Yountville's Holidays Gather at the Community Center, With Mary Blair Staying On Into January

Where does a Yountville holiday happen? If you go by the restaurants, the answer is the stretch of Washington Street with the famous names. The Town's own calendar points to one address: the Yountville Community Center at 6516 Washington Street, which hosts the tree lighting, the Santa morning and the Artisan Faire. The season's longest-running attraction is a few minutes away at the Napa Valley Museum Yountville. Its Mary Blair exhibition was scheduled to close in October and is now open through January 10, 2027.

The Yountville Chamber runs Holidays in Yountville from November 22, 2026, through January 1, 2027. Here are the dates that set the shape of those six weeks.

Santa Comes to Town Twice, and Photos Wait for the Second Visit

The Town & Tree Lighting is Sunday, November 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Community Center. Holiday crafts and activities run from 4 to 5:45 p.m., and the town and tree lighting follows shortly after. Mayor Mohler hosts with Santa as the special guest. The event is free, open to everyone, and happens rain or shine. The Town also asks guests to bring an unwrapped toy for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley.

There won't be any Santa photos that evening. The event listing on Yountville.com puts it this way:

"Please note, out of respect for Santa's schedule, there will be no photo opportunities with him during this event."

The photos happen two weeks later in the same building. Visits with Santa is Saturday, December 5, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Community Center, and the Town's invitation is to "drop by to visit with Santa and take your own photos." Donations support the Parks and Recreation Leader in Training Program.

So the tree lighting is about the countdown and the crafts, and a quieter Saturday morning is set aside for the photo with Santa, with no stage and no crowd waiting for the lights.

December 5 Is the Building's Busiest Day

Families leaving Visits with Santa that Saturday won't have to go far. The Holiday Artisan Faire opens at 10 a.m. the same day in the same building. The Town's calendar lists more than 40 fine artists selling handcrafted jewelry, art and home decor, with the faire running from 10 a.m. Saturday through 4 p.m. Sunday, December 6.

That puts the Town's three holiday events at one address, with the second and third overlapping. On the morning of December 5, someone can go to the 8:30 Santa visit, shop the faire when it opens, and never move the car.

The Community Center doesn't offer a meal, though, and that's where the Washington Street kitchens come in.

The Kitchens Take Specific Days

The restaurants with the famous names don't run continuous holiday programs. They take specific days, and most of those days fall around Thanksgiving.

• Ad Hoc + Addendum has a Thanksgiving at Home take-home feast for four, built around a ready-to-roast turkey with sides. Pickup is Wednesday, November 25, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Bouchon Bakery has 8-inch apple, pecan and pumpkin pies at $45 each and 3-inch tarts at $9, for pickup November 25 and 26. Its November case also carries pumpkin loaf, pumpkin macarons and a pumpkin latte.
• North Block is serving a Thanksgiving prix fixe on Thursday, November 26, from noon to 9 p.m. The Napa Valley Register's 2026 Thanksgiving guide lists it at $125 per person, $65 for children 12 and younger, and an optional $85 wine pairing.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the next busy day. Small Business Saturday, November 28, is when the Chamber reveals the offers for 12 Days of Yountville Cheer, which run through December 9. The same day, Finesse, The Store is holding a free cookbook signing with Thomas Keller. Guests need to reserve a ticket, and anyone who buys a cookbook can meet Keller and get a personalized copy.

The kitchens come back at the end of the season. Yountville.com's holiday hours post lists Ad Hoc, Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon Bistro and North Block among the businesses open on New Year's Eve.

A Museum Show That Was Supposed to Close in October

When Napa Valley Museum Yountville announced "Mary Blair: Mid-Century Magic" in March, its press release gave a closing date of October 25, 2026. The current exhibition page now lists January 10, 2027. That puts the town's holiday weeks in the show's final stretch, and the show stays open nine days after the Chamber's season ends on January 1.

The Walt Disney Family Museum organized the exhibition. It brings together nearly 150 artworks and historical photographs in watercolor, pencil and ink, collage and ceramics, tracing Blair's work on "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan," and on the "it's a small world" attraction. In the March announcement, Executive Director Laura Rafaty said the museum's partnership with the Walt Disney Family Museum goes back to its 2018 exhibition "Walt Disney's Trains."

If you're planning a visit around the holidays, these details matter:

1. Hours. Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 55 Presidents Circle.
2. Holiday closures. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, so the show's last open days are January 2 and 3, then January 6 through its closing day, Sunday, January 10.
3. Admission. Adults $20, seniors 65 and older $15, youth 6 to 17 $10. Yountville Veterans Home residents, active-duty military and children 5 and under get in free, and so do Napa Valley Museum members.

The museum has an evening event in December as well. "Bell, Book and Candle" screens on Friday, December 4, with doors at 6 p.m. and the film at 6:30. It's the first installment of the museum's annual "Not Exactly Christmas Classics" series, and the event page lists it as sold out.

December 19 at Two Cemeteries

The Yountville Chamber of Commerce and the California Veterans Home–Yountville are hosting Wreaths Across America on Saturday, December 19. Ceremonies are at 9 a.m. at the George C. Yount Pioneer Cemetery and at 11 a.m. at the Yountville Veterans Home Cemetery. A $17 donation pays for a wreath to be laid at a veteran's grave. The Chamber's Holidays in Yountville page has the donation details.

Because the two ceremonies are two hours apart, it's possible to attend both. Of everything on the calendar, this is the event most rooted in Yountville's own history, with the town's pioneer cemetery in the morning and the Veterans Home cemetery before noon.

The Same Museum Has a Design Show in St. Helena

The museum organization's second venue extends the season for anyone interested in design. The MAC, the Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture, is at 607 St Helena Hwy in St. Helena. Its current exhibition, "Eames & Eames: Meet the Couple Who Defined Modern Design," runs October 17, 2026, through April 18, 2027. It goes past the famous chairs to show the couple's furniture, toys, paintings, graphics and personal belongings. The show was created with the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity and curated by Llisa Demetrios, Ray and Charles Eames's granddaughter and the Institute's co-founder. Tickets are $15 to $25.

The two shows also fit together. Mary Blair brought mid-century modernism to Disney animation, and the Eameses brought it into furniture and the home. Between now and January 10, both are on view at the same museum's two locations.

At Hillary Ryan Group, we follow the details of life in Yountville, from which building hosts which Saturday to how long a museum show stays open, as closely as we follow the market. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of the Community Center or anywhere else in town, request a private consultation.