Terranea's Gingerbread Hut is a 7-by-7-foot structure made from more than 1,000 pounds of house-made gingerbread, decorated with gumdrops, candy canes and gingerbread surfboards. It's also a working bar. It opens in the Lobby Lounge on Saturday, Nov. 28, and stays up until Jan. 2. It's one piece of a season that works differently on the Hill than in the beach cities.
Manhattan Beach has its downtown and Redondo has its pier. The Peninsula has no single center for the holidays. Its four cities take turns. A resort on the Rancho Palos Verdes coast goes first, then the RPV civic center, then the Rolling Hills Estates retail corridor, with Malaga Cove Plaza holding its own tradition in Palos Verdes Estates. Meanwhile one theater keeps a parallel calendar indoors, with four different Nutcracker productions between mid-November and the week before Christmas.
Norris Theatre carries November by itself
The outdoor season doesn't start until Thanksgiving weekend, so the first half of the holidays happens on the Norris Theatre stage. Four separate companies are bringing their own Nutcracker there in 2026, for 11 performances over about five weeks.
| Date | Production | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Ballet des Petites Étoiles, full-length The Nutcracker | 2:30 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 19 to Sun., Nov. 22 | Peninsula School of Performing Arts, The Nutcracker | Thu. and Fri. 7 p.m.; Sat. 2 and 7 p.m.; Sun. noon and 4 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | Classical Ballet Theatre, Nutcracker Highlights | 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 19 to Sun., Dec. 20 | Palos Verdes Ballet, 46th annual Nutcracker | Sat. 7 p.m.; Sun. 1 and 5 p.m. |
The Ballet des Petites Étoiles performance comes first, this Sunday. The Peninsula School of Performing Arts run is the longest stretch on the calendar, with six shows in four days the week before Thanksgiving. The Classical Ballet Theatre highlights program plays on the Sunday of the holiday weekend, the day after the outdoor season begins.
Palos Verdes Ballet closes the run on Dec. 19 and 20 with its 46th Nutcracker. Between the Thanksgiving shows and that finale, the Norris stage has a non-Nutcracker holiday show, Marquee Dance Center's "Merry & Bright!" on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets went on sale Nov. 6.
Another November event is easy to overlook. The Palos Verdes Library District's Community Art Show opened Nov. 10 in the Foyer Exhibit Area at Peninsula Center Library and runs through Jan. 3. The opening reception is Friday, Nov. 13, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 28: Terranea starts the outdoor season
The outdoor season starts on the RPV coast on Saturday, Nov. 28. Terranea holds its annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on the resort's Front Drive from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The evening includes caroling, dance performances, a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the lighting of the resort's 30-foot Christmas tree. Tickets are $32 for ages 13 and up and $15 for ages 5 to 12, plus fees, and free for children 4 and under. Attendance is limited, so advance registration is required. Terranea asks guests to bring an unwrapped gift for Toys for Tots.
The Gingerbread Hut opens the same day. It's open 4 to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 2 to 10 p.m. on weekends, and a separate beach-themed gingerbread village sits next to it. The seasonal menu leans tropical, with cocktails, a zero-proof hot cocoa and holiday sweets. The details are in Terranea's 2026 holiday announcement, which also lists the resort's events through December.
Dec. 4 and 5: Ken Dyda Civic Center
The next weekend, the season moves inland to Ken Dyda Civic Center, 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. Rancho Palos Verdes is running two events there on back-to-back days.
The Tree Lighting Ceremony is Friday, Dec. 4, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. It includes a tree and menorah lighting, snow sledding, inflatables, crafts, food trucks and a holiday pop-up shop, according to the city's 2026 event flyer.
The Winter Festival follows on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 2 to 8 p.m., with snow sledding, inflatables and a timed schedule:
- 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: face painting
- 4:30 p.m.: guided night hike
- 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: carolers
- 6:30 p.m.: second guided night hike
The night hikes make this event different from the coastal tree lighting the week before. The 4:30 hike starts close to sunset, and the 6:30 hike goes out after dark.
Friday, Dec. 4 is also a busy night elsewhere. The Palos Verdes Art Center holds its Winter Show opening and Holiday Reception that evening from 6 to 9 p.m. The show is a juried, all-media exhibition by PVAC artist-members, according to the art center's publication, The Circle. The reception overlaps the RPV ceremony almost hour for hour, so a household that wants both will need to pick an order.
Dec. 12: the day two cities run their big events together
On every other weekend, one city has the Peninsula's holiday events to itself. On Saturday, Dec. 12, Rolling Hills Estates and the Terranea coast both run major events.
The Peninsula Parade of Lights starts at 6 p.m. Rolling Hills Estates has published the route on its Parade of Lights page:
- Start: Silver Spur Road and Drybank Drive
- Route: east on Silver Spur Road to Roxcove Drive, south to Deep Valley Drive, then west on Deep Valley Drive through the Promenade on the Peninsula
- Finish: Norris Center Drive
- Road closures: from 4 p.m. on Silver Spur Road, Deep Valley Drive, Roxcove Drive and Drybank Drive
- Free parking: Town & Country Center, Peninsula Shopping Center and Promenade P|V
Road closures start two hours before the parade. Anyone using the Silver Spur and Deep Valley corridor that afternoon, including for errands in the area, will run into them before any floats appear.
On the coast the same evening, Terranea holds Winter Wonderland from 4 to 8 p.m., with character appearances, "snowfall" by the ocean, roasted chestnuts and holiday desserts. Admission is $45 for ages 13 and up, $23 for ages 5 to 12, $10 for ages 3 to 4, and free for children 2 and under. Food and drinks cost extra. Before that, the resort's executive pastry chef, Pierino Jermonti, leads the first of three gingerbread workshops from 2 to 4 p.m., at $159 per house. Later workshops are Dec. 19 and Dec. 23 at the same time.
The night before, Friday, Dec. 11, Terranea serves its Feast of the Seven Fishes. Cocktails start at 5 p.m., the event is for ages 21 and up, and it costs $450 per person with wine pairings, plus tax and gratuity.
On a map, the 4 p.m. road closures and Winter Wonderland's 4 p.m. start mean the inland corridor and the coast get busy at the same time. Families with children who'd enjoy both will have to choose one.
Malaga Cove Plaza and the last weekend before Christmas
Palos Verdes Estates holds its holiday tradition on a smaller scale. The annual tree lighting at Malaga Cove Plaza includes a speech from the Mayor, cookies and hot cocoa, food trucks, letters to Santa, children's crafts and the lighting of the tree. The city also holds an annual Santa parade and shares the route and timing before it runs, according to its community events page. Last year, the Daily Breeze reported the tree lighting on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, and the Santa parade the following Saturday, Dec. 13.
PVE also has a new bakery this season. Easy Reader reported in October that Lunelle, a French bakery at 2201 Palos Verdes Drive West, comes from the couple behind Little French Bakery.
The calendar comes back to the Norris stage at the end. Palos Verdes Ballet's 46th Nutcracker plays Saturday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 20 at 1 and 5 p.m. That same Saturday, Terranea hosts Breakfast with Santa, and its second gingerbread workshop runs from 2 to 4 p.m.
The Gingerbread Hut stays open in the Terranea Lobby Lounge through Saturday, Jan. 2, after the last ballet performance, so it opens before the Peninsula's other outdoor events and stays open after them.
If the holidays have you thinking about where your family will celebrate in the years ahead, whether that's near the Parade of Lights route on Silver Spur or closer to the Malaga Cove tree, Gary Richardson knows these neighborhoods street by street. The Art of Beach Real Estate invites you to schedule a private consultation with Gary.
