Sausalito Holiday Events Calendar 2025
Sausalito hosts its “Holiday by the Bay” event each year, and the celebrations grow each year as we continue to shrug off the lingering effects of the pandemic. You can check out all of the different events below, along with other local holiday activities that are not formally part of Holiday by the Bay. If you have a non-profit event in Sausalito, Marin City or Muir Beach that you’d like to see on this page, please let us know!
Christmas season elements in Downtown Sausalito:
Christmas Carol Carolers (or is that Carolliers?) and live performers
Holiday displays & festive lighting in shop windows
Special deals… and hot cocoa stops!
A Sausalito Special Letters to Santa mailbox at Viña del Mar Park
The ride between San Francisco and Sausalito on the ferry glows with Holiday warmth!
Click here to jump to Fireworks and Lighted Boat Parade
November 28 – December 24 — Sausalito Farms Christmas Tree Lot
The Christmas tree choices are a lot less imposing than the gigantic lighted tree in Vina del Mar Park, but you can buy your annual tree at Sausalito Farms Tree Lot and benefit local schools and charities!
Weds. December 3, 2025 — Sausalito Holiday Tree Lighting
On Weds. December 3, 2025, come down to Vina del Mar Park in Sausalito starting at 5:00 PM to take part in the 6th annual Sausalito Holiday Tree Lighting, which kicks off Sausalito Holiday by the Bay each year. The tree is decorated by an all-star team of Sausalito city employees and civic volunteers, and all it will need is to be surrounded by people of good cheer when the lights go on. There will be live music, a cool breeze, hot cocoa, and where else can you get the exciting bonus of seeing Santa arriving on a boat? It’s rumored that eight LED-emitting Pacific battery-nose dolphins pull him in on water skis, but this has not been substantiated. The tree was once again the generous donation of Inn Above Tide, a beautiful hotel right on the water in Sausalito (and whose leaders put countless hours of their personal time into community volunteer efforts each year).
Sat. December 6 — Annual Sausalito Breakfast with Santa event at the Sausalito Yacht Club,
Note: You must register in advance for this event. There are two seatings in the morning for pancakes, sausage and good cheer, and Santa is a wonderful host for all the kids. Be sure to have your phone powered up to take pictures! The guests at the first seating get to welcome Santa as he arrives in Sausalito. Those at the second seating get to cheer him as he sets off to continue preparing for the Holidays! Click here for more details.
*** Featured Event ***
December 8-31 — Annual Gingerbread House Tour (Click at left for more details)
The Gingerbread Houses in the competition are located in stores and businesses all over Sausalito during December, so hunting for them is a fun activity. (The signs in the front windows will guide your quest and we have a list of participants on the page in the link above) This program is a long-running centerpiece of Sausalito’s Holiday by the Bay, with many area residents coming downtown each year to visit all the stops on the Gingerbread House Trail.
Do you like…
- Local criminalista Carmen Sandiego (whose creative teams included folks with ties to Sausalito)? And…
- Where’s Waldo (whose author is from England, but Sausalito’s Waldo Grade freeway is also a Star Wars location, and Otis Redding is rumored to have created Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay at Waldo Point Harbor)?
Well, a detective of your advanced skills will know that Gingerbread House tour maps are hidden in plain sight in many locations downtown. We are proud to once again serve as one of the sponsors of this event in 2024, joining the all-star team at Sausalito’s Kimber Communications.
One word of warning: If you see giant Gingerbread People like the ones shown above strolling around town and spreading Sausalito Holiday cheer, do not be alarmed. Do not alter your levels of alcohol consumption nor increase your dosage of any medication. This is normal here and you’re gonna be just fine. (But if the oversized cookies are snickerdoodles instead of gingerbread, we advise that you consult a professional.)
Note: Increased levels of giant gingerbread cookie activity have already been noted for this year by our agents in the field!
Sat. – Sun. December 6-7 — Muir Beach Holiday Art Fair
This annual event showcases the work of more than 25 local Muir Beach artists and chefs, with everything from fine art to crafts to unique and yummy food. (Do high-end chefs get offended when you call their carefully-crafted creations yummy? Don’t quote me, please.) And, all this happens in the beautiful environment of West Marin and the GGNRA! Muir Beach, a village located on the bluffs of the Pacific shore just over the ridge from Sausalito and Mill Valley, shares our 94965 Zip Code and we look to always publicize their events. The Holiday Arts Fair will be held Saturday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Sunday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Muir Beach Community Center. The event website is here.
*** Featured Event ***
December 13-14 — Sausalito Winterfest
Click here for our dedicated page with events, links, ticket information and maps for Sausalito’s classic small town Holiday celebration.
- December 13, 2024 — Sausalito Lighted Boat Parade and Fireworks. Click here for our dedicated page with Insider Tips to help you enjoy the parade and fireworks and avoid disappointment.
- December 14, 2024 — Sausalito Jingle Bell Fun Run 5K for adults and kids follows a route along the Sausalito waterfront and is followed by a pancake breakfast for runners.
December 31 — New Years Eve San Francisco Fireworks Viewing from Sausalito — You can skip the traffic and parking hassles and watch from a view restaurant in Sausalito! Yes, we’re farther away, but you can see both barges at once and you skip all the hassles from the crowds.
Getting all these “small town America” Sausalito Christmas and Holiday season events coordinated represents a lot of clever (and hard) work by people at the City of Sausalito, the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce, the Sausalito Woman’s Club, Sausalito On the Waterfront, the Sausalito Economic Development Committee (EDAC), Performing Stars of Marin and more. Bravo to everyone at these and other groups who do so much to enrich our local Holidays!