Brrrrr! If the cold gets you into the holiday spirit, winter, California style, has arrived, days ahead of the season’s official beginning. So grab your favorite hot beverage – chocolate, toddy or otherwise – to kick off this last San Diego weekend before Christmas Day.
Check two boxes – shopping and snow – as the Julian Trading Post (3411 CA-79) hosts the Christmas Market. Peruse locally made jewelry, baked goods, art, crafts and knitted items up for grabs from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Bonus box: Hang out ’til 5:30 p.m. Saturday for the Julian Main Street Light Parade.
The Enchanted Village at the Noah Homes in Spring Valley features quaint cottages, trees, giant candy canes and other decor lit up by more than 200,000 lights for the holidays. There will be live entertainment too, beginning at 5 p.m. Friday nightly through Wednesday. Proceeds from ticket sales – $20 for adults and $13 for youngsters – benefit the homes, for the developmentally disabled.
Drop by Balboa Park’s House of Mexico at 6 p.m. Friday for a holiday mixer among the Hall of Nations. General admission for the night, with refreshments and drinks, costs $25.
There’s two chances to see the children’s holiday classic, “The Nutcracker” this weekend. Catch the Southern California Ballet at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, opening at 7 p.m. Friday, with two additional performances at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets range from $19-$48. Or enjoy the fantasy, with Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker himself, at the Magnolia in El Cajon, performed by the San Diego Ballet, at 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Those tickets start at $75.
The opportunity to indulge in the San Diego Brewers Guild’s Holiday Tasting Experience concludes Sunday. Have a pack of 12 beers from top local craft breweries delivered to your door (or your fave suds fan) for $60. Participants include The Lost Abbey and Second Chance Beer Company.
Join the free Winter Wonderland at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido with real snow closer to home and holiday-themed drinks and treats at 3 p.m. Saturday at Santa’s Corner Café. Browse for gifts or create them yourself as artists lead holiday crafting activities. Another option: Entertain the Harry Potter fan in your life with a walk along the lighted Platform 9¾ –a nod to the novels’ secret train.
You may have a Santa or elf costume in your back pocket, all ready for that special Fido or Felix in your life. Do not hide their light under a bushel! They can be the stars of the show at the Gaslamp Pet Parade at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Pups at the Pub Paw-ty, at 2 p.m. on Fourth and Island avenues, follows with a costume contest, craft beer tastings and more.
And a reminder – it’s your last shot for 2021 to view the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights. Check out the boat parade at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.