At 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, the 70th La Jolla Christmas Parade steps off at Kline Street and Girard Avenue and heads up Girard toward Prospect Street. It ends at the La Jolla Recreation Center, at Draper and Prospect. This year's theme is "A Village Christmas Celebrating 70 Years of Holiday Tradition."
The parade runs on Girard, the street the La Jolla Community Foundation has spent five years planning to rebuild. The streetscape now has a building permit and full funding for its first phase. Organizers say construction should start in "the early part of 2027." If that holds, the Holiday Open House on Nov. 22 and the parade two weeks later may be the last holiday traditions held on Girard as it looks today.
The stretch of Girard that phase 1 will rebuild
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Oct. 20 that phase 1 will cover Girard between Prospect and Wall streets. It adds better lighting and seating, more street trees, curb extensions and traffic calming. Phase 2 continues the same treatment from Wall to Silverado. Across the whole project, the plan adds 63 benches, 49 trees, 51 lights and 9,100 square feet of public space.
The money is in place for phase 1. That includes $850,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, $1 million from the state and about $3 million from local donors. The delay comes from the grants. Federal and state requirements didn't match, so the project had to go out to bid again. Lidia Rossner, the foundation's executive director, told the La Jolla Village Merchants Association on Oct. 14 that a January start is "possible" but not certain. Phyllis Pfeiffer, the foundation's chairwoman, called the schedule "a moving goal post" at the Enhance La Jolla meeting the next day.
The city issued a building permit for both phases in August, after about seven revisions. Rossner put the total cost at close to $8 million, up from an earlier estimate of $7.43 million. The most expensive piece is stormwater drainage channels.
The parade's no-parking map lists both sides of Girard between Kline and Prospect as tow-away zones on parade day, along with Wall Street between Girard and the alley and Silverado between Herschel and Girard. Prospect, Wall and Silverado are the same three cross streets that mark where the streetscape's two phases begin and end.
| Holiday Open House | 70th Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Sunday, Nov. 22 | Sunday, Dec. 6 |
| Hours | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Parade 1 p.m.; festival 1 to 5 p.m. |
| Where it happens | Participating shops across the Village | Girard Avenue corridor, ending at La Jolla Recreation Center |
| How it works | Each business hosts its own activity | One route, then a festival with Santa visits and a Christmas Market |
| Depends on | Open storefronts and foot traffic | Closed streets and tow-away zones |
Nov. 22: a holiday event that happens shop by shop
Adelaide's started the Holiday Open House more than 40 years ago. There is no central stage. Businesses across the Village each put on something of their own, such as hot cocoa, live music, an artist demonstration, a children's craft table, a raffle or a photo spot, according to the La Jolla Village Merchants Association's event page. The poster listing participating businesses is due out the first week of November, so it should be available around the time this post publishes.
Because the event spreads across individual storefronts, it is the one most exposed to what comes next on Girard. At the Oct. 14 merchants meeting, LJVMA executive director Jodi Rudick said members have raised concerns about "major construction" and "loss of parking." She also said "it's going to be a really beautiful project." The open house comes before any of that work, with the sidewalks and parking that are there now.
Dec. 6: what the 70th parade asks of drivers
Parade day closes far more of the Village than the open house does. The official parade site and its maps lay out the plan:
- Tow-away times. The no-parking map lists two tow times, 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., for different groups of streets. Besides Girard, the zones include parts of Ivanhoe, Prospect, Kline, Draper, Herschel and Torrey Pines Road between Herschel and Virginia Way. Check the official no-parking map for which time applies to your block before you park anywhere nearby that morning.
- Where to park. The parade site tells drivers to park outside the event perimeter.
- ADA parking. ADA parking is in the Wells Fargo lot at 7714 Girard Ave. You need a pass to get past the barricades, and the parade site explains how to request one.
- Transit. For transit, the parade site points to MTS. The MTS event page lists Route 30 for getting to La Jolla.
The official route map marks landmarks along the way, including Warwick's, the Grande Colonial, the Athenaeum and Adelaide's, as well as an ADA viewing area. The festival runs from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Recreation Center. The parade site also takes reservations for Santa visits and lists a Christmas Market. Event chairs Ann Kerr, Jack McGrory and Bill Kellogg are leading the 70th edition. Parade applications are closed, with a waitlist available.
One date mix-up to avoid: some older event listings say Dec. 7, which was last year's parade day. The official site gives Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026.
Evening trips through Torrey Pines Road
Girard isn't the only street work on the way into the Village this season. The City of San Diego planned to replace the temporary K-rail on Torrey Pines Road between Prospect Place and Coast Walk with a permanent guardrail. The Union-Tribune reported a planned start of Oct. 6 and work lasting through March 2027, subject to weather and materials. Under the announced plan, the northern westbound lane and the bike lane close from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights, and the road is fully open during the day. The merchants association added that turn lanes, sidewalks and bike lanes could also be affected for short periods during the day.
Both holiday events fall on Sundays and end by 5 p.m., so they finish before the nightly closure window. The closures matter more for weeknight dinners in the Village through the season, as long as the work stays on its announced schedule.
Newer places between the two Sundays
Several spots have opened or reopened since summer, and one more is aiming to open between the open house and the parade:
- Mavi Mediterranean, 7536 Fay Ave., expects to open on Wednesday, Dec. 2. That is a target date, not a confirmed opening. Owners Devrim and Selin Bashelvaci describe it as Mediterranean and Turkish-inspired, with a speakeasy-style space called Pera 26.
- Casa Del Lobo, 2246 Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla Shores, opened Aug. 18. It serves specialty and seasonal drinks with locally made pastries and sells handmade ceramics.
- Inn by the Sea La Jolla, 7830 Fay Ave., has all its rooms open again after renovations wrapped up over Labor Day weekend. A refresh of the lobby, pool and other common areas is planned for around late 2027.
- La Valencia Hotel lists "Thanksgiving By the Sea" on Nov. 26, the Thursday after the open house.
Mavi and the Inn by the Sea are on Fay Avenue, outside the Girard segments the streetscape covers. The open house and the parade happen on Girard itself, where the benches, trees and curb extensions are planned. Rossner told merchants that when a start date is set, "you'll be informed," and until then the foundation's target is still the early part of 2027.
If you own on or near the Village and wonder how a multi-year streetscape project could affect your property's value, Abundant Path Homes can give you a straightforward read on where your home stands now, before construction starts. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll keep an eye on the Girard Avenue timeline alongside you.
