In 1994, a local resident named Luis Ortiz asked the Danforth family if he could decorate the tall pine on their corner at 4th and C streets. They said yes. Ortiz paid for it himself, got neighbors to help, and started what the Encinitas Historical Society now calls a cherished Encinitas holiday tradition.
Thirty-two years later, the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce is launching a new event, and its stated purpose is to make the lighting of that tree last longer. On Friday, Dec. 4, the first Encinitas Holiday Village & Market opens at 2 p.m. in part of the Moonlight Beach parking lot. It runs right into the Heritage Tree Lighting and kicks off a three-day weekend with the Holiday Parade on Saturday and Cardiff's Kringle Mingle on Sunday. The newest thing on the Encinitas holiday calendar was built for the oldest one.
A market designed to get people there early
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the market takes its cue from traditional European Christmas markets, with an Encinitas coastal spirit. Plans call for about 20 curated vendors selling handmade gifts, artisan crafts, jewelry, candles, holiday décor, specialty foods and seasonal treats. There will also be hot chocolate, warm cider, strolling carolers, gingerbread house decorating for families, a holiday photo backdrop, and a Visit Encinitas and Chamber information booth. Admission is free. The Chamber is putting it on together with the Encinitas Historical Society and the City of Encinitas.
The Chamber's release, as quoted by the Union-Tribune, says plainly what the market is for. It is "designed to enhance the Heritage Tree Lighting celebration by encouraging families to arrive early, stay longer and enjoy an afternoon and evening filled with holiday activities." Carol Knight, the Chamber's CEO, described the evening she has in mind:
"We envision families strolling through a beautiful holiday village, discovering unique gifts, enjoying festive activities and then gathering for the Heritage Tree Lighting."
The vendors are local by design. The Chamber gave its members first preference for the $200 booths and invited some other local businesses to apply. Encinitas Patch also covered the launch. A gift bought at the market is likely to come from a business a few blocks away.
The pine that holds the weekend together
The tree is a Norfolk Island pine that brothers Peter and John Danforth planted in 1952 as a three-foot sapling. Today it stands more than 90 feet over the corner of 4th Street and C Street, above Moonlight Beach. In 2011 the City of Encinitas named it one of only two official Heritage Trees. The Encinitas Historical Society has organized and hosted the lighting since 2015, and it also looks after the tree's decoration and upkeep.
Last year's lighting, the 31st, took place on Dec. 5, 2025, in the Moonlight Beach parking lot. The Society counted about 500 people. Four children's choirs sang, the Free Verse band played, and the countdown landed just as the last of the sunset faded over the Pacific.
This year's event is the 32nd, and the paperwork behind it is more formal. A memorandum of understanding between the City and the Historical Society, included in the City's May 13, 2026 agenda packet, schedules the event for Friday, Dec. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. at 400 B Street, next to Moonlight Beach. The memorandum says both partners want to offer "a weekend of free public community events." The festivities start at 4 p.m., and the City's agenda report sets the actual lighting for 6 p.m.
The market opens two hours before the festivities and four hours before the lights come on. That gives Friday a full afternoon in the same lot where last year's crowd gathered for one evening. Carolyn Cope, president of the Historical Society, told the Union-Tribune that the lighting "has brought generations of families together, and the Holiday Village & Market will add another wonderful reason to gather and celebrate."
Why the parade theme counts to 40
Saturday's parade has a theme with a number in it. The City's 2026 Holiday Parade is titled "40 and Still Fabulous." It steps off at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, along South Coast Highway 101 between D and J streets, and the City says the theme looks back at the city's history and ahead to its future.
The 40 lines up with the city's anniversary. Encinitas incorporated on Oct. 1, 1986, and inewsource reported that the City marked 40 years on Oct. 1 of this year. The City's 40th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Oct. 3, spread across Moonlight Beach, the Cardiff 101 Farmer's Market, the 1883 Schoolhouse and Pacific View Arts Center. It ended with a BETAMAXX concert at Moonlight Beach and an outdoor screening of Back to the Future.
That October day was the official birthday. The December parade gives the anniversary a second outing with floats. Groups that want to be in it have until Nov. 13 to apply, and late applications are taken if there is room, with a $25 late fee. Entry fees are $75 for nonprofit groups, $150 for private groups and $200 for commercial businesses. For a school club, surf shop or neighborhood group hoping to put its own 40-year float on Highway 101, that application window closes a week from Friday.
Sunday's last stop is in Cardiff
The weekend wraps up a few miles south. Cardiff Kringle Mingle, hosted by Cardiff 101 Main Street, takes place Sunday, Dec. 6, on Aberdeen Drive. It is free and runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with shopping from local makers, live local music, children's crafts, holiday treats, hot drinks, and photos with Santa from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
So the weekend goes from a Friday evening market under the pine, to a Saturday night parade on Highway 101, to a Sunday morning on Aberdeen Drive. The Chamber's announcement treats all three as one connected run, and the Friday market is the only part that is new this year.
November fills in the weeks before
The three-day weekend comes at the end of a season that gets going this weekend. The free 15th annual Exposure Skate festival runs Nov. 6 through 8 at Encinitas Community Park and Poods, 425 S. Santa Fe Drive. It includes skate competitions, clinics, vendors and food trucks. The organizer lists all three days. The City calendar lists Nov. 7 and 8.
On Sunday, Nov. 22, Encinitas 101 brings back the Holiday Street Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last year's fair was its 41st and ran on Coast Highway 101 between D and J streets, the same blocks the parade uses two weeks later. On Thanksgiving morning, the Encinitas Turkey Trot starts its 10K at 7:30 a.m., its Kids-K at 7:40 a.m. and its 5K at 8 a.m. Coast Highway 101 lanes will be closed from Encinitas Boulevard to Chesterfield during the race.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 6–8 | Exposure Skate | Encinitas Community Park and Poods, 425 S. Santa Fe Drive | Organizer schedule |
| Nov. 13 | Parade entry deadline | City of Encinitas | Late entries taken if space allows |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Holiday Street Fair | Encinitas 101 | 9 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Encinitas Turkey Trot | Coast Highway 101 | 7:30 a.m. first start |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Holiday Village & Market | Moonlight Beach parking lot | 2–7 p.m. |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | 32nd Heritage Tree Lighting | 400 B Street | 4–7 p.m., lighting at 6 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Holiday Parade, "40 and Still Fabulous" | S. Coast Highway 101, D to J streets | 5:30 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Cardiff Kringle Mingle | Aberdeen Drive, Cardiff | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
The 2025 lighting drew about 500 people for one evening. This year the same lot opens at 2 p.m. for a market built so that crowd can arrive earlier and stay through the 6 p.m. lighting of a pine the Danforth brothers planted when it was three feet tall.
If you're weighing what your Encinitas home means to you in its 40th year, or thinking about your next chapter in North County, White Label Home Collective would be glad to welcome you. Schedule a private, white‑glove consultation, and we'll talk it over at your pace before or after the tree is lit.
