California Beaches Blog

San Francisco is one of California’s finest beach cities to celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas. The weather can be warm and sunny, but during your stay you’ll normally need at minimum a sweater, and usually a jacket or coat. That’s especially good news for Southern Californians who put on their faux-lined fur boots and light up the fireplace when the temperature hits 65 degrees. Like shivering little poodles, Southern Californians shake at thought of a chill more than the actually cold, itself. It just seldom gets cold, and these same shivering softies can be found up at the local ski slopes  having a good time. With that said, San Francisco provides the closest thing to an old-fashioned holiday requiring coats, hats and mittens, especially at night.

The San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau has been playing Santa, putting together the list of holiday activities for tourists to come to the city to enjoy here are a few of the holiday delights you’re invited to see in the Bay Area:

• 116 illuminated snowflakes from mid-November until early January at Market Street from Kearny to Sixth Street
• Ice rinks at the Embarcadero Center and Union Square
• Holiday Artisan Fair takes place Nov. 20-21 at the de Young Museum
• Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol Dec. 3-27, , act-sf.org
• The Great Dickens Christmas Fair (usually at Cow Palace)
• Celebration of Craftswomen, Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6, 2009; unique crafts and art pieces by more than 200 of America’s finest women artists, celebrationofcraftswomen.org o
• The Nutcracker at the Opera House with the San Francisco Ballet Dec. 8-27, 2009 , sfballet.org
• Fisherman’s Wharf  holiday boat parade on Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. More than 100 boats festooned with lights and holiday decorations will parade along the waterfront
• The San Francisco Symphony concerts and performances for the holidays, sfsymphony.org.

Here are some more delights for your holiday enjoyment in San Francisco:

• Tree lighting at Pier 39
• Fillmore Street Holiday Lights and Shopping
• Sausalito Lighted Yacht Parade