On the evening of Saturday, Nov. 21, a 40-foot Christmas tree will light up at The Meritage Resort and Spa under faux snowfall, while Mercy and the Heartbeats play and the Napa School of Music performs. The event runs from 4 to 8 p.m. and is free with an RSVP. The resort is offering complimentary parking and a shuttle, plus train rides, letters to Santa and a toy drive for the Boys & Girls Club of Napa Valley.
Downtown Napa's calendar is just as full, but it runs differently. Downtown has the parade, the stroll, the makers fair and its own tree, and each happens on a single evening or afternoon. The Meritage has the event that lasts the six weeks between mid-November and early January. Seen from a Napa calendar, the holidays this year have two centers. Downtown works as a series of one-night events, and the Meritage works as a place you can go back to any day between mid-November and early January.
The six-week season sits at the Meritage
The Merry Meritage ice rink, billed as Napa Valley's largest outdoor rink, opens Thursday, Nov. 19 and runs through Jan. 3. Hours change halfway through, which matters if you plan around school and work:
| Dates | Days | Rink hours |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 19 to Dec. 17 | Monday to Thursday | 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Nov. 19 to Dec. 17 | Friday to Sunday | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 | Thursday | 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Dec. 18 to Jan. 3 | Daily | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
So until Dec. 17, weekday skating means an after-school or after-dinner trip. Starting Dec. 18, the rink opens at 11 a.m. every day. Bringing a new toy to the Nov. 21 tree lighting gets you 20% off skating, so the opening Saturday is also the cheapest first visit of the season.
Being open daily is what makes the Meritage a center rather than a single event. Downtown has nothing that runs every night for six weeks. The Meritage tree lighting on the Saturday before Thanksgiving comes two days after the rink opens.
Downtown keeps the one-night traditions
Downtown's calendar is a series of fixed dates spread from Halloween to mid-December.
The season starts with Hometown Halloween on Saturday, Oct. 31, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. More than 100 downtown businesses are expected to welcome trick-or-treaters, and family activities continue at First Street Napa until 3 p.m. A week later, on Saturday, Nov. 7, Napa's Dia de los Muertos fills Veterans Park and Brown Street from 3 to 8 p.m.
The centerpiece is the 61st annual Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 5. This year's theme is "Joy to the World and Peace on Earth." Participants line up from 3 p.m. and the parade starts at 5 p.m. The route is a tight loop:
- Start at Second and School streets.
- Head east on Second Street.
- Turn south on Brown Street.
- Turn west on Third Street and return to School Street, with judging on Third near Coombs.
After the parade, Santa visits at the Napa Valley Welcome Center in First Street Napa. If the weather is bad, the parade is canceled, which is worth keeping in mind for any early-December forecast.
Downtown's own tree lighting at Veterans Memorial Park is a Thanksgiving-week event with a 6 p.m. countdown and performances by local children's groups. One local holiday guide lists Wednesday, Nov. 25. The Downtown Napa Association's tree lighting page is where to confirm the date before you plan the evening around it.
Thanksgiving week is when the two centers overlap
From mid-November the two calendars run together, and Napa Valley Expo and the Napa Valley Wine Train add to the same nine days. Laid out in order, the week before and after Thanksgiving is the busiest stretch of the season:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 19 | Ice rink opens | The Meritage Resort and Spa |
| Fri., Nov. 20 to Sun., Nov. 22 | Gifts & Tyme Craft Faire | Napa Valley Expo |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Merry Meritage Tree Lighting, 4 to 8 p.m. | The Meritage Resort and Spa |
| Thanksgiving week | Downtown tree lighting, 6 p.m. | Veterans Memorial Park |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Rink open 2 to 10 p.m. | The Meritage Resort and Spa |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Santa Train Jolly Journeys begin | Wine Train, McKinstry Street station |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | No Saturday farmers market | 1100 West St. |
The Expo's Gifts & Tyme Craft Faire takes up the same weekend as the Meritage tree lighting, so Saturday, Nov. 21 has one event in each part of town. The Wine Train's Santa Train Jolly Journeys run on select dates from Nov. 27 through Dec. 23. Evening trips gather at the McKinstry Street station around 4 p.m. and return around 8 p.m., and daytime departures are added Dec. 21, 22 and 23.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving breaks a regular routine. The Napa Farmers Market skips Saturday, Nov. 28, and again on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Its Tuesday market keeps running through Dec. 22, 8 a.m. to noon, at 1100 West St. If Saturday at West Street is part of your week, Tuesday, Nov. 24 is the last chance to shop the market before Thanksgiving dinner.
Dec. 12 is the most crowded Saturday
Early December gives downtown its turn. The parade is Saturday, Dec. 5. The next day, Sunday, Dec. 6, the Makers Market Local Artist Holiday Fair runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1300 First Street, Suite 301, inside First Street Napa.
The following weekend has the most going on at once. On Saturday, Dec. 12, the Holiday Shop, Sip & Stroll at First Street Napa runs from 3 to 5 p.m. A $10 ticket includes a wristband, a glass and wine splashes at participating locations. The same day, Napa Valley Expo opens its two-day Santa's Helper Gift Faire, which runs through Sunday, Dec. 13. The Meritage rink is open from 11 a.m. that weekend, and the Santa Train has evening departures in the same stretch of December. Since the Sip & Stroll lasts only two hours, the Expo faire and the rink fit easily around it. The real decision is which part of the afternoon goes downtown.
Retail shifts at First Street and the Oxbow
Downtown shopping looks a little different from last year. Riza Plants has announced it will close its retail shop at 1300 First St., Suite 355, on Friday, Nov. 13, and move to plant design and maintenance services. Its closing sale started Oct. 14, as the Napa Valley Register reported. That gives anyone buying houseplants or arrangements as gifts about two weeks to shop the sale before the store closes, well ahead of the busy part of the season.
At the Oxbow Public Market, 610 First St., Roman Holiday Gelato was open and serving by Saturday, Oct. 3, according to the Napa Valley Register's coverage.
The gap in November and what comes in January
The Napa Valley Film Festival is not on this year's calendar. Cinema Napa Valley's festival site lists a fall/winter relaunch event with no date yet, and says the full Napa Valley Film Festival, with screenings, filmmakers and culinary events around the valley, returns in 2027. Without it, November in Napa mostly belongs to the Meritage, the Expo faires and downtown's Thanksgiving-week tree lighting.
The Meritage rink closes Jan. 3. Two weeks later, the season moves back downtown. The 2027 Napa Lighted Art Festival runs Jan. 16 through Feb. 14, with 15 lighted installations along a free walking route downtown. Projection artwork will appear on three downtown buildings during the first nine nights.
If you're planning how your Napa home will host guests between the Meritage tree lighting and the Lighted Art Festival, or thinking about how a property here fits the way you spend the holidays, SagePoint Real Estate Company is glad to talk it through. Schedule a private consultation.
