Travel website highlights holiday events in 7 Central Coast towns
The travelawaits.com website is highlighting our local holiday experiences with a list touting “7 California Central Coast Towns That Light Up For Christmas.”
The piece shares details about destinations from Hearst Castle to Solvang whose special holiday glows and events add to the area’s already alluring “panoramic ocean views, numerous vineyards, and white-sand beaches,” just to name a few.
Think Hallmark Christmas movies on the Central Coast.
Those towns and their attractions — some of which begin on the day after Thanksgiving and run through the end of December or longer — as listed on the website. Here’s a look.
Christmas Market in Cambria
The Cambria Christmas Market is a top holiday destination, with its 2 million-plus holiday lights (about 30 miles of them!), German-style food, mulled wine and artisan vendors on the grounds of the Cambria Pines Lodge and nearby Cambria Nursery.
The festival is “returning in 2022 to its pre-pandemic grandeur” and more, according to Cindy Barks, who wrote the article for travelawaits.com.
The return of the marketplace, the little train ride, Santa Claus, live music and carolers mean, she wrote, that the “market has entertainment for every age group.”
With limited tickets available for each night, advance reservations are the only way to guarantee entry. Book at cambriachristmasmarket.com.
Julefest in Solvang
The atmosphere of the Danish-inspired village feels a bit Christmasy year-round, but the city goes all out during that season, with its monthlong Julefest celebration.
The festival runs from Nov. 26 through Jan. 6. Barks said the Christmas festival “is billed as harkening back to ‘a simpler time and holiday memories of days gone by.’”
There’s a daily light-and-music show at Solvang Park, an early-December tree lighting, a Nisse Adventure Scavenger Hunt, candlelight tours on selected weekend nights.
For details, go to www.solvangjulefest.org.
A parade and Victorians in Paso Robles
Barks said the popular wine region has “a full schedule of Christmas events, many of which take place in and around the pretty town square, known for its lofty old oak trees.”
During the holidays, those trees are draped with lights.
Paso’s signature holiday events include a downtown lighting ceremony, light parade and the Vine Street Victorian Showcase. There’s also a new community New Year’s Eve celebration in the park this year.
Barks notes that while Paso’s Sensorio Field of Light and Light Towers operate yearround, the display adds “holiday cheer to a visit to the Paso Robles area.”
For details, go to www.travelpaso.com and business.pasorobleschamber.com/events.
Mission Plaza lights up in San Luis Obispo
Barks said SLO sets its holiday scenario with its nearly half-century-old annual holiday parade (with floats, marching bands and notable vehicles) and multiple attractions in the lighted-up Holiday Plaza, such as a new musical light show, light tunnels, a 20-foot-tall holiday tree, classic carousel and “a sweet Santa’s House.”
The town’s website describes its Christmas offerings as “classic cars, shining stars and electric guitars” for a “rockin’ good time.”
The plaza’s events start in late November and run through early January.
For more information, go to downtownslo.com/events/holidays/holidayplaza and downtownslo.com/events/holidays/holidayparade.
A Pismo Beach Christmas
Barks highlights the city’s “surfin’ Santa” atmosphere and its “classic California Christmas event that plays up the town’s miles of white sandy beach and sea-bluff terrain.”
The calendar includes a surfboard-decorating contest and a Santa Express drive-by parade, in which the parade drives through neighborhoods in Pismo Beach and Shell Beach.
The decorated surfboards will be on display through the mid-December judging.
For details, go to www.experiencepismobeach.com/classic-california-christmas/.
Lighted boats parade in Morro Bay
One of the county’s most famous holiday events is the parade of merrily decorated boats in the waters of Morro Bay Harbor. With the town’s famous backdrop (Morro Rock), Barks said, “boats sporting Santas, palm trees and reindeer parade through the bay.”
The event, starting at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 this year, usually draws from 30 to 40 entries each year, she said, coming from the city’s “fishing, leisure and yachting communities.”
The coastal town’s Rotary sponsors a Santa House on select weekends, and there’s a giant chessboard along the Embarcadero.
For details, go to morrobayrotary.org/SitePage/lighted-boat-parade.
Hearst Castle decked out in San Simeon
And lest we forget a much-loved holiday experience, Barks reminded us to consider taking a holiday tour at Hearst Castle.
Daytime tour-takers experience the spirit at the former estate of William Randolph Hearst, now an internationally renowned state historical monument.
But it’s the twilight tours that truly capture the essence of what Hearst’s guests in the 1920s and 1930s would have experienced during their holiday visits to the hilltop estate.
Décor includes towering trees in the Assembly Room, large outdoor wreaths and much more through the end of December. Then the Castle’s seasonal elves pack it all away in various basement areas that evoke memories of Grandma’s attic in January.
Advance reservations are recommended, especially for twilight tours during the busy holiday week. For tickets and details, go to hearstcastle.org.
This story was originally published November 24, 2022 at 10:00 AM.
