Rally the corgi has sniffed out the Christmas events for kids in San Marcos, California for 2026. Everything happens at the San Marcos Community Center on Saturday, December 5: Breakfast with Santa in the morning, then the free Tree Lighting and Merry Market with photos with Santa, and the tree lighting at 6 pm. We check every date on the host’s own website and link straight there. For the rest of the state, see our California Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in San Marcos
- 2 Christmas events for kids in San Marcos
- Breakfast with Santa: Saturday, December 5, 7:30 to 11 am
- Tree Lighting and Merry Market: December 5, 1 to 7 pm, free
- Free photo with Santa 1 to 5 pm, tree lighting at 6 pm
- Every date checked on the City of San Marcos’s site on Nov 11
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Free Christmas events for kids in San Marcos
Tree lightingFree
Tree Lighting and Merry Market
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 1 to 7 pm (tree lighting at 6 pm)
- Where: San Marcos Community Center, 3 Civic Center Dr, San Marcos, CA 92069 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free admission, free photo with Santa
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
The City of San Marcos lights its holiday tree at the Community Center after an afternoon of local craft and food vendors at the Merry Market.
Kids get a free photo with Santa from 1 to 5 pm and free children’s crafts all afternoon. City Council greets the crowd at 5:45 pm and the tree lights up at 6.
Parent tip: Get in the Santa photo line before 4 pm. It closes at 5, an hour before the lighting.
- Host
- City of San Marcos Parks and Recreation (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- San Marcos Community Center, 3 Civic Center Dr, San Marcos, CA 92069 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New San Marcos events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in San Marcos daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in San Marcos.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 1 more San Marcos event researched for you.
- New events every week We research new events daily and send you one email a week with the new ones we find in San Marcos.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in San Marcos before they fill up.
- Unlock the filters Find Santa visits, free events and weekend plans in one tap.
- Rally’s Christmas Eve Express and a free advent calendar Get early access to Rally the corgi’s Christmas Eve tracker, plus a free digital advent calendar to count down to Christmas.
- One-tap add to calendar Save any event to your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar so you never miss it.
Coming up on this page
- 2 Santa
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- 1 Free
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in San Marcos every week.
Ticketed and paid Christmas events for kids in San Marcos
Admission, tickets or a fee apply. Where a host has not posted a price yet, the listing says so.
Event hosts: free events are listed first. The #1 spot puts your event at the top of this page.Inquire about the #1 spotAdd your event for free
Breakfast with Santa
Breakfast with Santa
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 7:30 to 11 am
- Where: San Marcos Community Center, 3 Civic Center Dr, San Marcos, CA 92069 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Registration required, seating is limited
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
San Marcos Parks and Recreation opens its big holiday Saturday with Breakfast with Santa at the San Marcos Community Center.
Seating is limited and registration opened November 4 through the city’s online registration page, so book early if you want a spot.
Parent tip: Stay on site afterward. The Tree Lighting and Merry Market opens at the same Community Center at 1 pm.
- Host
- City of San Marcos Parks and Recreation (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- San Marcos Community Center, 3 Civic Center Dr, San Marcos, CA 92069 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New San Marcos events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in San Marcos daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in San Marcos.
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 San Marcos Christmas event for kids happens
Spend December 5 at the San Marcos Community Center: breakfast with Santa in the morning, then crafts, Santa photos and the 6 pm tree lighting.
- Tree Lighting and Merry MarketSan Marcos · Dec 5
- Breakfast with SantaSan Marcos · Dec 5
Looking further afield? Our California Christmas events for kids guide lists every confirmed event in the state, and we have city guides for Escondido, Oceanside, Temecula and Murrieta. 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.
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 AmazonKeep 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.
San Marcos Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What are the best Christmas events for kids in San Marcos this year?
Rally Takes the Train has confirmed 2 Christmas events for kids in San Marcos for 2026, both from San Marcos Parks and Recreation on Saturday, December 5: Breakfast with Santa and the Tree Lighting and Merry Market.
When is the San Marcos tree lighting in 2026?
Saturday, December 5, 2026, at the San Marcos Community Center, 3 Civic Center Drive. The event runs 1 to 7 pm and the tree lights at 6 pm.
When is Breakfast with Santa in San Marcos?
Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 7:30 to 11 am at the San Marcos Community Center. Seating is limited and registration is required.
Is there a free photo with Santa in San Marcos?
Yes. The Tree Lighting and Merry Market offers a free photo with Santa from 1 to 5 pm on December 5.
Who do I contact about San Marcos holiday events?
San Marcos Parks and Recreation at parksandrec@sanmarcosca.gov.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids in California?
Yes. Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s California Christmas train rides page.
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 San Marcos on November 11, 2026. Rally is also contacting each organizer to confirm details like parking, restrooms and bad-weather plans.
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.