Corona del Mar's holiday season runs on two calendars that don't line up. The village along East Coast Highway keeps the city and Chamber of Commerce calendar, which has a Halloween-themed Thursday night in mid-October and a single Sunday stroll in December. Up San Joaquin Hills Road, Roger's Gardens keeps its own calendar, and it runs far ahead. Its Halloween boutique opened in August, and its Christmas boutique was already listed as open by mid-October. If you know which calendar you're following, you know when the season actually starts for you.
The hill starts in August
Roger's Gardens, at 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, opened its 2026 Halloween boutique, "Moonlight Masquerade," on Friday, August 28. The boutique has a Venetian theme and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Newport Beach Independent reported it open on September 13. By that point, Halloween had been running on the hill for more than two weeks, and the village had no Halloween programming on its calendar yet.
The next season is already up on the hill. Roger's Gardens' Christmas boutique page introduces the 2026 theme, "The Stories of the Season," as a "charming winter market" built around holiday stories. The page shows a "now open" banner and lists hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The page doesn't give an unveiling date, and the Halloween page doesn't say when Moonlight Masquerade closes. Those dates are worth confirming with Roger's Gardens before you plan a visit around one boutique or the other. What's clear is that Christmas has a home in Corona del Mar about two months before the village holds its Christmas event.
The village closes out its Thursdays first
Down on Coast Highway, the city is wrapping up its own season. Carnival del Mar runs this Thursday, October 15, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Corona del Mar Village, according to the City of Newport Beach's October 2 bulletin. The city calls it the finale of the second season of CdM 3rd Thursdays. Stu News Newport describes the series as three evenings a year, on the third Thursdays of April, July and October.
Here's what the city's lineup puts on the street that night:
- A reptile zoo at the CdM library
- An open house at Fire Station No. 5, where the Fire Department's support dog, Tora, will meet visitors
- A red-car trolley running through the village
- Carnival games, pumpkin decorating, a fortune teller and scavenger hunts
- An '80s live band and step aerobics at the Cozy Earth lot
- Caricatures under the clock tower
- Merchant specials, raffles and prizes
Nearly every item on that list happens at a fixed village landmark, like the library, the fire station, the clock tower or a merchant's lot. The Thursday series puts its events on the street itself, and Carnival del Mar ends with a firm date for the next one. The city says 3rd Thursdays returns in April 2027. After Thursday, the city's series is done for the year.
One more village date falls in the gap. The Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce lists a networking mixer and celebration at Foretti's Restaurant on October 21 at 5:30 p.m. It's a business-community event, not a street festival, and it's the last date on the village calendar until December.
Six weeks when the hill has the calendar to itself
From late October through November, Roger's Gardens hosts most of Corona del Mar's holiday programming. The garden center's own event listings carry these dates:
| Date | Event at Roger's Gardens | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 to 8:30 p.m. | "Shop for a Cause" Susan G. Komen benefit in the Christmas Boutique | A $100 ticket includes 20% off, two glasses of wine, an opportunity ticket and light fare from Farmhouse |
| Friday, Nov. 20, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Günther Ulbricht nutcracker signing | Signing by the nutcracker maker |
| Saturday, Nov. 21, 1 to 5 p.m. | Radko designer Joe Walden ornament signing | Designer appearance and ornament signing |
| Nov. 27 through Dec. 24 | Lil' Dickens Carolers at Roger's Gardens and Farmhouse | Most sets run 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., 6 to 8:30 p.m., or both; Dec. 15 and Dec. 24 are Farmhouse only |
The carolers' schedule begins on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, and runs through Christmas Eve. The evening sets run until 8:30 p.m., past the boutique's posted 6 p.m. closing. Two dates, December 15 and Christmas Eve, are listed as Farmhouse only, which means the carolers perform at the garden center's restaurant and not in the boutique on those days.
The Komen evening on November 12 is the one ticketed event in the stretch, and Farmhouse is also part of it through the light fare included in the ticket. The two signings on November 20 and 21 fall on back-to-back days, a nutcracker maker on Friday and an ornament designer on Saturday. For collectors, that weekend is the busiest one on the hill before Thanksgiving.
The street catches up on December 6
The village's holiday event arrives while the hill's season is already in full swing. The Chamber's 47th Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk is scheduled for Sunday, December 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. By then the carolers on the hill will have been performing for more than a week, and the Christmas boutique will have been open for weeks.
The Walk works differently from Carnival del Mar. The Chamber says there is no specific starting point and suggests strolling the PCH sidewalks throughout the village. It lists more than 17 local bands across live-entertainment stages, Santa visits and photos, beer and wine gardens with dancing, vendor gifts, children's activities, street performers, and promotions from village merchants and restaurants. The event page says the Walk benefits the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots program.
The Chamber's 2026 vendor application lists the first vendor location as the Bandera's parking lot at PCH and Marguerite, 3201 E. Coast Highway, with Dahlia as the overflow location. Vendors are told to park on the surrounding streets. The Chamber hasn't published a 2026 shuttle plan or street-closure details yet, so check its event page for those as December gets closer.
On the hill, the season lasts about four months, spread across boutiques, signings and caroling nights. On the street, the holiday season is one six-hour Sunday spread along a single stretch of highway.
Why the two calendars don't line up
Neither Roger's Gardens nor the Chamber has published an explanation for its timing. Roger's Gardens runs its seasons as retail boutiques, so each theme stays open for weeks. The Moonlight Masquerade opened in late August, and "The Stories of the Season" was posted as open by mid-October. The village programs its seasons as single events on the street. Carnival del Mar is one evening, and the Christmas Walk is one afternoon, with the 3rd Thursdays series limited to three nights a year.
The hill's boutique stays open from mid-October through the Walk and beyond, but the village gives it a holiday counterpart only once. Carnival del Mar and the Foretti's mixer are fall events, not holiday ones. December 6 is the one day both halves of Corona del Mar are celebrating Christmas at the same time, with the carolers in their second week on the hill and the Walk on Coast Highway.
The village itself changes from year to year. In August, the Newport Beach Independent reported a $13.7 million sale of the multi-tenant retail property at 2515 E. Coast Highway, home to El Ranchito. The report described the new owner as considering future repositioning and didn't announce any tenant changes. That building sits along the Walk's route, and the December 6 event takes place on that same highway frontage.
The full calendar, in order
- Now through an unannounced closing date: "Moonlight Masquerade" Halloween boutique at Roger's Gardens, daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Already listed as open: "The Stories of the Season" Christmas boutique at Roger's Gardens, daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 15, 5 to 8 p.m.: Carnival del Mar in Corona del Mar Village, the last 3rd Thursday until April 2027
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, 5:30 p.m.: CdM Chamber mixer at Foretti's Restaurant
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 to 8:30 p.m.: "Shop for a Cause" Komen benefit at the Christmas Boutique
- Friday, Nov. 20, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Günther Ulbricht nutcracker signing
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 1 to 5 p.m.: Joe Walden ornament signing
- Nov. 27 through Dec. 24: Lil' Dickens Carolers at Roger's Gardens and Farmhouse
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: 47th Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk along PCH
At The Twinning Team, we follow Corona del Mar's calendar the way we approach a listing, by paying attention to which days the village is at its best. If you're thinking about bringing a Corona del Mar home to market around the holidays, we'll help you time it with the season and present it the way the neighborhood looks in December. To hear about our newest Corona del Mar listings as they launch, ask to receive exclusive listings.
