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 — typically 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM at the Ivy Station outdoor courtyard.
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.
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.
