"We thought that it was an appropriate time to do the ribbon cutting and announce the grand opening of the promenade before we get into the fall and winter months where we start to have hospitality night and some of the other events," Mayor Mark Orgill told the Laguna Beach Independent at the Forest Avenue Promenade's dedication on September 25.
According to the same report, the plaza had been finished for more than a month by then. The city chose the date with December in mind. Hospitality Night 2026 falls on Friday, December 4, and it will be the first one held since that ribbon was cut. The nights around it, from Thursday's Art Walk to Sunday's music at Laguna Art Museum, give a resident four evenings in a row that start within a few blocks of Forest Avenue.
A plaza dedicated with December already on the calendar
The Promenade grew out of a long plan. Orgill traced the idea back 27 years to Vision 2030, the community plan that called for closing Forest Avenue to create a downtown social space. He described the pandemic-era street closure as the experiment that "did nudge us into what we have today." He also told the Independent that the project received a unanimous vote at the Coastal Commission.
More than 500 people came for the dedication under a full moon, and Band 133 played once the giant scissors came out. Local sculptor Gerard Basil Stripling gave the space its clearest job description in the Independent's account: "I have always felt that every city should have a piazza, and this is now our piazza."
The blocks around that piazza have changed this fall too. The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center opened its new home on Broadway in a 1939 building. Its collection includes five boards that once belonged to Duke Kahanamoku. The Deck on Laguna Beach and Driftwood Kitchen closed on September 7 for the Pacific Edge Hotel redevelopment, so the downtown dining map for December is a little different from last year's.
What December 4 asks of the Promenade
The City of Laguna Beach and the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce jointly sponsor Hospitality Night on the first Friday of each December. This year it runs from about 5 to 9 p.m. The City has posted a tentative schedule:
- 3:00 p.m.: downtown street closures begin
- 4:00 to 11:00 p.m.: free trolley and neighborhood on-demand service
- 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.: Thurston Middle School Band in the Peppertree Lot
- 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.: Laguna Beach Presbyterian's Art Market, La Playa Tamales, homemade cookies and cider, an open sanctuary, Dinner2Go, prayer candles and caroling
- 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.: holiday crafts and activities in the Peppertree Lot
- 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.: business open houses
- 5:30 to 6:05 p.m.: Ukulele Academy in the Peppertree Lot
- 6:10 p.m.: Santa arrives at the Peppertree Lot to light the tree
- 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.: Laguna Community Concert and JaZz Band in the Peppertree Lot
- 6:30 to 6:45 p.m.: Anneliese School on the Main Stage on Forest Ave.
- 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.: Santa at his Beach House, hearing children's Christmas wishes
- 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.: music on the Main Stage on the Promenade
The schedule shows how the evening is split. The opening hours and the tree lighting stay in the Peppertree Lot, which is also where Santa and the tree-lighting ceremony took place in 2025, according to the Daily Pilot. After the tree is lit, the program moves to Forest Avenue, and the last two hours of music belong to the Promenade stage.
The Chamber is also bringing something new to the street. It is offering members 27 complimentary 10-by-10 booths and asking them to "think beyond a traditional booth" with crafts, games and giveaways for families. The Chamber lists 500 holiday swag bags as a new feature for 2026.
The night before and the two after
Hospitality Night always falls on the first Friday of December. This year that puts it right after the first Thursday, the night of the First Thursdays Art Walk. The weekend that follows fills in from there.
| Night | What's on | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Dec. 3 | First Thursdays Art Walk | Galleries citywide; Laguna Art Museum free 5 to 9 p.m.; Hotel Laguna artists from 5 p.m. | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Friday, Dec. 4 | Hospitality Night | Peppertree Lot, Forest Avenue, the Promenade | About 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Opening of Aladdin & Yasmin's Winter Wish | Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road | Runs through Dec. 27 |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Laguna Beach Live! with the Sienna George Trio | Laguna Art Museum | 1 to 2 p.m. |
Thursday's Art Walk is free. Laguna Art Museum offers free entry that evening, and the listing mentions extended free trolley rides. The museum's free hours on Thursday are worth noting because the Sunday Laguna Beach Live! set is a ticketed afternoon, and the museum lists nonmember admission at $14. Laguna Playhouse is staging its family panto through December 27. On December 12 it adds pre-show Family Holiday Parties at noon and 4 p.m.
Getting downtown on December 4
Street closures start at 3 p.m. on Friday and cover portions of Forest Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Beach Street and Glenneyre, as well as the Peppertree Parking Lot. The City has posted a map of the closures on its Hospitality Night page. On the night itself, the free trolley and neighborhood on-demand service run from 4 to 11 p.m., two hours past the end of the program.
The rest of the weekend runs on the City's off-season trolley schedule, which is in effect through June 25, 2027. Service runs on Friday until 10 p.m., on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Canyon Route runs weekends from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For drivers, the City's off-season parking rules open Lot 23 to the public after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, after 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and all day Sunday.
The same rules apply tonight. The November edition of the Art Walk runs today, November 5, from 6 to 9 p.m., and Laguna Art Museum is free from 5 to 9 p.m.
The bookends, up the canyon and across December
Sawdust Winter Fantasy opens on November 20, two weeks before Hospitality Night. It runs Fridays through Sundays until December 20, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 935 Laguna Canyon Road. A single-day adult ticket costs $12 plus a 50-cent fee, and children under 5 get in free. The 2026 Winter Pass costs $35.50, so it pays for itself on the third visit. The festival describes the grounds as a place for art browsing, classes and live demonstrations.
The rest of December keeps going after the first weekend:
- December 7: Cheyenne Jackson's "Suspiciously Merry" at Laguna Playhouse
- December 12: Playhouse Family Holiday Parties at noon and 4 p.m.
- December 16: Night at the Museum, a children's after-hours program at Laguna Art Museum, at 6 p.m.
- December 18: Historic Costume Figure Drawing at Laguna Art Museum, 4 to 7 p.m.
There is also something to see outside City Hall this winter. The City has selected Holiday Palette designs by Kate Cleaves and Anne Marie Girtz for display there, with more palettes going up on city lampposts.
George Dubin, a local artist and planning commissioner who helped bring the Promenade to completion, told the Independent he hoped people would come to "recognize what an asset it is to the community." On December 4, the City's own schedule ends the night there, with two hours of music on the Promenade stage after Santa lights the tree.
Before Thursday's Art Walk and Friday's tree lighting, the Sabatella Delair Group is happy to share where we like to stand when Santa arrives at the Peppertree Lot. We can also suggest how to divide the weekend between Forest Avenue and the canyon. Reach out and we'll send you our version of the first weekend in December.
