Christmas in Los Angeles: Things to Do in December 2026

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Written By Amy Suto
Warm string lights glowing out of focus in front of a row of palm trees at dusk

Christmas in Los Angeles starts at about 4:45 p.m. That’s roughly when the sun sets all December, and it’s the cue for nearly a mile of deodar cedars in Altadena, a giant koi in Descanso’s Japanese garden, and a zoo’s worth of light-up butterflies and Ice Age giants to switch on.

The normal high downtown on Christmas Day is 67 degrees (NOAA’s math, not my optimism), so this city skips the snow and goes straight to lighting design. The closest you’ll get is Descanso’s new laser show, which ends in a “snowfall” finale (snow! in La Cañada Flintridge!).

I spent the better part of a decade in Los Angeles: USC film school, the Hollywood assistant years, the TV writers’ rooms, and a stretch where I ranked coffee shops by screenplay-writing potential. I’m also sober, which is why the nights in this guide end at a candlelit tea house instead of a bar.

The best things to do in Los Angeles in December 2026 are the light walks at Descanso Gardens and the L.A. Zoo, the free lighting ceremony on Christmas Tree Lane, the Hollywood Christmas Parade and the Marina del Rey boat parade, and Los Angeles Ballet’s very local Nutcracker.

Every event date and price below comes from the organizers’ own websites, current as of October 2026, and every cafe and tea house is one I’ve paid for myself. Let’s dive in.

Amy Suto smiling with her chin on her hand at a white cafe table in Los Angeles, wearing an olive sweatshirt and tortoiseshell cat-eye glasses

A late-December morning in Los Angeles, dressed for winter, which here means one sweatshirt.

December in Los Angeles: Weather, Sunsets, and Where to Stay

Downtown Los Angeles averages a high of 67°F and a low of 48°F in December, according to NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals, with about two and a half inches of rain across the whole month. Wear sunglasses at lunch and bring a real jacket for the evenings.

The number that actually runs your schedule is sunset, which lands between 4:44 and 4:54 p.m. all month, per the U.S. Naval Observatory. The light shows are built around that early dark: Tinker Bell’s Neverland opens at 5, Descanso at 5:30, and L.A. Zoo Lights at 6. Every one of them is outdoors, and Descanso’s runs rain or shine, so pack an umbrella along with the layer.

That 4:45 sunset is the closest thing Los Angeles has to a cold front.

If you’re visiting, base yourself somewhere walkable. The Fairfax–La Brea orbit puts Community Goods, Sightglass, and Blu Jam Cafe on foot (my Los Angeles travel guide makes the full case), and it keeps you central for the drives to Pasadena, Altadena, and the Westside.

An iced vanilla bean matcha from Community Goods on Edinburgh Ave in Los Angeles

The Community Goods vanilla bean matcha, still the one to beat in December.

The Best Christmas Lights in Los Angeles (2026 Dates and Prices)

These are the four big light shows with 2026 dates confirmed by their organizers, all outdoors and all timed to that early sunset. The three ticketed ones close on Christmas Day, so plan the 25th around something else.

1. Enchanted: Forest of Light at Descanso Gardens

Bare trees lit purple, orange, and green above a dark pond, with a glowing white lily sculpture at the water’s edge, like the garden light walks around Los Angeles

Light-walk season: the trees dress up, and you bring the jacket.

Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge is celebrating ten years of Enchanted: Forest of Light, running nightly from 5:30 to 10 p.m., November 22, 2026, through January 9, 2027 (closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day). Favorites like Flower Power and the Ancient Forest are back, joined by that new laser show on the Main Lawn, Tom Fruin’s luminous house sculptures in their new spot in the Oak Grove, and a Giant Koi in the Garden of Good Fortune for the Japanese garden’s 60th anniversary.

Dated tickets run $29 to $52 for adults and $19 to $37 for kids 2 to 12. Members pay less, and kids under 2 are free. Tickets can’t be refunded or rescheduled (Descanso asks you to think of a missed night as a donation), so if your calendar is shaky, the $85 Anytime Ticket ($65 for members) lets you lock in a price now and choose your evening later.

Parking is free and the whole event is cashless. If your night lands between December 2 and 6, a holiday market of local craftspeople sets up on the lawn, too.

2. L.A. Zoo Lights in Griffith Park

L.A. Zoo Lights runs select evenings from November 20 through January 10, 6 to 10 p.m., and this year’s all-new displays lean into nature: larger-than-life birds, butterflies, flowers, and marine creatures, plus Ice Age giants made of light. Tickets start at $19 and parking is free. Most people spend 60 to 90 minutes inside.

There are make-your-own s’mores, churros, and hot cocoa, plus an artificial ice rink (ticketed separately). Spiked cocoa is on the menu for the over-21 crowd, and the regular hot cocoa is right there for the rest of us.

Check the calendar twice. Zoo Lights goes dark on 14 nights this season, including Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve, plus a run of early-week nights in December and January. The zoo also hosts a Sensory-Inclusive night on December 8 and Pride Night on December 17.

3. Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena (Free)

The free pick with the longest history is Christmas Tree Lane: nearly a mile of towering deodar cedars along Santa Rosa Avenue in Altadena, strung with more than 20,000 lights and kept going entirely by donations, sponsors, and volunteers, with no city funding.

The 2026 Lighting Ceremony is Saturday, December 5, at 6 p.m. at the corner of Santa Rosa Avenue and Mariposa Street, free and open to the public, with local choirs and marching bands before the switch flips just after dark. Winterfest, an arts and crafts market with food trucks and photos with Santa, runs on the same corner from 3 to 9 p.m., so come early and buy something from a local maker before the countdown.

Last December the Lane lit up for the 105th time, eleven months after the Eaton Fire, with volunteers rewiring the lights.

4. Tinker Bell’s Neverland at South Coast Botanic Garden

Down on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, South Coast Botanic Garden is hosting Tinker Bell’s Neverland, a holiday light trail through the garden that runs November 13 through January 3, 5 to 8:30 p.m. every night except Christmas Day. Plan on 60 to 90 minutes. It’s the obvious pick if you’re bringing kids, and the South Bay pick if you’d rather not drive to Pasadena on a weeknight.

Holiday Parades: Hollywood, the Marina, and the Rose Floats

Three parades run the season: Hollywood on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, decorated boats in Marina del Rey in mid-December, and the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, whose floats you can watch get their final touches the week before.

The 94th Hollywood Christmas Parade (Sunday, November 29)

The 94th Hollywood Christmas Parade takes over Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday, November 29. Reserved grandstand seats run $120 for adults and $60 for kids under 16 (no refunds or exchanges), or you can claim a spot on the curb like the rest of the city.

Hollywood Boulevard between Orange and Highland closes for the entire weekend, and more streets close Sunday afternoon, so check the 2026 road closures and take the Metro if you can. The parade’s producers ask for exactly that.

The Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade (Saturday, December 12)

The 64th Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade is Saturday, December 12, with the theme “Hollywood Under the Stars” and a light show to open it. Boat owners deck out their boats in holiday lights to match the theme, and the route circles the main channel.

Watch from Burton Chace Park, where announcers call the boats live over the speakers, or grab an early seat at one of the restaurants in Fisherman’s Village along the channel.

Watch the Rose Parade Floats Get Their Final Touches (December 28–30)

Between Christmas and New Year’s, the action moves to Pasadena. At Decorating Places, Rose Parade floats get their final touches inside the Rosemont Pavilion, and you can see the entries up close: Monday, December 28 (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Tuesday, December 29 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and Wednesday, December 30 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Last entry is an hour before closing. Kids 5 and under get in free, and parking in the nearby lots is free, first come, first served.

The 138th Rose Parade itself steps off at 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day 2027. If you’d rather sleep in on January 1, this is your chance to see the floats a few feet away before they roll.

The Nutcracker, Los Angeles Edition (December 11–27)

Los Angeles Ballet’s The Nutcracker turns Southern California landmarks into the story’s settings: a Spanish-style Hancock Park mansion, the snowy slopes of Big Bear, the Venice Beach arches, and the moonlit Pacific. (Hancock Park is also where my travel guide tells you to base yourself, so this Nutcracker is practically a neighbor.)

It opens at Royce Hall at UCLA on December 11 through 13, then moves to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood from December 18, where the Los Angeles Ballet Orchestra plays Tchaikovsky live. The Dolby run continues past Christmas Day, including a sensory-friendly matinee on December 26 at 2 p.m., and it closes December 27. Budget two hours plus a 20-minute intermission.

For a pre-show stop, Paper or Plastik in Mid-City, my longest-running LA coffee loyalty, shares its Pico Boulevard address with a working ballet studio. It’s as close to a Nutcracker warm-up as a cafe gets.

A Sober Night Out Downtown: Skate, Then Tea

Here’s the alcohol-free December night I’d send anyone on, starting under the downtown high-rises and ending on a floor cushion.

Skate: Holiday Ice Rink Pershing Square

The Holiday Ice Rink Pershing Square is open daily from November 12, 2026, to January 3, 2027, at 532 South Olive Street. L.A. Zoo Lights has an artificial rink too, but this one puts you in the middle of downtown, ringed by office towers.

Then Tea: Shiloh Tea House

Paper lanterns glowing over a long wooden tea table at Shiloh Tea House in DTLA, with tea jars, a lit candle, and a spiral staircase wrapped in fairy lights against the brick wall

Shiloh Tea House, lanterns on and the staircase wrapped in fairy lights.

Then head to Shiloh Tea House in DTLA for the nightcap: a candlelit brick loft with floor cushions, live musicians, board games, and proper tea tastings. Book ahead through their website or Airbnb Experiences. Shiloh gave us one of the coolest nights we’ve had in LA this year, and a 48-degree December night is exactly the weather it was built for.

Where to Write, Sip, and Warm Up Between Events

Kyle working on his laptop under the leafy patio umbrella at Bricks & Scones in Los Angeles

My husband Kyle on the Bricks & Scones patio, the deep-work seat on Larchmont.

The daytime half of an LA December is cafe weather, and these are the rooms I keep going back to:

  • Community Goods off Melrose for the vanilla bean matcha, which remains ~ undefeated ~ across LA and San Francisco. Budget 30 to 80-plus minutes for the line.
  • Bricks & Scones on Larchmont for a long writing session on the patio, where we hosted Make Writing Your Job co-working events. Tea people get a London Fog or an English Rose, made with soy on request.
  • Republic of Pie in NoHo for co-working with pie on the side, and another of our Make Writing Your Job meetup homes.
  • Re/Creation in Mid-City for a few good hours in the indoor-outdoor room (they cap laptop time, politely).

The full list lives in my best restaurants and coffee shops in Los Angeles, and the LA matcha ranking covers the rest of the green tea.

The Best Weekend for Christmas in Los Angeles: December 12–13

If you only get one December weekend in Los Angeles, make it Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13, 2026. Here’s what overlaps:

  • Jackalope’s Downtown Burbank Holiday Arts Festival, free, with 170-plus local artisans along San Fernando Boulevard, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
  • The Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade on Saturday.
  • Los Angeles Ballet’s Nutcracker at Royce Hall, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
  • Descanso’s Enchanted, L.A. Zoo Lights, and Tinker Bell’s Neverland, all open both nights.

Pair the Burbank market with pie and a writing session at Republic of Pie in NoHo next door, then save one light walk for Sunday night.

FAQ: Christmas in Los Angeles

Is Los Angeles a Good Place to Spend Christmas?

Yes, if you want lights and events more than snow. Downtown averages 67°F by day and 48°F at night in December, and the calendar is packed: four big light shows, three parades if you count the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, a Nutcracker with a live orchestra at the Dolby, and an outdoor ice rink downtown.

What Are the Best Free Christmas Events in Los Angeles?

Christmas Tree Lane’s Lighting Ceremony and Winterfest in Altadena on December 5, and Jackalope’s Downtown Burbank Holiday Arts Festival on December 12 and 13, are both free. Watching the parades from the curb costs nothing too, and reserved grandstand seats are the paid upgrade ($120 for adults at the Hollywood Christmas Parade).

Are Los Angeles Light Shows Open on Christmas Day?

Mostly not. Descanso’s Enchanted and Tinker Bell’s Neverland both close on December 25, and L.A. Zoo Lights is dark on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve. The exception is Christmas Tree Lane, a public street whose lights stay on for the month after the December 5 ceremony. Los Angeles Ballet’s Nutcracker also has a Christmas Eve matinee at the Dolby and picks back up on December 26.

Where Are the Best Holiday Markets in Los Angeles in 2026?

Three worth planning around: the holiday market of local craftspeople at Descanso Gardens during Enchanted (December 2–6), Winterfest on Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena (December 5, 3 to 9 p.m., free), and Jackalope’s Downtown Burbank Holiday Arts Festival (December 12–13, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, 170-plus artisans).

When Is the Hollywood Christmas Parade in 2026?

Sunday, November 29, 2026, on Hollywood Boulevard. It’s the 94th parade, and reserved grandstand seats run $120 for adults and $60 for kids under 16.

So pick a light walk, book the tea house, and let Los Angeles do December the way it does everything else: in sunglasses, with excellent lighting. Here’s to a holiday season with more glow than traffic.

Running a holiday event, market, or pop-up in Los Angeles? I’d love to hear about it, and my Los Angeles page has the invite form. Subscribe to my newsletter for new guides and reviews, and if you’re a writer who wants a career flexible enough for a Tuesday-night light walk, that’s what CozyJobs is for.

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