One Day Holiday Events
(Listed in chronological order)
Winter Family Night
Stephen Foster Elementary, 5223 E. Bigelow St. Lakewood
December 8th, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Cost: FREE
Columbia Astronomers Club will bring their telescopes to explore the night sky! Plus a movie under the stars, crafts/activities, and hot cocoa bar. Dress warmly and bring a picnic dinner and chairs/blankets for the outdoor movie.
Rossmoor Winter Festival
Rush Park, 3021 Blume Dr Rossmoor
December 8th, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Enjoy live reindeer, snow, photos with Santa, tree lighting, a holiday movie and much more!
Santa’s Holiday Island
Heritage Park, 18600 Bloomfield Ave., Cerritos
December 9th, 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Cost: FREE
Visit Santa Claus at Heritage Park Play Island. Enjoy crafts for kids, music, and caroling. Also collecting cans and toys for local charities.
Winter Wonderland
Vineyard Church of Anaheim, 5340 East La Palma Ave, Anaheim
December 9th, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Cost: Free
This event will feature a real snow play area, kids crafts, chili bar with all of fixin's, carolers, hayrides, live music, hot chocolate bar, story time with Mrs. Claus, photos with Santa Claus, and much more.
7th Annual Holiday Concert and Santa on the Pier
100 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach
December 9th, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Takes place at the end of the Pier prior to the King Harbor Holiday Boat Parade. Enjoy live music and photo ops with Santa.
Breakfast With Santa
Ken Nakaoka Community Center, 1670 W 162nd St, Gardena
December 9th, 8 am - 10:45 am
Cost: $5-$7
Come celebrate the 2017 holiday season the right way. Tickets for the City of Gardena's annual Breakfast with Santa event are now on sale! Prices start at just $5 for pre-sale tickets and will increase to $7 on the day of the event.
Community Holiday Festival
Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Avenue Long Beach
December 10th, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Cost: Free
Bring the family and enjoy holiday music, workshops, crafts and traditional food, like tamales, champurrado and pan dulce! While you're here, shop for the holidays at MOLAA's Museum Store where you'll find unique gifts for everyone on your list. We invite the community to get together and participate in the festivities.
Family Holiday Fun
Stonewood Center, 251 Stonewood St, Downey
December 10th, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Join for an afternoon of family fun featuring a special holiday show by the musical group Twinkle Time, followed by craft making. Santa will also be on hand for your holiday photo needs.
Old Time Christmas Festival
Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach
December 10th, 1 - 4 pm
Cost: $5 (best to pre-buy tickets)
Discover traditions of a Victorian Christmas! Make historic crafts, enjoy holiday music from a live brass band and carolers, strike the pinatas, listen to storytellers in the library, sip warm cider, get a head start on holiday shopping in our Museum Shop, and tour the adobe, lavishly decorated for the holidays.
Movie Night with Santa Cow
Chick-fil-A Downey, 8613 Firestone Blvd Downey
December 14th, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Cost: FREE
A memorable evening filled with fun holiday activities & a complimentary showing of the classic holiday movie, The Santa Clause! Feel free to bring lawn chairs and blankets, as the movie night will be outdoors. The movie starts promptly at 7 pm, holiday activities will start at 6 pm.
Christmas BLVD 2017
Ev Free Fullerton, 2801 Brea Blvd, Fullerton
December 14th to 17th, 4:00 pm
Cost: FREE
There will be food trucks, a climbing wall, fresh cotton candy and kettle corn being made, sledding hills made of real snow, a horse-drawn carriage, a train, inflatables and carnival rides, woodworking demonstrations, snow falling gently, nightly concerts in the Worship Center and so much more.
Frozen - North Pole Movie Night
Battleship USS Iowa, 250 S Harbor Blvd, Berth 87 San Pedro
December 15, 2017, 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Cost: FREE
The movies will be shown on the fantail of the historic Battleship IOWA, as you sit under the stars, next to the beautiful LA Waterfront. Seating is first come first served, please arrive with ample time to reserve your spot. Personal chairs and blankets are highly recommended. No outside food or beverage. Time and date subject to change.
Beach Winter Wonderland
Dockweiler Youth Center, 12505 Vista Del Mar, Los Angeles
December 16th, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Bring the whole family to the DYC for this free event and enjoy bouncers, winter activities, and REAL SNOW at the beach! For faster access to the activities please register in advance (it is still free). Registration not required to enjoy the activities.
Holiday TrainFest
Los Angeles Union Station, 800 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles
December 16th, 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Event highlights include a visit from Santa Claus, vintage rail cars, and an 874,346-pound steam locomotive decked out for the holidays, meet local police and firefighters and see a vintage 1930s-era fire engine, and more.
Marina Lights and Holiday Movies
Burton Chace Park, 13650 Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey
December 16th, 23rd & 30th, 4:00 pm to 8:00pm
Burton Chace Park will be aglow in holiday lights every night from December 9th through New Year’s Eve! Plus enjoy live caroling, an outdoor holiday movie screening, $1 snacks from Churro Boss, & a Giant Snow Globe Photo Booth!
December Nights: Snow and In N Out
SeaCoast Grace Church, 5100 Cerritos Ave. Cypress
December 21, 2017, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Bundle up and hold on tight it's going to snow. There will be a two-story sledding hill with real snow. The In-N-Out truck will also be on campus serving dinner. (Dinner tickets will be available for purchase! Other activities include a petting zoo, Christmas train, Christmas houses and mini village, and fun crafts for the kids.
Ongoing Holiday Events
Aquarium Holidays
100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach
December 2nd to December 24th, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Cost: $17.95 kids ages 3-11 and $29.95 for adults
Features special holiday décor, a display of gingerbread houses, snow-fall in the Great Hall, and the Aquarium’s costumed characters in their holiday outfits. Enjoy holiday music, shopping, and a special holiday menu offered daily in Café Scuba. On weekends the Aquarium will have a snow play area, underwater shows with Santa Diver, children’s crafts, photo opportunities with Santa and holiday characters, and Hanukkah storytelling with opportunities to play dreidel.
CHILL at the Queen Mary
1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach
December 13th to January 7th (except December 31st)
Cost: Starts at $29.99 for adults and $19.99 for kids (ages 4-11)
Offers an all-new 38,000-square foot Ice Adventure Park, the first of its kind in the U.S. Barrel down CHILL’s famous 100ft Matterhorn Mountain ice tubing slide, take a spin on the ice track with the ice bumper cars and ice tricycles. Thrill seekers can zip down the Alpine Zip Line, soaring 34-feet above the ground and for over 300 feet long! Challenge your friends and family to ice shuffleboard, enjoy DJs spinning nightly and much more.
Reindeer Romp at the L.A. Zoo
5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles
November 17 – January 7
Cost: $21 ages 13 to 61; $18 seniors (ages 62+), & $16 for children (ages 2-12), under 2 free
Visit with reindeer in their charming "Reindeer Village" habitat also featuring fun reindeer facts and holiday photo ops daily. Weekend activities include make-your-own antler crafts, reindeer keeper talks at 11 am and 2 pm and a rotating schedule of animals unwrapping "gifts" of their own. Visits with Santa Claus in a North Pole setting (for a nominal fee) take place on weekend days, November 18 through December 17, 11 am to 3 pm, with a variety of photo packages available. All Reindeer Romp activities, except Santa photos, are free with paid Zoo admission.
Winter Wonderfest
Discovery Cube OC, 2500 N. Main Street, Santa Ana
December 16th to January 7th (closed December 18th to 21st & the 25th)
Cost: Pre-sale tickets start at $19.95 and include admission to the Discovery Cube
Bundle up and investigate the science behind weather, snow play, and tubin. Whoosh down a huge 75-foot ramp on inflatable tubes, find other frosty delights in the snow play area, and more.
Winter Fest OC 2017
OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa
December 21st - January 7th, hour vary so please visit website
Cost: Online tickets start at $10 for children (ages 3-12) and $15 for adults, under 3 are free
Featuring ice tubing down an 8 lane, 150 foot mountain, massive snow play and slide area with separate areas for toddlers and kids with fresh snow blown in daily, ice skating on SoCal’s largest outdoor ice rink under the stars, nightly Christmas tree lighting celebration with a parade of the Winter Fest OC characters, fireworks and snow flurries, plus a not to be missed experience with Santa and his reindeer flying over the fairgrounds through Christmas Eve, an all new Alpine Village with a new light maze and new wintery attractions, over 20 carnival rides and attractions, festive entertainment, seasonal eateries, visits with Santa and so much more.
Holiday Movie Nights
South Bay Galleria, 1815 Hawthorne Blvd, Redondo Beach
November 15th - December 27th, Wednesdays only at 6:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Join South Bay Galleria all season on Wednesday nights at 6:00 p.m. in our food court for free screenings of your favorite holiday movies! Please bring your own low-back chairs and/or blankets to sit on. Click here to view movie schedule.
2017 Kidspace Snow Days
480 N. Arroyo Blvd. Pasadena
Tuesday to Saturday, December 26 - 30
Cost: $13 for anyone 13 months and over
Play in real snow, build your own snowman friend, perfect your snowball making skills, and make snow angels. Continue to celebrate the season with live performances each day, winter-themed art, and the science of snow. Cookie decorating will also be available for an additional $3 fee. Break out your mittens, boots, and snow hat for a day of winter wonderland fun!
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If you have an event to add to this list please click here to submit it or e-mail me at griseldac@macaronikid.com. Thank you!
