On the evening of Friday, Nov. 27, the 88-foot Norfolk pine on Liberty Station's North Promenade will be lit, with live entertainment, firetruck rides and a showing of The Grinch running from 5 to 9 p.m. At the same hour on the South Lawn, at 2850 Roosevelt Road, a Ferris wheel and a carousel will be turning on the first night of the Swiss Winter Village, a new Christmas market that is coming to San Diego for the first time.
The next morning, NTC Park fills with more than 175 makers for the San Diego Made Holiday Market. So the holiday season at Liberty Station now opens with three large events in three days, all on the same campus and all drawing on the same parking lots. After that weekend, the calendar spreads out a great deal.
A ticketed market arrives beside a 30-year-old rink
For years the center of Liberty Station's holiday season has been the Rady Children's Ice Rink in the Central Promenade at Arts District Liberty Station. This year is its 30th, and it raises money for the Thriving After Cancer program at Rady Children's Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Liberty Station counts the rink among its Salute the Season traditions, along with the tree lighting, the Nutcracker Tea and a Hanukkah celebration.
The Swiss Winter Village is built differently. It comes from Swiss Xmas Inc., working with the ticketing company Fever, and its organizers also run Zurich's Illuminarium and Wienachtsdorf, Geneva's Noël au Quai, and Noël La Villette in France. The plan calls for more than 60 chalets, about 30 of them serving food: raclette, mulled wine, Swiss sweets and street food from around the world. The rest sell jewelry, decorations and handmade gifts. Storytelling, face painting, workshops, stilt walkers, concerts and DJ sets fill out the program. FOX 5 previewed the village on Oct. 21.
Set side by side, the two attractions keep different hours:
| Rady Children's Ice Rink | Swiss Winter Village | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Central Promenade, Arts District | South Lawn, 2850 Roosevelt Road |
| Season | Thursday, Nov. 19 to Sunday, Jan. 3 | Friday, Nov. 27 to Sunday, Jan. 3 |
| Weekday hours | 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. | 3 to 9 p.m. |
| Weekend hours | 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. | Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Christmas Eve | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., then 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
Both close on Jan. 3. The rink opens on Nov. 19, eight days ahead of the village. On weekdays the village doesn't open until 3 p.m., so the rink has the campus mostly to itself on weekday mornings and early afternoons.
Entry to the village is ticketed. Adults 13 and older pay $16.90, children 4 to 12 pay $12.90, and seniors, students, military members and groups of eight or more pay $14.90. Children 3 and under get in free, and everyone else needs a ticket. Packages on the village's own site add more. Entry with the Ferris wheel and the carousel is $19.90, entry with both rides and parking is $34.90, and $59.90 covers unlimited rides, a raclette menu and parking. The village is cashless, mostly outdoors and wheelchair accessible, and well-behaved pets are allowed. Santa portraits run Friday through Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m. between Nov. 27 and Dec. 20, with no separate reservation.
Three events, one weekend
Since the village opens the day after Thanksgiving, its first weekend lands on dates Liberty Station had already planned around:
- Friday, Nov. 27. The village opens at 3 p.m., the weekday schedule. The tree lighting runs from 5 to 9 p.m. on the North Promenade and at Vesper Venue.
- Saturday, Nov. 28. The San Diego Made Holiday Market runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at NTC Park, 2705 Cushing Road, with food trucks and family activities. The village opens at 11 a.m. and stays open until 10 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 29. The maker market runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the village from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The village overlaps with the tree lighting on Friday evening and with the maker market on both weekend afternoons, and Santa portraits start that same weekend. No other weekend this season stacks up like this one.
Parking follows the same rules for everyone
The busy weekend matters most for parking, because everything shares the same supply. Liberty Station's self-parking is free for three hours while you visit a business there, and overnight parking isn't allowed. Fever's event page says free parking across Liberty Station is first come, first served, and it sells guaranteed parking through its app. Three choices follow from those rules:
- Guaranteed parking comes with the $34.90 and $59.90 village packages, or can be bought separately through Fever.
- Free parking is limited to three hours while you're visiting a Liberty Station business, so an evening at the village followed by dinner can go past it.
- Transit is MTS Route 28, which you can catch from the Old Town Transit Center by taking the Green or Blue Line trolley there. Fever also lists Route 923.
Fever recommends transit or rideshare for the village. If you live in Loma Portal or Roseville, that probably makes walking or a short ride the easiest way in on Nov. 27–29.
After the opening weekend, the calendar spreads out
The following weekend has smaller events, mostly in the Central Promenade and Liberty Public Market:
- Saturday, Dec. 5: a Book Lovers Holiday Market at Liberty Public Market, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: the Nutcracker Tea with San Diego Ballet, with seatings at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., holiday treats and Santa.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: a Hanukkah menorah lighting from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Central Promenade, next to the rink.
Beyond those dates, the village and the rink run on their regular hours through the holidays. On Christmas Day the rink holds two sessions, noon to 5 p.m. and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and on New Year's Eve it is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weeknights in December, when the village is open from 3 to 9 p.m. and the opening crowds have gone, are the quietest time to visit it.
You can also eat on the campus. Grandson Steaks, an all-day Sonoran steakhouse and butcher shop at 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Suite B, in the Arts District, appears on Eater San Diego's roundup of new restaurants with steaks, tacos, seafood and a bar. It's in the same Arts District as the rink.
Two Sundays on the bay
In mid-December the season moves to the water. The 56th San Diego Bay Parade of Lights runs on Sunday, Dec. 13 and Sunday, Dec. 20, starting at 5:30 p.m. from the south end of Shelter Island. This year's theme is "Liberty Lights the Bay – Cheers to 250 Years!" About 80 decorated boats make the trip, and the organizers estimate the parade draws more than 100,000 spectators around the bay.
Point Loma sees the start. The published route runs from the south end of Shelter Island to the north end, but moored boats keep the parade from passing very close to shore. From there it crosses the America's Cup Harbor entrance to Harbor Island and continues along the Embarcadero to the Coronado Ferry Landing. The organizers say the parade takes about an hour to pass any one spot. Announcers at the Maritime Museum and Coronado Landing describe each boat as it goes by, and heavy traffic means you should plan ahead or take the trolley. Both parade Sundays fall during the village's run, which is open until 9 p.m. on Sundays, so you could spend the afternoon on the South Lawn and get to Shelter Island before the boats leave at 5:30.
If you're hosting family over the holidays, or if guests coming for the tree lighting or the boat parade want to see Point Loma, Brigitte Adams and the B&B Team are glad to suggest routes, timing and a few quiet places to eat nearby. Contact us.
