Encinitas Turns 40 With Its Holiday Traditions Lined Up Friday to Sunday
Why would a 90-foot Norfolk Island pine need a market built around it? The pine at Fourth and C streets has been lit for the holidays since 1994 without one. On Friday, Dec. 4, the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce will add one anyway. The reason has less to do with the tree than with the two hours before it lights up.
For years, Encinitas has run its December traditions through separate organizations. The Encinitas Historical Society hosts the tree lighting, the City produces the parade, and Cardiff 101 Main Street runs Kringle Mingle on Aberdeen Drive. The new Holiday Village & Market fills the empty Friday afternoon in front of the lighting. That turns three separately run events into one weekend that starts at Moonlight Beach, moves up Coast Highway 101 and ends in Cardiff. It also lands in the city's 40th year.
The Heritage Tree started as a three-foot sapling planted in 1952 by brothers Peter and John Danforth, according to the Encinitas Historical Society. It now stands more than 90 feet over the corner of Fourth and C, above Moonlight Beach. In 2011 the City made it one of only two official Heritage Trees in Encinitas.
The lighting began with one resident. In 1994, Luis Ortiz asked the Danforth family for permission to decorate the tree, got it, and paid for the first displays himself. The Historical Society took over the event in 2015 and runs it with help from the City, local sponsors, the Encinitas Union School District and volunteers.
Last year's lighting, the 31st, took place on Dec. 5, 2025, in the Moonlight Beach parking lot and drew about 500 people. The countdown was timed to the end of the sunset over the Pacific. Most people arrived for that one moment at dusk. The new market gives them a reason to come earlier.
The first Encinitas Holiday Village & Market runs from 2 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, in part of the same Moonlight Beach parking lot, with the Heritage Tree festivities starting at 4 p.m., the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The Chamber is organizing it with the Encinitas Historical Society and the City. The Union-Tribune's account says the goal is to get families to "arrive early, stay longer."
According to the Union-Tribune, the market will include:
Admission is free. Overflow parking is at Pacific View Arts Center. Vendor booths cost $200, and Chamber members get first preference. Sponsorships run from $500 to $2,000, and businesses can underwrite individual pieces such as the hot chocolate station or the gingerbread table.
Encinitas Historical Society president Carolyn Cope described it this way in the Chamber's announcement, as quoted by the Union-Tribune:
"The Heritage Tree Lighting has brought generations of families together, and the Holiday Village & Market will add another wonderful reason to gather and celebrate."
Before, the lighting was something you showed up for at dusk. Now the afternoon has its own reason to be there, and the lighting caps it off.
The new market also makes the rest of the weekend easier to plan. Each event uses a different part of the day and a different part of town, so they don't compete with each other.
| Day | Hours | Where | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Dec. 4 | 2 to 7 p.m., tree lighting at 4 p.m. | Moonlight Beach parking lot | Encinitas Chamber of Commerce with the Encinitas Historical Society and the City |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Parade starts 5:30 p.m. | South Coast Highway 101, D Street to J Street | City of Encinitas |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Aberdeen Drive, Cardiff | Cardiff 101 Main Street |
Friday runs from afternoon into sunset, Saturday is an evening on the highway, and Sunday is a morning event in Cardiff. You could go to all three without rushing. You could also pick just one and still hit a main event of the season.
Encinitas became a city on Oct. 1, 1986. The main birthday celebration already happened on Oct. 3. That day, the City's 40th-anniversary program included 1980s-themed activities at Moonlight Beach and Pacific View Arts Center, a BETAMAXX concert, an outdoor screening of "Back to the Future" and a Historical Society exhibit at the 1883 Schoolhouse. The exhibit traced how Historic Encinitas, New Encinitas, Olivenhain, Leucadia and Cardiff grew into one city.
The parade continues that theme into December. The City's 2026 Holiday Parade is called "40 and Still Fabulous." It starts at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, on South Coast Highway 101 between D and J streets, and entries are invited to celebrate Encinitas history and culture.
Groups that want to march have a deadline. Applications close Nov. 13. Later applications are accepted only if space remains and carry a $25 late fee. Entry fees are $75 for nonprofit groups, $150 for private groups and $200 for commercial businesses, and the City adds a 3.7% fee to credit card payments.
The City's 2026 parade page lists the date, route and start time, but it hasn't posted closures, parking or shuttles yet. Last year's plan is the best guide for now. For the Dec. 6, 2025 parade, the City's notice said Coast Highway 101 would close at 4 p.m. Free parking was available at San Dieguito Academy and at Ecke Sports Park/YMCA. Shuttles ran about every 20 minutes to the NCTD bus station on Vulcan Avenue, with the last downtown pickups at 8:30 p.m. ADA-accessible service left from San Dieguito Academy. That was the 2025 setup, and the City may change it this year.
Downtown gets a practice run two weeks earlier. Encinitas 101's Holiday Street Fair is on Sunday, Nov. 22, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., on six blocks of South Coast Highway 101. The 2025 fair was the 41st. Its notice closed Coast Highway from D to J streets from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Union-Tribune reported. That's the same D-to-J stretch the parade uses. If the closures repeat, the same blocks of 101 will shut down twice in 13 days. For the fair, Encinitas 101's FAQ lists parking at City Hall, Moonlight Beach and the two Coaster Station lots.
By Sunday the weekend has moved south. Cardiff 101's Kringle Mingle fills Aberdeen Drive on Dec. 6 with Makers Market booths of locally made gifts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., plus a kids' craft table and live music by local musicians over the same hours. Surfing Santa takes photos from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in a vintage Camera Camper sleigh. Cardiff 101 says he leaves "promptly at 2:00 pm." Sponsors The Giving Treats, Starbucks and Cardiff 101 provide the holiday treats, coffee and hot chocolate. The event is free.
Of the three days, this one is the most local. Downtown's events draw from the whole city, while Kringle Mingle is one Cardiff street and a morning of shopping from local makers.
The holiday weekend is still six weeks away, but the run-up starts sooner. The Encinitas Día de los Muertos community festival is this Sunday, Oct. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. at MiraCosta College's San Elijo Campus, 3333 Manchester Ave. in Cardiff. Admission is free, according to the Union-Tribune's events roundup. On Saturday, Oct. 31, Encinitas 101's Safe Trick-or-Treat runs from 5 to 8 p.m. along South Coast Highway 101 between Encinitas Boulevard and K Street. The City's special events page also lists a Día de los Muertos event at the Encinitas Library on Nov. 1 from 3 to 5 p.m. After that come the Nov. 22 street fair and then Dec. 4, when the Moonlight Beach lot fills with market booths at 2 p.m., two hours before the Heritage Tree lights up.
If you'd like to talk through which of these weekends works best for hosting visiting family, or what Encinitas feels like from Moonlight Beach to Aberdeen Drive in December, Madison Khavari is glad to share what she knows of the city's calendar. Let's Connect.
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