Holidays in the Village Adds a Sunday This Year. How Does Westlake's December Calendar Fit Around It?

"Holidays in the Village is the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit," Mike Dutra, who chairs the event for the Westlake Rotary Club, told the TO Acorn. He said you can "cross off items on your gift-giving list, enjoy great food, drinks and entertainment and be part of a wonderful community gathering."

What has changed is when that gathering happens. In its fifth year, the European-style marketplace grows from a one-day festival to a full weekend, Saturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 6. Last year it ran on a single day, Dec. 6, 2025. The new day is a Sunday, and that Sunday is already taken. The City of Westlake Village holds its annual Holiday Sing-Along on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026. So this year, the Rotary market and the city's own celebration share an afternoon. The rest of the calendar is spread out enough that it's easy to plan around that one date.

What the second day adds to the marketplace

Holidays in the Village sets up in The Oaks' easternmost parking area, near West Wilbur Road and West Thousand Oaks Boulevard. Saturday hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday hours are noon to 6 p.m. Admission and parking are free.

The layout is the same on both days, with 60 artisan shops selling handcrafted gifts. Food is grouped into themed areas. The Festive Garden and La Place des Amis serve bratwurst, Italian pizza, German deli specialties, soft pretzels, French crepes, croissants and pastries. Drinks include glühwein, hot cocoa, apple cider, mimosas and champagne. Sugar & Spice handles holiday candies. The Festive Gardens Stage hosts local choirs, dancers, brass bands and school groups. Santa will be at Kris Kringle Village, along with face painting, Art Trek holiday crafts, a holiday train and a Village Bear Scavenger Hunt.

The other new feature is the Tannenbaum Christmas Tree Grove in the center of the marketplace. The Thousand Oaks Elks Lodge runs it and sells several varieties of Christmas trees. You buy at the market and collect later: pickup starts Dec. 7 at the Elks' tree lot at Carlson Building Materials, 1432 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Proceeds go to local charities, and the festival's own proceeds support local nonprofit organizations. In practice, picking a tree on Dec. 5 or 6 means a second stop on Monday or later. That's worth knowing before you promise anyone a decorated living room by Sunday night.

Sunday, Dec. 6, hour by hour

The Sing-Along runs from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Fountain Courtyard at The Shoppes at Westlake Village, 30770 Russell Ranch Road. The marketplace's Sunday hours cover that whole window and close at the same time.

That leaves three hours on Sunday when only the market is open. If you want both events on the same day, do the market from noon and then head to the Sing-Along. If you'd rather keep Sunday for the Sing-Along, the market's new Saturday is the longer day, open until 8 p.m.

The Sing-Along brings things with it. The city runs donation drives for three organizations, and each donated item earns a raffle ticket:

• Casa Pacifica, through a holiday giving drive
• Books R' Us, through a book drive
• Manna Conejo, through a food drive

There will also be caroling, live music, a photo booth, hot cocoa and face painting. The city is asking community members, local nonprofits and businesses to perform, and groups can sign up through the city's Holiday Sing-Along page. If your choir, scout troop or office team wants a turn at the microphone, sign up before the weekend fills.

The two Fridays that come first

The season starts two weeks earlier, and both openers fall on Friday evenings.

The Promenade at Westlake holds its 31st Annual Tree Lighting on Friday, Nov. 20, from 4 to 8 p.m. The Holiday Market and pre-show open at 4 p.m., with carolers and candy cane stilt walkers. The tree is lit at 7 p.m., Santa arrives, and the night ends with fireworks. The tree is a white fir brought from the Mt. Shasta region, 60 feet tall, with 4,000 lights and more than 3,500 ornaments. It stays on display through Dec. 25. Santa's Cottage opens the next day, Nov. 21, for photos and keepsakes through Dec. 24.

The Promenade carries the Westlake name, but its mailing address is 140 Promenade Way, Thousand Oaks. The marketplace at The Oaks is in Thousand Oaks too. Two of the three community events on this calendar take place just outside the Westlake Village city name. The Sing-Along is the one the City of Westlake Village hosts itself.

A week later, on Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, The Stonehaus holds its tree lighting at 4 p.m. It's an annual gathering at Westlake Village Inn. Last year's was Nov. 28, 2025, with live music, carolers, and holiday food and drink specials. Thanksgiving Day has its own option at the Inn, a Mediterraneo Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 26.

Weeknights belong to the Four Seasons

The community events cluster on two Fridays and one weekend. Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, at Two Dole Drive, fills the weeknights between them. Its 2026 program has an Alpine theme, and the hotel says its workshops are open to locals as well as hotel guests.

Snow on the front drive is back. From Dec. 1 through Jan. 1, it falls daily every half hour from 5 to 8 p.m., on the same schedule the hotel advertised for the 2025 season.

The ticketed workshops are priced per person. Most are booked through the hotel's Eventbrite page, and the steak class is booked through OpenTable:

1. Wreath Making, Wednesday, Dec. 2 and Friday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m., $95, for ages 15 and older
2. Floral & Flutes, a centerpiece class with a glass of champagne, Friday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m., $80
3. Behind the Line: The Art of Steak Cooking Class, Thursday, Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m., $195
4. Paint & Sip, Friday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m., $65
5. Gingerbread Building & Photos with Santa, Tuesday, Dec. 22, sessions from 1 to 2:30 p.m. or 4 to 5:30 p.m., $55

The Dec. 4 wreath class is the night before the marketplace opens. So a household could make a wreath on Friday, shop on Saturday and sing on Sunday without repeating anything.

Starting Dec. 1, the bar menus change too. Prosperous Penny, the hotel's 1920s-inspired bar, serves an Alpine Fondue Experience for two on weekdays for $55. It also serves an Après Ski Girl Dinner on weekends from 5 p.m. for $65 per person. Onyx runs Yakitori Nights, Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. On Christmas Day, The Hamptons hosts a brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Santa visits from 12:30 to 2 p.m. It's $250 for adults and $100 for children under 12, plus tax and gratuity, with reservations through OpenTable. Coin & Candor offers a three-course prix fixe brunch that day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Put it in date order and the season has a clear shape. It opens at the Promenade on Nov. 20 and continues at The Stonehaus on Nov. 27. Snowfall runs every evening from Dec. 1. Everything meets on Sunday, Dec. 6, when the Rotary market and the city Sing-Along are open at the same time between 3 and 6 p.m.

At Arledge Group, we put this calendar together so our neighbors can plan the first weekend of December in one look. If you're hosting family this season and want suggestions for their visit, or you're just curious what your home is worth heading into the new year, reach out. We're glad to help either way. Request Your Home Valuation.