A free December night market at Ivy Station — local makers, photos with Santa, food trucks, DJ, hot cocoa, and a kid-and-pet-friendly courtyard a block from the Culver City Metro station.
The Ivy Station Holiday Night Market is Culver City’s east-side December evening — a free, family-and-pet-friendly market in the development’s outdoor courtyard, held one Friday in mid-December each year. It started as a small neighborhood gathering a few years after Ivy Station opened and has grown into one of the city’s reliably-anticipated holiday weekday traditions.
The night runs from early evening into the late hours with local makers and small-business booths, food trucks, craft beer and wine, hot chocolate, complimentary photos with Santa, and a DJ spinning holiday music across the plaza. The courtyard at Ivy Station is open-air and walk-up-friendly; families with strollers and dogs on leash mix with the after-work Culver City crowd.
It sits one block from the Culver City Metro E Line station on National Boulevard, which makes it one of the few South Bay-adjacent holiday markets you can comfortably reach without driving — and which gives it a different rhythm than the Downtown Culver City Tree Lighting Sled-tacular on Main Street a half-mile west.
In Ivy Station’s open-air courtyard along National Boulevard, between the ground-floor restaurants and the plaza fronting the Metro station. Look for the lit market booths and the photo-with-Santa setup.
Early evening into the late evening at the Ivy Station outdoor courtyard – check the official page for this year’s hours.
Yes — admission is free, and complimentary photos with Santa, a DJ holiday set, and the courtyard atmosphere are all included. Food trucks, craft beer and wine, hot chocolate, and items at the maker booths are paid separately.
Yes to both — the courtyard is flat and walkable for strollers, and well-behaved dogs on leash are welcome. The market draws a mix of families with young children and Culver City residents stopping in after work.
Yes — Ivy Station sits directly across National Boulevard from the Culver City Metro E Line station. The E Line connects from Downtown LA to Santa Monica with a stop right at the venue, which makes this one of the easiest Westside holiday markets to reach without driving. If you do drive, the Ivy Station parking structure is on-site; arrive earlier for the easier spots.
Ivy Station is a mixed-use development at 8840 National Boulevard — boutique offices, ground-floor restaurants, an Arclight-era plaza, and a Shake Shack — sitting directly across National Boulevard from the Culver City Metro E Line station. It opened in 2020 on a long-vacant parcel adjacent to the Expo right-of-way, and its outdoor courtyard has become one of Culver City’s go-to weekend gathering spaces. The block is a quiet east-edge counterpoint to the busier Downtown Culver City corridor a half-mile west.
The community kickoff to Culver City’s holiday season — a 25-foot tree lit by the mayor, 50 tons of trucked-in snow for sledding on Main Street, and Santa’s first appearance of the season in front of the Culver Studios mansion.
Brian J. Cook
Rodeo Drive lights up each November — an evening of carolers, costumed performers, themed décor, fireworks, and Santa kicks off Beverly Hills’s grand holiday season, completely free for families.
Brian J. Cook
Beverly Hills’ free nightly walk-through holiday light installation at Beverly Cañon Gardens — a larger-than-life lit tree and oversized ornament, lit each evening through the season.
Beverly Cañon Gardens’ free holiday light walk has run in recent years under the name “Glowing Gardens.”
Brian J. Cook
Beverly Hills’s iconic City Hall — with its gold-tile-domed tower — glows with elegant holiday decorations through December, a free evening photo stop in the heart of the Civic Center.
Brian J. Cook
Southern California’s holiday lights and festive outings are pure magic — but nothing compares to Santa Claus himself stepping through your own front door. House of Kringle brings a real-bearded, professionally trained Santa to homes and gatherings across SoCal for an intimate live visit your family will treasure for years.
Check Availability
Have a date in mind? Tell us when and where, and we’ll let you know whether Santa is open. House of Kringle brings a real-bearded Santa Claus to Live Visits and Group Experiences across Southern California, and December fills quickly, so the sooner you check, the better your odds of locking in your first choice.
This is a quick availability check, not a booking. Nothing is reserved and nothing is owed until we’ve confirmed your date and you’ve placed your retainer.
