Christmas Events for Kids in Napa (2026)

Christmas Events for Kids
Written by Kelsey Cecil

Updated 4 min read

Rally the corgi has sniffed out the best Christmas events for kids in Napa for 2026, and here is what he found: 2 family events. They are Take and Make Craft Kit: Wooden Bead Wreath Ornament (December 6) and Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread House Display (from December 7). We check every date on the host’s own website, and each listing links straight there. For the rest of the state, see our California Christmas events for kids guide.

What Rally found in Napa

  • 2 Christmas events for kids in Napa
  • Season: December 6 (Take and Make Craft Kit: Wooden Bead Wreath Ornament) to December 14 (Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread House Display)
  • Every date checked on the host’s own site on Nov 10

Ticketed and paid Christmas events for kids in Napa

Admission, tickets or a fee apply. Where a host has not posted a price yet, the listing says so.

Holiday crafts

Take and Make Craft Kit: Wooden Bead Wreath Ornament

Expand to see the parent tip

This is a craft to do at home rather than a sit-down program. The Napa Library hands out kits for a small wreath ornament made of wooden beads, meant for the Christmas tree, and each kit holds all the pieces needed to finish it.

Kits go out at the Napa Library, 580 Coombs Street, starting Sunday, December 6, 2026, and last only as long as the supply does. The library sets the age at 11 and up and files it under teens and adults. The page does not list a price or a sign-up.

Parent tip: Because the kits are first come, first served from December 6, pick one up early in the week if your tween or teen has their heart set on it. It is rated for ages 11 and up, so plan a different craft for younger brothers and sisters.

Host
Napa County Library (opens in a new tab)
Address
Napa Library, 580 Coombs Street, Napa, CA 94559 (opens in maps)
Confirmed
On the host’s page, checked
See dates and detailsfrom Napa County Library (opens in a new tab)

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Rally’s Christmas research

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Coming up on this page

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Holiday event

Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread House Display

  • When: Monday, December 7, 2026 to Monday, December 14, 2026 (On display during library hours, December 7 to 14; the 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. hours are those listed for Monday, December 7, and the library keeps shorter hours Friday to Sunday), 9 am to 8 pm
  • Where: Napa Library, 580 Coombs Street, Napa, CA 94559 (opens in maps)
  • Cost: No price listed for viewing; contest entry is free
  • Ages: All ages can view; the library lists contest entry for teens and adults
Expand to see the parent tip

Gingerbread houses built for the Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread Contest go on show inside the Napa Library, and visitors get to vote for their favorites. The contest, run with the Napa County Library, asks builders to celebrate the architecture, culture and creativity of Napa, and people can enter alone or as a group.

The display and public voting run December 7 to 14, 2026, at 580 Coombs Street. Entering costs nothing: register by December 1 and drop the finished house at the library by Saturday, December 5. Judging and a Home Tour are set for December 12, and entries are collected December 14 and 15.

Parent tip: You can look at the houses any day from December 7 to 14 while the library is open, so pair it with a regular book run and let each child cast a vote. If your family wants to build an entry, the deadlines come early, with registration closing December 1.

Host
Napa County Library (opens in a new tab)
Address
Napa Library, 580 Coombs Street, Napa, CA 94559 (opens in maps)
Confirmed
On the host’s page, checked
See dates and detailsfrom Napa County Library (opens in a new tab)

New Napa events every week

Rally researches Christmas events in Napa daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Napa.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)

We check every event above on the host’s own page for the date, time and cost, plus the things parents ask about, like sign-ups and ages. Looking for a Santa train instead? Those are on our California Christmas train rides page.

See every event on a December calendar

Plan your December

When each Napa Christmas event for kids happens

The first is Take and Make Craft Kit: Wooden Bead Wreath Ornament in Napa on December 6; the last runs to December 14. Each bar spans an event’s dates, not every hour in them, so check the host’s page for times.

Looking further afield? Our California Christmas events for kids guide lists every event we have found in the state, and we have city guides for American Canyon, Vacaville, Santa Rosa and Oakland. The national search sorts every event by distance from your town.

A story for the drive home

A morning with Santa or an evening of holiday stories tends to end the same way: tired kids, a long drive and one more book before bed. Our picture book follows Rally the corgi on his first train ride to see his grand-paw-rents, and every page is painted by hand. If your family is spending December missing someone, it was written for that too. For the car, print our free corgi and train coloring pages.

Rally Takes the Train book cover: a watercolor corgi peeking from a red train

A bedtime story after seeing SantaRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first ride on a California train, hand-painted in watercolor. $16.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

2026 Christmas events are coming in late November

More Christmas events arrive in late November. We add them here as soon as we confirm them.

The story of Christmas in Napa

Napa leather, the soft hide still sold under the city's name, was invented here in 1875 by Emanuel Manasse at the Sawyer Tanning Company. A century and a half later the city's December handiwork is edible, as gingerbread versions of local landmarks line up inside the downtown library on Coombs Street.

How Napa celebrates

The family listings gathered here for Christmas in Napa center on the Napa Library at 580 Coombs Street, which its own page places in downtown Napa and credits with more than 100 years of service. Napa County Landmarks runs a Gingerbread Contest in partnership with the Napa County Library, inviting individuals and groups to build houses that celebrate local architecture, culture and creativity. Entries arrive by December 5, 2026, go on display for public voting from December 7 to 14, and are judged alongside a Home Tour on December 12. From December 6 the library also hands out take-home kits for a wooden bead wreath ornament.

Fun facts about Christmas in Napa

Nathan Coombs founded the City of Napa in 1847, and it was incorporated on March 23, 1872, then reincorporated in 1874. The name's origin is disputed, though the likeliest source is the Patwin word napo, meaning house, and early maps and deeds spell it Nappa with two Ps. The San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway was established in 1905 and carried passengers from the ferry boats at Vallejo. The 2020 census counted 79,246 residents.

Traditions today

  • Gingerbread House Display: Houses built for the Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread Contest are shown at the Napa Library for a week in December.
  • Public voting: Visitors to the library can vote on the gingerbread entries while the display is up.
  • Judging and Home Tour day: The contest schedule sets judging and a Home Tour for the Saturday in the middle of the display week.
  • Take and make ornament kits: The Napa Library gives out craft kits for a wooden bead wreath ornament that families with older children finish at home.
  • The downtown library: The Napa Library sits in downtown Napa, where the article says the county's commerce once grew up along the Napa River, and has served the community for over 100 years.

A fact for kids

The kind of loudspeaker that lets music and voices boom out of a box was invented in a Napa workshop in 1915. Two inventors, Edwin Pridham and Peter L. Jensen, came up with it while trying to improve the telephone.

Questions about Christmas in Napa

When was Napa founded?

Nathan Coombs founded the City of Napa in 1847, surveying the town site on land he had received from Nicolas Higuera, holder of a Mexican land grant called Rancho Entre Napa. Napa was incorporated on March 23, 1872, and reincorporated as the City of Napa in 1874.

How did Napa get its name?

Nobody is certain. The word comes from a Native American language and has been translated as grizzly bear, house, motherland or fish. The explanation considered most plausible traces it to the Patwin word napo, meaning house. Early maps and deeds from the 1850s spell the name Nappa.

What happens at Christmas for families in Napa?

At the Napa Library, the Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread Contest puts gingerbread houses on display for public voting from December 7 to 14, 2026. The library also offers take-home kits for a wooden bead wreath ornament, for ages 11 and up, beginning December 6 while supplies last.

Where is the Napa gingerbread display held?

The display is at the Napa Library, 580 Coombs Street, a branch of the Napa County Library. The library's page says the branch is in downtown Napa and has served the community for more than 100 years as a free public library.

Who organizes the gingerbread contest in Napa?

Napa County Landmarks runs the Gingerbread Contest in partnership with the Napa County Library. Entrants can work alone or as a group, and the organizers ask for designs that celebrate the architecture, culture and creativity that make Napa distinctive. Registration closes December 1, 2026.

Is the Napa gingerbread contest free?

Entering the contest is free, according to the library's page. Builders register by December 1, 2026, drop their houses at the Napa County Library by Saturday, December 5, and pick them up on December 14 or 15. The page does not list any charge for viewing.

Did Napa have a railroad?

Yes. The San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway was established in 1905 for passenger and freight service. It carried travelers from the ferry boats at Vallejo to stops in Napa and other places up the valley. Before that, by 1850, the Dolphin had become the first passenger steamship on the Napa River.

What was invented in Napa?

Two well-known things. Emanuel Manasse invented Napa leather in 1875 while working at the Sawyer Tanning Company, and Edwin Pridham and Peter L. Jensen invented the moving-coil loudspeaker in their Napa workshop in 1915. The two men went on to found the Magnavox Company in 1917.

How big is Napa today?

The 2020 census counted 79,246 people in Napa, which is the largest city in Napa County and its county seat. The Napa River runs through the city on its way to San Pablo Bay, and the city covers about 18.4 square miles.

Sources

  1. Napa, California, Wikipedia
  2. Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread House Display, Napa County Library
  3. Take and Make Craft Kit: Wooden Bead Wreath Ornament, Napa County Library

Keep the Christmas magic going: track Rally the corgi on Christmas Eve, print free Christmas coloring pages, learn how to say Merry Christmas in 100+ languages, find train museums to visit with kids, or browse Christmas events in every California city.

Napa Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask

What is the best Christmas outing for kids in Napa to start with?

Start with the Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread House Display at the Napa Library, 580 Coombs Street. The houses are on show from December 7 to 14, 2026, and visitors can vote for their favorites. It is a drop-in visit during library hours, so it suits any age and any attention span.

Are there free Christmas activities for kids in Napa?

Entering the Napa County Landmarks Gingerbread Contest is free, with registration due December 1, 2026. The library's page does not list a price for viewing the display from December 7 to 14 or for the wooden bead wreath ornament kits offered from December 6, and the branch describes itself as a free public library.

Where can kids meet Santa in Napa?

Neither of the two library listings gathered here includes a Santa visit. The Napa Library's December programs on this page are a gingerbread house display with public voting from December 7 to 14, 2026, and take-home ornament kits from December 6. Check the Napa County Library calendar for any Santa programs added later.

Are there Christmas shows or lights for kids in Napa?

The listings here do not include a show or a light display. The closest thing to a spectacle is the Gingerbread House Display at the Napa Library from December 7 to 14, 2026, where houses built around Napa's architecture and culture are lined up for public voting.

Which Napa Christmas activities need sign-up?

Viewing the gingerbread display needs no sign-up. Building an entry does: register by December 1, 2026, and deliver the house to the Napa County Library by Saturday, December 5. The wooden bead wreath ornament kits have no sign-up on the page, but they are handed out from December 6 only while supplies last.

Is there a Christmas craft for older kids in Napa?

Yes. The Napa Library's Take and Make Craft Kit for a wooden bead wreath ornament is set at ages 11 and up, and kits are available from Sunday, December 6, 2026, while supplies last. Teens can also enter the gingerbread contest, which the library lists for teens and adults.

Are there Christmas train rides for kids near Napa?

Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s California Christmas train rides guide. This Napa guide covers Santa visits, story times, light shows and other events off the rails.

How do you confirm these events?

We list an event only after we find this season’s date on the host’s own website or an official city or tourism calendar. We last checked every listing on November 10, 2026. Hosts change details, so always confirm on the host’s page before you go.

Event names belong to their hosts. Rally Takes the Train is a family picture book and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any host listed here. Confirm dates, times and prices on each host’s own site before you go.

Kelsey Cecil
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