The Palisades Holiday Season Has Two Addresses Again: Swarthmore and Simon Meadow

On Saturday, December 13, 2025, the 76th annual Pacific Palisades Holiday HoHoHo! took place at the Lowe Family YMCA Christmas Tree Lot on Simon Meadow, at the corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Sunset Boulevard. The Palisadian-Post reported that its theme was "Return to Joy." Volunteers known as "the Elves" ran it. The program included performances by Fancy Feet Dance Studio and Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center, along with crafts, snow and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The partner list for that afternoon was long. It included Palisades Village Green, Flour Pizzeria & Cafe, Theatre Palisades, the Pacific Palisades Library Association and The Parish of Saint Matthew, among others. With Palisades Village still closed last year, much of the season gathered at that one meadow.

That changes this year. Palisades Village reopened on August 15, and Caruso's November 2 holiday announcement calls this "its first holiday season since reopening." The Palisades now has two holiday addresses, both on Sunset Boulevard. Their dates and hours are staggered, so a December weekend in 90272 can include both.

Simon Meadow Opens First

According to the Palisadian-Post's community calendar, the Lowe Family YMCA Tree Lot opens on Tuesday, December 1, at Simon Meadow, 15551 Sunset Boulevard. The listed hours are 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

Those hours are longer than last year's. In 2025 the lot was open 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 6 p.m. on weekends. The extra weekday hour runs until 7 p.m., so a tree can be picked out after work without hurrying. The extra weekend hour starts at 11 a.m., the same time the Village's Holiday Stroll begins on December 5.

Then the Village Takes the First Weekend

Caruso has set Palisades Village's main holiday events for the first weekend of December:

• Annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Stroll, Saturday, December 5. The stroll runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with holiday markets, live entertainment, Santa photos, seasonal activities and snowfall around the property. The tree is lit at 5:30 p.m.
• Menorah Lighting, Sunday, December 6, at 5 p.m. The community is invited to the Hanukkah lighting.
• Nightly snowfall, December 6 through December 31, at 6 p.m. The Village's signature snowfall returns every evening for the rest of the month.

Most of these events start in the late afternoon. Through December, the Village's evening snowfall begins at 6 p.m., while the weekday tree lot on Simon Meadow stays open until 7 p.m. The two sites cover the same hours of the evening.

The Season, Date by Date

The weeks before the December 1 opening are busy too. The calendar below runs from publish day through the end of the month.

The Kids Club series at Palisades Village is presented in collaboration with Apple TV. It meets on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and Thursdays at 4 p.m., ends with the November 19 session, and takes Thanksgiving week off.

The St. Matthew's Parish Christmas Faire is a holiday market and silent auction. Tickets are $25, and all net proceeds go to the parish's charitable outreach partners. Because it falls on a Thursday evening, it is the first holiday market of the season and comes more than two weeks before the Village's stroll.

On Thanksgiving morning, the Pacific Palisades Turkey Trot offers a 5K and a 10K. Festivities at Pali High start at 7 a.m.

The Pacific Palisades Community Council's Holiday Celebration and Awards Gala on December 10 is the only item on the calendar held outside 90272. It takes place at the Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica.

Where to Eat Between Events

A December 5 that starts at the stroll at 11 a.m. and ends after the 5:30 p.m. tree lighting leaves time for a meal or two. The Village has more choices than it did a year ago.

The Los Angeles Times reported that K Bakery reopened at Palisades Village over the August 15 weekend. Alphabet Bar & Grill opened there for the first time, and Alfred, Angelini, Blue Ribbon Sushi, McConnell's and Porta Via all returned.

Spacca Tutto came after that first group. Nancy Silverton's modern Italian steakhouse at 15255 Palisades Village Lane had an October 15 opening date, according to the Palisadian-Post, and lists daily lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Lunch ends an hour and a half before the tree lighting, and dinner starts half an hour before it. On Saturday, December 5, a meal fits on either side of the lighting.

Up Palisades Drive

The season also reaches the Highlands. Palisades General Store at 542½ Palisades Drive in Highlands Plaza soft-opened in mid-August and held its grand opening on September 19. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

At the north end of the same plaza, Cafe Vida's new home is 548 Palisades Drive, in the space K Bakery used to occupy. The Palisadian-Post reported that the location is designed around a year-round patio with a pergola and heaters. The restaurant first opened in 2002 and operated in the Business Block building until the fire. K Bakery's old Highlands space now belongs to Cafe Vida, and K Bakery itself is down at the Village.

The Library Kept Longer Hours, Too

The Palisades Branch Library at 861 Alma Real Drive expanded its hours on November 3. It now opens from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed Sundays and Mondays. The Friends of the Palisades Library are still asking the Los Angeles Public Library system to add morning hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Saturday hours line up with the rest of the season. On Saturday, November 21, the library hosts the Book and Paper Arts workshop led by Laurel Koss from 1:30 to 3 p.m. It covers Japanese bookbinding, accordion and flag books, papermaking, collage and printmaking. The current schedule is posted on the Palisades branch page.

Wednesdays Stay Steady

The weekly anchor runs through December. The Pacific Palisades Farmers Market, presented by Raw Inspiration, sets up on Swarthmore Avenue at Palisades Village every Wednesday from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. through December 30. It falls on the same weekday-afternoon schedule as the tree lot on Simon Meadow, which opens at 3 p.m. on weekdays starting December 1. A December Wednesday can include stops at both.

Many of the businesses on this calendar have only recently returned. If you're thinking about what this season means for your own place in the Palisades, Stacy Young knows 90272 block by block and is glad to talk it through, even over coffee between the tree lot and the tree lighting. When you're ready, Request Your Free Home Valuation.