La Jolla's Holiday Shopping Day Has Always Been Spread Across the Village. For Its 70th Year, the Parade Is Holding a Market on One Lawn.

In 1936 Adelaide Phillips started a flower business as a roadside stand in Encinitas with $6. The Phillips family moved the business to 7766 Girard Avenue in 1945, and Adelaide's has been part of La Jolla Village ever since, according to a La Jolla Village Merchants Association profile of the florist. The merchants association also credits Adelaide's with starting La Jolla's Holiday Open House more than 40 years ago. That is the Sunday each November when shops around the Village each host their own small holiday event on the same day.

For four decades the Village has done its holiday shopping that way, one storefront at a time with no main stage. This year the Village's other big December tradition is changing that. The 70th La Jolla Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival on Sunday, December 6, adds a Village Christmas Market for local makers, artisans and small businesses. It sits at the La Jolla Recreation Center, where the parade ends. So the season now has two Sundays two weeks apart, and they run on opposite designs.

A Florist's Idea That Never Needed a Center

The 2026 Holiday Open House is Sunday, November 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The merchants association describes it this way:

"Rather than one centralized festival, businesses throughout the Village join together to create a festive day of shopping, dining, music, treats, activities and holiday surprises."

Each business decides what its own part of the day looks like. The association's call to merchants lists the kinds of things it hopes to see: hot cocoa or holiday treats, live music, a raffle, an artist demonstration, a children's craft or story time, a photo spot, or a customer appreciation party. Participating businesses go on an event poster that the association planned to send out in the first week of November. That poster is the closest thing the day has to a map.

The format suits a florist. In the weeks before the holidays, a flower shop wants people inside to see what it can make for their own tables and parties. A day built around that kind of visit gives every shop on Girard and Prospect the same reason to open its doors. No one has to set up a booth somewhere else, and you spend the afternoon walking the Village's own streets from door to door.

Seventy Years, and the Shopping Moves to the Lawn

The December 6 parade comes from the other direction. Its theme this year is "A Village Christmas — Celebrating 70 Years of Holiday Tradition," and the whole event follows one route to one destination. According to KPBS's event listing, the parade brings marching bands, floats, equestrian units, vintage vehicles, canine groups, community leaders, local schools and service organizations through the Village. The Holiday Festival at the Recreation Center then offers arts and crafts, robotics and technology, local animal rescues, pony rides, bounce houses, face painting and a visit with Santa after the parade. The San Diego Union-Tribune's preview of the 2025 parade reported that Santa would ride as the finale in a classic La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club car.

Two features are new for 2026, according to KPBS. One is the Village Christmas Market for local makers, artisans, small businesses and vendors. The other is Sounds by the Sea, a live music and performing arts program on the Recreation Center lawn that runs through the afternoon. The organizers took vendor applications for the market through the official parade site. The Union-Tribune's La Jolla News Nuggets column in June reported plans for a tree lighting at 5 p.m., which is when the festival winds down.

The result is that the parade will have its own shopping for the first time. The Open House sends people to the shops. On December 6, local makers come to one lawn at the end of the parade route, among the pony rides and the music.

The parade also differs in who carries it. A volunteer 501(c)(3) foundation organizes it and funds it entirely with donations from local businesses and residents. The foundation's own FAQ says its costs for permits, security, administration, portable toilets, barriers, tables and cleanup rise every year. Ann Kerr is event chair, with Jack McGrory and Bill Kellogg as co-chairs. The organizers say sponsorships at the 70th-anniversary level help keep the parade and festival free. The event also has civic backing. The Union-Tribune reported that the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board voted its support on May 19 and the La Jolla Town Council did the same on June 11. Parade representative Eric Fletcher thanked the council, and the council will enter a float of its own.

How December 6 Runs, Start to Finish

Because the parade and festival now share the afternoon with a market, it helps to know the order of the day. The organizers call the parade and festival one combined celebration, not two separate events.

1. 1 p.m.: The Holiday Festival opens at the La Jolla Recreation Center. The parade steps off from Kline Street and Girard Avenue in the early afternoon, so be in place by 1 p.m. and check ljparade.com for the final start time before you leave.
2. About 90 minutes: That is how long the organizers say the parade runs. It finishes at the Recreation Center, where Draper Avenue meets Prospect Street.
3. After the parade: Santa visits begin at the festival, and reservations open through the parade site. The Christmas Market and Sounds by the Sea run on the Recreation Center grounds through the afternoon.
4. 5 p.m.: The festival closes, and the tree lighting is planned for the same hour.

A few practical points from the organizers. You'll need to park outside the event perimeter, which is marked on the official No Parking map. ADA parking is in the Wells Fargo lot at 7714 Girard Avenue. You need a pass to get past the barricades, and you can request one at (858) 922-4046. To reach the lot, enter from Fay Avenue onto Silverado Street, show the pass at the checkpoint, and follow the alley to the lot just before Kline Street. MTS has an event page for transit riders. On weather, the organizers note that the event has never been canceled in its 70 years and runs rain or shine, following any direction from the City of San Diego.

The Weekend Between Them

The parade weekend starts before Sunday, and the Village's own shops and venues fill the days in between with smaller events. These are listed on the merchants association's La Jolla by the Sea calendar and the parade site. Confirm times with each host before you go.

The Flower Pot's Holiday Market is a good match for the parade's new one. The day before the Recreation Center lawn fills with makers, a Fay Avenue cafe holds its own small market for the third year in a row. That is the Open House model working on a Saturday. Warwick's Santa Paws morning on Girard is the same kind of event: one business hosting its own short holiday hour.

After the parade, the season moves indoors to The Conrad. Its December calendar lists Handel's Messiah on December 12, a La Jolla Music Society Holiday Open House on December 18, and Charlie Brown Jingles & Jazz on December 19 and 20.

For more than 40 years, the shopping has happened in the shops, with Adelaide's florist on Girard as the model. On December 6 the parade adds something it has never had: one market, one lawn and one afternoon, with a tree lighting planned for 5 p.m. at the end of the route.

Polly Rogers & Associates has spent decades of Decembers working in and around La Jolla Village. Clients often ask us for a local's read on the season, whether that's planning around parade-day closures, timing a showing so it doesn't fall on Girard Avenue's busiest Sunday, or deciding when to list a coastal home relative to the holiday calendar. If that would help, Polly Rogers invites you to request a complimentary market consultation, and we'll be glad to share what we know about how La Jolla moves through the holidays.