Ultimate Dog Lover’s Guide to Bay Area Holiday Fun
** UPDATED WITH 2023 DATES **
We are so lucky to be in the Bay Area where there is a wealth of festive events and twinkling lights during the holidays. While the biggest, most popular events like Christmas in the Park, Gilroy Gardens Holiday and IlluminOdyssey typically do not permit dogs, there are still many other outdoor options where your dog can join in on the holiday fun. These range from lighted boat parades to outdoor holiday festivals to tree lightings and neighborhood lights. So get your puffer jacket, hot chocolate (yours!), and leash (your dog’s!) ready to enjoy these seasonal treats with your dog by your side! Best of all, these activities are all FREE unless noted otherwise.
Refer to our 2022 Dog Friendly Bay Area Holiday Guide for specifics from last year. While the dates are for 2022, the holiday events themselves don’t vary much year over year (other than exact dates).
Lighted Boat Parades
Lighted boat parades are a quintessential Bay Area experience that you and your dog won’t want to miss this holiday season. It’s a holiday tradition for the boating community to “deck” their boats with boughs of holly and dazzling lights, then parade their magical masterpieces through the nighttime waters for everyone to enjoy. Don’t forget to bundle you and your dog up in lots of layers!
- Monterey: Brighten the Harbor Lighted Boat Parade – 12/3/23, 5:15-7:30pm
- Oakland Alameda Estuary: Lighted Yacht Parade – 12/2/23, 5:30pm
- Petaluma: Lighted Boat Parade – 12/9/23, 6-8pm
- San Rafael: Lighted Boat Parade – 12/16/23, 6pm
- Santa Cruz: Lighted Boat Parade – 12/2/23, 5:30pm
- Sausalito: Winterfest Lighted Boat Parade & Fireworks – 12/9/23, 6-7:30pm
Parades & Festivals
There is an endless supply of outdoor parades and festivals in the Bay Area during the holiday season. While dogs are not allowed at popular ones like Christmas in the Park, The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and ice skating rinks, there are still many outdoor options that you can experience together with your dog! Our personal favorite is the Fantasy of Lights Drive-Thru with over 50 themed light displays that leaves us mesmerized every time we visit.
- Calistoga: Lighted Tractor Parade – 12/2/23, 7-8pm
- Campbell: Carol of Lights Celebration – 12/2/23, 4-7pm
- Benicia: Christmas Parade & Holiday Market – 12/9/23, 10am-3pm
- Burlingame: Tree Lighting Ceremony & Winterfest – 12/2/23, 5-8pm
- Gilroy: Holiday Festival & Parade – 12/2/23, 3-8pm
- Half Moon Bay: Annual Lighted Parade & Santa Claus – 12/1/23, 6-8pm
- Lafayette: It’s a Wonderful Life Holiday Celebration – 12/3/23, 4:30-6:30pm
- Livermore: Holiday Sights and Sounds Parade + Tree Lighting – 12/2/23, 6pm
- Los Gatos: Children’s Christmas/Holidays Parade – 12/2/23, 11am
- Los Gatos: Fantasy of Lights Drive-Thru ($30/car) – 12/5-12/30/23, 6-10pm
- Note, dogs are NOT allowed in the walk-thru (first weekend in December), but can attend the drive-thru.
- Mill Valley: Winterfest – 12/3/23, 5-6pm
- Morgan Hill: Holiday Lights Parade & Tree Lighting – 12/2/23, 5:30-6:30pm
- Napa: Christmas Parade – 12/9/23, 5-8pm
- Pacifica: Rockaway Beach Tree Lighting Festival – 12/3/23, 4-7pm
- Redwood City: Hometown Holidays Party – 12/2/23, 10am-6pm
- San Francisco: Building Lighting Ceremony at Embarcadero Center – 11/17/23, 4-7pm
- San Francisco: Glowing Hanukkah Party at Ghirardelli Square – 12/10/23, 3-6pm
- San Francisco: Thrive City Winter Wonderland Lighting Ceremony – 11/29/23, 5-7pm
- San Francisco: Thrive City Winter Wonderland Hanukkah Celebration – 12/7/23, 4-7pm
- San Francisco: Thrive City Winter Wonderland Kwanzaa & Noon Year’s Eve – 12/31/23, 9:30am-12:30pm
- San Jose: Christmas in the Park Drive-Thru ($30-35/car) – 11/29/23-1/1/24, 5-9pm
- San Leandro Downtown: It’s a Wonderful Night– 12/1/23, 5:30-9pm
- San Rafael: Parade of Lights & Winter Wonderland – 11/25/23, 12-6pm
- Tiburon: Holiday Festival – 12/10/23, 11am-2pm
- Vallejo: Mad Hatter Holiday Festival – 12/2/23, 2-8pm
- Walnut Creek: Garden of D’Lights in Ruth Bancroft Garden ($12-29/person) – 11/24/23~1/6/24, 5:30-8:30pm
- Walnut Creek: Holiday Parade of Lights & Tree Lighting – 11/30/23, 5:30-8:30pm
- Watsonville: Holiday Lights Drive-Thru ($20-25/car) – 11/24-12/24/23, 5:30-9:30pm
- SF Bay Area: Caltrain Holiday Train – 12/2-12/3/23, 4-8:30pm
- Santa will start his journey at the San Francisco station and make his way down the Peninsula, visiting the following stations on 12/2 (Redwood City, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara) and on 12/3 (Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Menlo Park).
Neighborhood Lights
Grab a travel mug of hot chocolate and stroll through these festive neighborhoods that are decked to the nines. Best of all, it’s FREE! Willow Glen Holiday Lights is our personal favorite as the houses go all out and each street has its own theme – you and your dog could spend several hours appreciating all the decorations.
- Alameda: Christmas Tree Lane – 53+ houses. Dec 10-31, 2023
- Fremont: Crippsmas Place – 70+ houses. Dec 9-27, 2023 from 6-10pm
- Palo Alto: Christmas Tree Lane – 2 blocks of houses. Dec 16-31, 2023 from 5-11pm
- Pleasanton: Candy Cane Lane – 28+ houses. Dec 2-29, 2023 from 5:30-10pm
- Redwood City: Candy Cane Lane – 1 block of houses. Dec 1-31, 2023
- San Carlos: Christmas Tree Lane – 2 blocks of houses. Dec 1-31, 2023
- San Jose: Willow Glen Holiday Lights – 5+ blocks of houses. Dec 8-31, 2023
- San Francisco: “Entwined” lights in Golden Gate Park – On top of the year-round lights, enjoy holiday-specific sculptures, activities, performances, and engaging activations too. 12/7/23-4/28/24.
- San Francisco: Illuminate SF Festival of Light (map) – Visit year-round public light art installations throughout the city, plus additional temporary artworks that make up the Festival of Light during the holidays. 11/24/23-1/31/24.
- San Francisco: Let’s Glow SF in Financial District – America’s largest holiday projection festival with 10 nights of music and visual works projected onto five Financial District buildings. Dec 1-10, 2023 from 5-10pm.
- San Francisco: Presidio Community YMCA – Visit the 55-foot tall Norfolk Island pine that has glowed with lights every December night since 1991. Dec 1-31, 2023.
- Santa Rosa: 4461 Drury Lane – Grand prize winner on the 2021 Season 9, Episode 3 of the ABC TV show “Great Christmas Light Fight.” 2022 will be the final year of this display.
Shopping
Holiday shopping is just that much more fun when you’re surrounded by beautifully decorated storefronts, twinkling lights, festive displays and, of course, your dog! Take advantage of the decked-out displays at these outdoor shopping areas and bring your dog along for a great photo op.
Note that while leashed dogs are allowed in the outdoor common areas of these open-air shopping centers – which is where the best holiday decorations are anyways – they may not be allowed inside some of the stores. So be sure to look for storefront signs indicating whether or not dogs are permitted inside. Generally, if there’s a water bowl placed outside the store, that indicates it is dog-friendly. If not, and there isn’t a “no dogs allowed” sign, then personally I will ask a store employee whether or not Kona can come in with me. Below our are favorite spots to holiday-shop with Kona!
- Berkeley: Fourth Street – Three blocks of dazzling holiday lights every night from mid-November to NYE. Not only a great place for holiday shopping, but there are also free photos with Santa, magic shows, craft workshops, caroling, an artisan market, and a drive-through fantasy parade.
- Berkeley: Telegraph Ave Holiday Street Fair – 12/9-10, 12/16-17, 12/23-24, 11am-6pm
- Carmel: Carmel Plaza – Dazzling lights, fire pits, and even pose on a throne. Don’t forget to explore Ocean Avenue!
- Livermore Downtown: Holiday Village in Carnegie Park – 12/1/23, 4-8pm
- Palo Alto: Stanford Shopping Center
- Palo Alto: Town & Country Village – Another excellent upscale open-air shopping experience with over 70+ unique stores, restaurants, and services.
- San Francisco: Pier 39 – Shop and watch the 60-foot tall Christmas tree transform into a musical light show every 30-min from 5-10pm in mid-November to early-January.
- San Jose: Santana Row – Shop and experience outdoor snow showers in Park Valencia from 6-8pm every Tuesday & Saturday in December.
- San Ramon: City Center Bishop Ranch
- Sunnyvale: Creative Communal Holiday Market – 12/2/23, 10am-3pm
- Walnut Creek: Broadway Plaza
Menorah & Tree Lighting
What we have below is NOT a complete list of dog-friendly tree & menorah lightings. If you don’t see a city listed, chances are they do have some sort of tree lighting ceremony – a good place to start is the event calendar page on your city or county’s official website.
- Cupertino: Quinlan Community Center – 12/1/23, 6pm
- Cupertino: Main Street – 12/2/23, 5-8pm
- Foster City: Tree Lighting Ceremony – 12/6/23, 5:30-7:30pm
- Half Moon Bay Downtown: Mac Dutra Park – 11/24/23, 6-8pm
- Los Altos Downtown: Veterans Community Plaza – 12/1/23, 6-8pm
- Los Gatos Downtown: Town Plaza Park – 12/1/23, 5-7pm
- Millbrae: City Hall Constitution Square – 12/2/23, 5-5:30pm
- Milpitas: Civic Center Plaza – 12/1/23, 7pm
- Mountain View Downtown: Civic Center – 12/4/23, 5:30-8pm
- Newark: Civic Center – 12/1/23, 5:30-7:30pm
- Oakland: Jack London Square – 12/2/23, 5:45-8pm
- Palo Alto Downtown: Lytton Plaza – 12/1/23, 5:30-7pm
- San Francisco: Ritz-Carlton San Francisco – 11/30/23, 5:30-7:30pm
- San Francisco: Civic Center Plaza – 12/6/23, 4-7pm
- San Francisco: Bill Graham Menorah Day at Union Square – 12/10/23, 2-6pm
- Sonoma: Cornerstone Snowman Tree Lighting – 12/2/23, 4-7pm
- Santa Rosa: Old Courthouse Square – 11/24/23, 4-7pm
- Sunnyvale: Downtown Historic Murphy Avenue – 12/2/23, 5-7:30pm
