How to Spend the Holidays in San Francisco

Every holiday season, San Francisco transforms into a winter wonderland. Good cheer can be found throughout the city, which is brimming with light art, winter markets and holiday performances.  

Performing Arts

From classic holiday performances to festive drag shows and circuses, San Francisco’s performing arts scene reflects the creative spirit of the city. Here’s what’s playing this holiday season: 

• The San Francisco Symphony’s winter season will include screenings of holiday films featuring the Symphony performing the score live to picture as the films are projected onto a large screen. On Dec. 12 and 14, the SF Symphony performs Brian Henson’s The Muppet Christmas Carol, featuring music by Miles Goodwin. On Dec. 19-21, the Orchestra performs Jon Favreau’s Elf, featuring music by John Debney.

  Legendary Grammy Award-winning group Boyz II Men will also join the SF Symphony for two special holiday performances on Dec. 17 and 18. Boyz II Men will perform holiday favorites as well as some of their most-loved hits with the Orchestra. 

• See a century-old classic, The Nutcracker, performed by the San Francisco Ballet—America’s oldest professional ballet company. Performances will run through Dec. 29. 

• ODC/Dance will return to the stage for a holiday run of The Velveteen Rabbit at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with larger-than-life storybook characters portrayed by the company’s world-class dancers. (Nov. 30 – Dec. 8)

• Smuin Contemporary Ballet presents The Christmas Ballet at the Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA. (Dec. 13-24) 

• While Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol has been a holiday classic for more than 150 years, two San Francisco theaters will offer two very different versions of the story. The American Conservatory of Theater will present the world premiere of A Whynot Christmas Carol – the story of a small theater troupe in the town of Whynot that has gathered to put up their director’s new version of A Christmas Carol (Nov. 26–Dec. 24).

• The San Francisco Mime Troupe will present A Red Carol, an activist adaption of the story, featuring a cast of six and traditional music. (Dec. 14-29)

• Now in its 19th year, The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes takes four drag legends and casts them in two parody Christmas episodes of the TV show The Golden Girls. This year’s show will take place at the historic Curran Theater in San Francisco’s Theater District. (Dec. 5–22)

• North Beach’s Club Fugazi theater will ring in the holiday season with Dear San Francisco: Home For the Holidays!, a holiday edition of the critically acclaimed intimate and immersive circus experience. (Nov. 20 – Dec. 29)

• Bay Area-based circus, Circus Bella, will put on a special winter performance. Kaleidoscope, performed under a Big Top Circus Tent in San Francisco’s East Cut neighborhood, features original music performed live. (Dec. 13 – Jan. 5)

• PlayGround presents its third annual “twisted” holiday show: A VERY HITCHCOCK CHRISTMAS Volume III, inspired by the iconic films of Alfred Hitchcock. Plays featured include Santa on a Rope by Shoshanna Green, To Catch a Grinch by Daniel Arzola (World Premiere), The Sugarplum Trap by Marissa Skudlarek, The Birds is Coming by Jonathan Josephson (World Premiere), and A Murder at Christmas by Stan Stone (World Premiere). (Dec. 7-8) 

Golden Gate Glow

Light art will brighten block after block of San Francisco from Thanksgiving to Jan. 31 for the Illuminate SF Festival of Light. The annual display includes dozens of free dramatic, eco-friendly light art installations accessible by public transit. Notable installations include "Love Over Rules" in SoMa, "The Seed" in the Castro, and "Entwined" in Golden Gate Park.

Experience the country’s largest holiday projection event on a self-guided tour of this year’s Let’s Glow SF artwork. Expanded this year, the free outdoor event will feature one art installation and six large-scale animated light shows across the facades of iconic SF buildings, including the Ferry Building and the top of Salesforce Tower. (Dec. 6-15 from 5:30 – 10 p.m. nightly).  Glow on Front: A Neon Block Party, a free all-ages block party on Front Street, will take place Dec. 13.

Every neighborhood across San Francisco will be lit up for the holidays. To see how all of San Francisco celebrates the holidays, Big Bus is offering Holiday Lights Tours with stops to see the Union Square Christmas Tree and City Hall’s Christmas lights and through neighborhoods including Chinatown, Nob Hill, the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf. The tour ends at Ghirardelli Square with a free Ghirardelli hot chocolate. 

Shop Local 

Winter markets are popping up across San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods. The markets provide walkable and fun opportunities to shop for local and unique holiday gifts and explore San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods. 

• Winter Walk in Union Square: As part of its Winter Wander-land,San Francisco’s shopping district, Union Square, will once again bring back the Winter Walk holiday tradition – a 10-day event that will turn two neighborhood blocks into a pedestrian plaza. Local food trucks, live performances and local merchants will highlight Winter Walk’s programming. (Dec. 13 – 22)

• Cole Valley Night Market: On Dec. 5, San Francisco’s charming Cole Valley neighborhood will host a holiday-themed night market. Bordering Haight-Ashbury, the night market provides an opportunity to experience an underexplored neighborhood, shop from local vendors and sample food from local eateries. 

• North Beach Night Market: North Beach’s first night market will take place on Dec. 6 for a holiday-themed evening. The neighborhood will close Grant Avenue for pedestrians and feature opportunities to taste Italian desserts from local bakeries, holiday shopping from the many local businesses, and live entertainment. 

• Hayes Valley Holiday Stroll: On Dec. 6, Hayes Valley presents an enchanting evening of music, shopping, live performances, and special activities for all ages. Local musicians and carolers will fill the air with holiday tunes, while street performers and dancers bring extra seasonal cheer along the neighborhood’s festive, tree-lined streets.

• Dogpatch Winter Market: On Dec. 7, the Dogpatch neighborhood will host a day-long winter market. More than 60 neighborhood businesses, including local markets, artisans, studios and museums, will participate. This year’s celebration offers even more opportunities to shop locally with a selection of holiday pop-ups and neighborhood boutiques.

Ice Skate

The Thrive City Complex will celebrate the holidays with an ice skating rink and holiday celebrations, including a Tree-Lighting Ceremony, Hanukkah Celebration, Kwanzaa celebration, and New Year’s Eve party. For the Winter Wonderland Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 30, Thrive City will inaugurate its newly designated Entertainment Zone with festive activations centered around San Francisco’s tallest Christmas tree, including a guest appearance by Warriors’ legend Festus Ezeli and a performance by Montell Jordan. Thrive City retailers will be permitted to sell alcoholic beverages to-go for attendees to enjoy within the zone as part of the festivities.   

San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood will transform into a winter wonderland with the return of the Safeway Holiday Ice Rink. The rink will offer outdoor skating every day through Jan. 20 and will also host several special events, including Drag on Ice, Silent Skate and Polar Bear Skate. 

Wintry Activities

California Academy of the Sciences’ ‘Tis the Season for Science’ holiday programming features pairs of baby reindeer, camels, and yaks, along with music, dance, and magic performances from over a dozen diverse troupes; falling snow inside the museum; engaging public programs all about animal adaptations to the cold; and seasonal science experiments and crafts. (Nov. 23 – Jan. 5)

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair at the historic Cow Palace transforms the venue into the bustling streets and lively stages of Charles Dickens’ Victorian London. Visit from Nov. 23 through Dec. 22 on Saturdays and Sundays. Visitors can ride a miniature steam train, meet Father Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge, Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig, and the Ghost of Christmas Present, and explore four acres of Victorian theaters, pubs, dance halls and lamplit shops.

1 Hotel San Francisco is unveiling its first-ever Northern Lights experience, running Dec. 2 – Jan. 17. Hosted on the heated & tented Terrene patio along the iconic Embarcadero, guests are welcomed into a cozy, Scandinavian-inspired wonderland, complete with a starlit light installation and festive winter forest décor. Visitors can select and sip from a curated menu of color-changing “Aurora Borealis” hot cocktails and indulge in interactive fondue made with delicious Cowgirl Creamery cheese and served alongside Acme bread and other accoutrement. 

You can view San Francisco’s latest holiday hotel deals roundup here.

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