When does the holiday season actually start in Del Mar? A calendar for the rest of the year gives a tidy answer. Three hosts run it in turn, and none of them holds it for long. The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has it through Thanksgiving weekend. The Village takes it for one weekend in early December. Then the Fairgrounds lights up and keeps it through the rest of the month.
The Village's turn is the shortest of the three. It also centers on Del Mar Plaza in the same December that Pacifica Del Mar, open since the Plaza was built, is scheduled to close. Get the order right and you won't spend a Sunday afternoon at a venue that has already handed off.
The track holds it through Thanksgiving weekend
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's Bing Crosby Season runs November 6 through 29, 2026, and the FanDuel Racing Turf Festival takes the last four days, Nov. 26 to 29. From this Thursday on, the club's November race calendar has the weekends of Nov. 14 and 15 and Nov. 21 and 22, followed by four straight days from Thanksgiving through Sunday, Nov. 29.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Nov. 3 roundup, this is the 12th annual Bing Crosby Season. The same roundup lists the regular features of the meet:
- Free admission for adults older than 62 on Fridays
- Wine Down Fridays and Jockey Box Fridays
- Free & Fun Sundays for Diamond Club members
- Taste of the Turf Club
- Gates at 11 a.m. and first post at 12:30 p.m. on regular race days
Thanksgiving runs on its own schedule, with gates at 9:30 a.m. and first post at 11 a.m. The early first post leaves an afternoon card that wraps up while there's still time to get home for dinner. That makes Thanksgiving the one day of the meet that fits around a family schedule.
There's one Village event during the meet that has nothing to do with racing. Del Mar Community Connections hosts a free performance by The Free Spirits, a senior improv comedy group, on Friday, Nov. 20, from 11 a.m. to noon at Del Mar Town Hall, 1050 Camino Del Mar. The same Union-Tribune roundup has the details.
The handoff dates, in one place
Once the last race is run on Nov. 29, the season moves north up Camino Del Mar and then back toward the river. Here's the sequence.
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 14–15, 21–22 | Bing Crosby Season race weekends | Del Mar Racetrack |
| Nov. 26–29 | FanDuel Racing Turf Festival, closing the meet | Del Mar Racetrack |
| Sat., Dec. 5, noon | Red Nose Run, 3K and 5K | Del Mar beach |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 1–5 p.m. | North Pole by the Sea | Throughout the Village |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 1–4 p.m. | Winter Taste & Sip | Downtown Village |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 5 p.m. | Holiday tree lighting | Jim Watkins Amphitheater, L'Auberge Del Mar |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Coastal Christmas opening night | Del Mar Fairgrounds |
| Dec. 12, 19, 26 | Merry Movie Nights | L'Auberge Del Mar |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Brunch with Santa | L'Auberge Del Mar |
On the calendars above, the week after the meet ends is quiet in Del Mar. The Village's turn comes in a burst on Dec. 5 and 6. The week after that, the season belongs to the Fairgrounds.
The Village gets one weekend, and most of it happens Sunday
Saturday starts things on the sand. The Del Mar Foundation's Red Nose Run starts at noon on Dec. 5 on Del Mar beach, with 3K and 5K options in a format the Village association describes as family- and dog-friendly.
Sunday, Dec. 6, carries the rest. The Del Mar Village Association's North Pole by the Sea schedule runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Here's how the afternoon unfolds by the clock:
- 1 p.m. Most of the activities open at once. Monarch Ocean Pub brings a holiday VW bus photo shoot to 15th Street, next to the Rad Hatter party hat kids' craft. St. Peter's Episcopal Church brings in real snow and opens it free to the public. Wisdom Properties at 1312 Camino Del Mar hosts a kids' craft, photo spot, holiday movies and music. Letters to Santa opens on the Del Mar Plaza ocean view deck, where kids can drop their wish lists at a North Pole mail room.
- 1 to 5 p.m. Carolers and holiday characters move around the Village.
- 4 p.m. The photo shoot, crafts and snow wrap up. Hot chocolate for kids and adult beverages go on sale at the Jim Watkins Amphitheater at L'Auberge Del Mar, where the characters gather for pictures.
- 5 p.m. The downtown tree is lit at the amphitheater.
Winter Taste & Sip runs inside that same window, from 1 to 4 p.m. A ticket includes tastes from Village restaurants, "Sip Stops" from local beverage partners hosted inside downtown businesses, live music and a commemorative GoVino tasting glass. Tickets on the Eventbrite listing start at $49.87. Participating restaurants include Adelaide at L'Auberge Del Mar, High Marea, The Cottage, Monarch Ocean Pub, Jake's Del Mar, Il Fornaio and Coral Del Mar.
The tasting ends at 4, and the amphitheater starts serving at 4, so a ticket holder can walk straight from the last Sip Stop to the tree lighting without any downtime. The main block of the Village's weekend runs from 1 p.m. to the 5 p.m. tree lighting.
Del Mar Plaza is changing in the middle of it
Two of the Sunday stops, Letters to Santa on the ocean view deck and the tasting at High Marea, are at Del Mar Plaza, 1555 Camino Del Mar. The Plaza is also where this December's biggest change in the Village is happening.
The Coast News reported in June that Pacifica Del Mar will close in December after nearly 37 years. It opened in 1989 as one of the first businesses in the newly built Plaza at Camino Del Mar and 15th Street. Plaza representatives told the paper they had decided not to renew the lease and would bring in a new restaurant operator. Property manager Tamara Failla said the Plaza periodically evaluates "our tenant mix and long-term vision for the property."
In its May 15 announcement, the restaurant called itself "a gathering place, a tradition, and a part of the fabric of Del Mar and North County for nearly four decades," and invited guests to visit "one last time before we close our doors." The Coast News described it as a long-standing stop for racetrack visitors, regular weeknight dinners and milestone celebrations. The sugar-spiced salmon is one of the dishes that has been on the menu since day one. The restaurant also credited team members with decades of service, several of them for more than 30 years. Its sibling, Pacifica Breeze Cafe, closed in late April.
Across the Plaza, the newest addition has only been open since January. Valley Farm Market and its Baja-style restaurant High Marea opened to the public on Jan. 10, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The market has specialty groceries and a butcher and seafood counter, and High Marea serves tacos, ceviche, ahi, poke and a Sonoran ribeye. Owner Derek Marso described the restaurant to the paper as an extension of the family market. So this December, the Plaza's oldest restaurant is saying goodbye while one of its newest pours its first Winter Taste & Sip.
Just outside the Village, another familiar holiday reservation is off the table this year. Market Restaurant and Sushi Lounge on Via de la Valle closed Sept. 21 for a remodel. The Union-Tribune reported that it plans to reopen in spring 2027 with new interiors, more dining space and a new menu, under Monica and Bernd Brust, who bought it from founder-chef Carl Schroeder in 2025.
The Fairgrounds takes over on Dec. 11
Five days after the tree lighting, the season crosses to 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Coastal Christmas, produced by CBF Productions, has its opening night at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Dec. 11. It features an illuminated trail, synthetic-ice skating, Santa photos, a market, food and drink, and private igloos. The operator lists hours of 4 to 9 p.m., with the trail opening around dusk. The ticket listing showed adult general admission at $27 and child admission at $22, plus fees, with children 3 and under free. Wine-walk tickets were $49.50 for two or $55 for one. The operator's site was also advertising 50% off child general admission with the code LITTLEELF50.
L'Auberge Del Mar keeps something going in the Village after the Fairgrounds opens. It's the one Village venue with events on both sides of the handoff. It hosts the Dec. 6 tree lighting at its amphitheater, then follows with Merry Movie Nights on Dec. 12, 19 and 26, Brunch with Santa on Dec. 13, and a seasonal Tiki Tinsel Lounge. Coastal Christmas holds the evenings at the Fairgrounds, but the hotel keeps a few December weekend dates on the bluff side of town.
The holiday season is also when a lot of homeowners start planning a spring listing. If that's you, Karen Morton Homes can help you work out timing and presentation while the Village is still lit up, so your home is staged and ready before the new year brings new buyers. Request a complimentary market & staging consultation.
