptures at Entwined in Golden Gate Park 9. Meet up with your fellow red-coated revelers at SantaCon 10. Check out luminous art at the Exploratorium’s annual GLOW exhibition 11. Attend SF Ballet’s renowned performance of Nutcracker 12. Look out for Christmas activities, events, and decorations at Ghirardelli Square 13. See the massive sugar castle display at the Westin St. Francis 14. Make lifelong family memories with these local holiday activities for kids 15. Get tickets for SF’s most festive concerts and performances 16. Wear your ugliest sweater to SF’s most over-the-top Christmas bars 17. Walk through a landscape of hand-painted animal lanterns at Oakland Zoo’s Glowfari 18. Take a spin through San Jose’s Christmas in the Park drive-through 19. Experience the Ruth Bancroft Garden’s holiday “Garden of D’Lights” display 20. Get tickets to one of the most underrated local holiday light displays: Holidays at Filoli 21. Skate through a glittering Christmas maze at Enchant San Jose 22. Plan a romantic outing with our list of cozy winter date ideas 23. Hop aboard these festive holiday train rides around the Bay Area 24. Book an igloo and go ice skating at Merry Meritage in Napa 25. Explore the Après Village at Four Seasons Palo Alto 26. Pick up some holiday gifts at the best SF shopping streets 27. Indulge in SF’s most mouthwatering holiday desserts 28. Find the perfect Christmas tree to decorate your home 29. Ring in 2025! References

Here's your ultimate guide to holiday activities in the San Francisco Bay Area -- including ice rinks, Christmas light displays, winter markets, and everything in between.

Jamie Ferrell - Senior Staff Writer

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San Francisco draws endless crowds during the holidays, and it’s no wonder why — from the Union Square ice rink to the Fairmont’s two-story gingerbread house, there’s enough holiday spirit in the air to cheer up even the grumpiest Scrooge. For those who seek some inspiration to start planning around Christmas time, we’ve made a list and checked it twice. Read on for your ultimate guide to the holidays in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Need more ideas? Read our guides for things to do this December and things to do this winter in the Bay Area.

1. Take a spin around a festive Bay Area ice rink

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Is it really winter without a day of ice skating at a charming local rink? See how much skill you’ve retained since last year by zooming (or hobbling) around one of the Bay Area’s most popular ice rinks.

  • Nov. 6, 2024 – Jan. 20, 2025: Union Square Ice Rink
  • Nov. 18, 2024 – Jan. 5, 2025: Merry Meritage
  • Dates TBA: Thrive City
  • See the full list of local ice rinks here

2. Go gift shopping at a holiday market

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Holiday spirit is already in the air and the crafters of San Francisco are working at full throttle to sell their wares! We’ve gone ahead and rounded up some of the bestholiday markets, craft fairs, and more in the San Francisco Bay Area, perfect for finding some memorable and unique gifts for your loved ones.

3. Scout out some of the most stunning SF Christmas tree displays

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San Francisco has so many gorgeous holiday trees up these days, it’s hard to keep track. We decided to round up the best ones, so you can catch them all before the season ends! Have you seen all of these glittering trees? Here are some of our favorites.

  • Palace Hotel – The Palace Hotel has one of the most beautiful lobbies in the city, made even more impressive with its colorful and ornate Christmas tree.
  • World Tree of Hope at Grace Cathedral – The largest origami Christmas tree in the world.
  • Pier 39 – A 60-foot live tree with shifting light patterns and colors.
  • See more SF Christmas tree displays here

4. Explore all the famous festivities at Union Square

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When you think of Christmas time in San Francisco, you probably first picture Union Square. During the holidays this area comes to life with expansive holiday decorations and attractions. Look for the famous Union Square Ice Rink, the return of the multi-street Winter Walk, Macy’s SFSPCA Holiday Windows, SantaCon, the Bill Graham Menorah, and the towering Christmas tree. Read our full guide to Union Square during the holidays here.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

5. Attend a magical classical concert lit by hundreds of twinkling candles

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Celebrate the holiday season by immersing yourself in a candlelit concert paying tribute to some of the most popular Christmas classics. Traditional carolsandtimeless compositionsare being brought to life at SF’sInternational Art Museum of America. Find your seat at one of these Candlelight holiday specials and ring in the most wonderful time of the year on a festive note.

6. Walk among flurries of “snow” at Thrive City’s Winter Wonderland

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This popular holiday activation at Chase Center include a North Pole mailboxto send letters to Santa,nightly “snowfall,”and a series ofspecial events on select days in December. Details are still TBA, but in the past they’ve hosted a “Noon Year’s Eve” celebration for kids on Dec. 31st and free ice skating.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

7. Explore the Fairmont Hotel’s famous giant gingerbread house

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One of San Francisco’s most celebrated holiday installations is the two-story gingerbread house at theFairmont Hotel.The fascinating creation is22 feet tall, composed of thousands of gingerbread bricks and gallons of royal icing.

A team of engineers, builders, and of course pastry chefs began planning this year’s gingerbread house back in July. Each year, the life-size Victorian structure takes520 hoursto build, light, and outfit with thousands of pieces of candy. It’s created using over8,000 baked 12×4 inch gingerbread cookie bricks, cemented together and decorated with a mountain of royal icing which requires150 gallons of egg whites and 1,000 pounds of powdered sugarto make.

🗓️ Dates: Opening Nov. 23, 2024

8. Walk among glowing LED tree sculptures at Entwined in Golden Gate Park

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Make sure you pay a visit soon to Charles Gadeken’sEntwined, a sprawling immersive LED light installation in Golden Gate Park’s Peacock Meadow. The whimsical installation transforms Peacock Meadow into anotherworldly ecosystem of glowing trees, bushes, and other natural elementscreated from colorfulpixel-like LED lights. The trees range from 8-20 feet tall, accompanied by dozens of glowing flower clusters and bushes to create a beautiful meadow landscape.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

9. Meet up with your fellow red-coated revelers at SantaCon

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Grab your red coat and reindeer because SantaCon is coming to town. Celebrating its 28th year, SantaCon is hosted in 70+ cities around the world, with the vast majority of them taking place around the US. The goal of the event is to bring together fun-loving Santa enthusiasts and revelers for aholiday bar crawl across SF. SantaCon is free and open to all adults over 21 and is not a kid-friendly event.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

10. Check out luminous art at the Exploratorium’s annual GLOW exhibition

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The Exploratorium’s visitor-favoriteGLOW light art exhibition always wows visitors with compelling sculptural pieces that manipulate light and darkness in creative ways. Last year’s exhibition expanded the showcase with artworks that allowed visitors tocompose music with light, play experimental LED dungeon crawlers, discover hidden crystals, and more.

🗓️ Dates: Nov. 21, 2024 – Jan. 26, 2025

11. Attend SF Ballet’s renowned performance of Nutcracker

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Nutcrackeris a classic holiday ballet that is beloved by audiences all over the world — in fact, it’s the most performed ballet in the country. Every year, the SF Ballet’s Nutcrackerdraws large crowds who want to partake in the holiday festivities, and you can reserve your tickets now.

🗓️ Dates: Nov. 21, 2024 – Jan. 26, 2025

12. Look out for Christmas activities, events, and decorations at Ghirardelli Square

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One of the coziest escapes in the city is Ghirardelli Square, which is a must for shoppers on any day of the year, but turns up the charm during the holidays. In December get ready for special events at the square including amenorah lighting and Santa visits throughout the month.

13. See the massive sugar castle display at the Westin St. Francis

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The Westin St. Francis is known for its enormoussugar castle on display during the holidays, an extravagant sweet creation towering 12 feet above the lobby. Watch a miniature train circle the castle, which is surrounded by a giant pile of presents and glimmering holiday trees. Last year the castle introduced an AR experience in which you can explore the enchanting “inside” of the sugar castle using your phone.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

14. Make lifelong family memories with these local holiday activities for kids

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There are so manyholiday activities happening in and around San Francisco that it can be hard to know where to start. We did a deep-dive into the best kid-friendly holiday and Christmas activities so you can make the most of this time of year with the kids in your life.

15. Get tickets for SF’s most festive concerts and performances

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Don’t forget to get tickets to the best upcoming holiday and Christmas concerts in San Francisco. Here are a few we have our eye on.

  • Candlelight concertsThese stunning classical concerts by candlelight are excellent, especially during the holidays.
  • Grace Cathedral performancesGrace Cathedral is bringing a great lineup of musical performances, both Christmas-related and not.
  • SF Symphony You can’t go wrong with a performance by SF Symphony, and their lineup for the holidays is unparalleled.

16. Wear your ugliest sweater to SF’s most over-the-top Christmas bars

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The holidays have arrived and bars across SF are dressing up for the occasion. These holiday pop-up bars capture the joy, nostalgia, and celebratory atmosphere of the holiday season, plus lots of tasty cocktails.

  • Miracle at PCH – SF’s beloved holiday pop-up bar returns with even more exciting cocktails and thousands of colored lights.
  • Deck the Halls barAnother popular holiday pop-up bar on Union Street with fiery Krampus shots.

17. Walk through a landscape of hand-painted animal lanterns at Oakland Zoo’s Glowfari

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Glowfariis Oakland Zoo’s immersive light show of epic proportions featuring dozens of stunning lantern displays in a totally unique holiday light experience.Glowfari is a local favorite for both kids and adults, and we look forward to seeing it every single year.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

18. Take a spin through San Jose’s Christmas in the Park drive-through

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Each year Lake Cunningham Park in San Jose is decked out with 2 acres of sparkling holiday lights decorated by local schools, businesses, and community groups.

You can explore the displays via their beloved drive-thru experience which invites guests to take a trip through a glowing winter wonderland; or via theDowntown Park Walk-Throughwith plenty of exhibits and more at Cesar Chavez Plaza.

🗓️ Dates: Drive-through opens Nov. 21, 2024. Downtown displays open Nov. 29, 2024

19. Experience the Ruth Bancroft Garden’s holiday “Garden of D’Lights” display

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Each year, the Ruth Bancroft Garden adorns the plants withmulticolored lights, lasers, and more, transforming the already spectacular 3.5 acre space into anotherworldly outdoor adventure. Guests can stroll through the beautiful glowing gardens for 1-1.5 hours to discover countless photo ops and exciting displays.

🗓️ Dates: Opens Nov. 22, 2024

20. Get tickets to one of the most underrated local holiday light displays: Holidays at Filoli

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Holidays at Filoli is one of the Bay Area’s most beautiful and lesser-known light displays, taking place at Filoli Estate & Gardens in Woodside. Thousands of glittering lights will adorn the garden’s trees, plants, and hedges for a must-see experience. One of the centerpieces atHolidays at Filoliis a210-foot-long light tunnelwhere you’ll find yourself surrounded by sparkling lights on all sides.

🗓️ Dates: Nov. 16, 2024 – Jan. 12, 2025

21. Skate through a glittering Christmas maze at Enchant San Jose

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When it comes toholiday light displaysin the Bay Area, it’s hard to beat this enormousChristmas maze and ice skating rink in San Jose.Enchant San Josewill soon take overPayPal Park, and it’s the place to be if you (like us) have caught an extreme case of holiday cheer.

Enchant is essentially a massive glittering winter wonderland rife with photo opportunities and fun activities. Explore agiant glowing light maze with larger-than-life reindeer, a 100-foot Christmas tree, and endless interactive elements.

🗓️ Dates: Nov. 22 – Dec. 29, 2024

22. Plan a romantic outing with our list of cozy winter date ideas

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San Francisco is full of lovelyromantic places to have a date,from fine dining to intimate outdoor adventures. Are you looking for cozy, funwinter date ideas in the San Francisco Bay Area with a partner? Read on to get inspired.

23. Hop aboard these festive holiday train rides around the Bay Area

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The Bay Area has a handful of seasonal train journeys that you can reserve this year.

  • Nov. 29 – Dec. 23, 2024: Santa Train Jolly Journeys with the Napa Valley Wine TrainTake a merry voyage through wine country with these holiday train rides that feature Santa visits, dinner experiences, and more.
  • Nov. 29 – Dec. 23, 2024: Roaring CampSpeed down the coast to Santa Cruz on a vintage train decked out with holiday lights. There’s also a specialty Chanukah train ride happening on Jan. 2, 2025.

24. Book an igloo and go ice skating at Merry Meritage in Napa

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Every year, Bay Area hotels fully embrace the holiday season with specialized events, decorations, and more. The wine countryMeritage Resort & Spa in Napa is no exception and will be bringing back its popular winter village throughout the holiday season. The festive wonderland contains anice rink, fire pits and s’mores, VIP igloos, Santa story time, and more.

🗓️ Dates: Nov. 18, 2024 – Jan. 5, 2025

25. Explore the Après Village at Four Seasons Palo Alto

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The Four Seasons in Palo Alto is known to host a gorgeous pop-up winter wonderland calledAprès Village, which is the ultimate holiday escape every year. Some of the best attractions include semi-private chaletswith roaring fireplaces, flat-screen TVs, and blankets; aholiday sweet shop;and agiant snow globe and life-size sleighfor endless photo ops. And of course, don’t forget to take a spin on theAprès skate rink.

🗓️ Dates: TBA for 2024

26. Pick up some holiday gifts at the best SF shopping streets

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San Francisco is full of independently owned shops and boutiques where you can find the perfect items for friends and family during the holidays. Instead of heading straight to the mall, take a stroll down one of these charming SF streets that are simply packed with local shops and pleasant surprises.

27. Indulge in SF’s most mouthwatering holiday desserts

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The holiday season calls for something sweet, and bakeries across SF are baking delicious holiday desserts and other treats just for the occasion. Ranging from rich chocolate babka to powdered sugar-dusted stollen, these treats are sure to be a hit at your next holiday gathering.

28. Find the perfect Christmas tree to decorate your home

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The holiday season is here and for many folks that means that it’s time to decorate. Whether you’re looking for a festive wreath or a full Christmas tree, here are some great Christmas tree lots around the Bay Area where you’ll find the perfect fit.

29. Ring in 2025!

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We’re sure this list activities will help you close 2024 out on a high note. Here are a few articles to help you make the most of New Year’s Eve so you can start 2025 in style!

  • What to know about the NYE 2025 fireworks show in SF
  • Ways to celebrate NYE 2025 in San Francisco
  • San Francisco event calendar for 2025

See also: 11 essential places to enjoy decadent hot chocolate in San Francisco

Tags:christmas, hanukkah, winter

29 Magical Holiday And Christmas Events To Discover Around San Francisco (2024)

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