Winter Wonder Fair
Thursday, Dec. 4 | 3 p.m. | Logan Heights Library
Celebrate the holidays with different crafts and a themed movie.

Balboa Park December Nights
Dec. 5 & 6 | 3 – 11 p.m. Friday | 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Saturday
Find the SDPL booth in the Municipal Gym! Visitors can make a snowflake crown craft, pick up a coloring book and more.

Whoville Holiday Party
Dec. 6 | 10 a.m. | Rancho Peñasquitos Library
Dec. 19 | 3 p.m. | Carmel Mountain Library
Join the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who for a storytime, photos and fun!

Winter Holidays Celebration
Monday, Dec. 8 | 4 p.m. | Rancho Bernardo Library
Join us at the library for a festive and joyful event, celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Yalda and Kwanzaa with cookie decorating, lantern crafts, card-making and a photo booth.

Winter Holiday Festival
Saturday, Dec. 13 | 10 a.m. | Tierrasanta Library
Celebrate the variety of winter holidays by picking up a passport and participating in mini games and activities for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Winter Solstice. Collect all the stamps to earn a prize.

Clairemont Town Square Holiday Celebration
Saturday, Dec. 13 | 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Snap a photo with Santa, work on crafts and say hello to staff from Clairemont and North Clairemont Library at this community event!

Three Kings Day: Piñata Decoration
Saturday, Jan. 3 | 2 p.m. | Logan Heights Library
Celebrate the holiday by decorating a piñata. Registration required.

Santa's Cooking Decorating Party | Session 1 · Session 2 
Tuesday, Dec. 9 | 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. | San Ysidro Library 
Decorate Christmas sugar cookies and drink some apple cider to celebrate the holiday season. Registration Required.

Make an Edible Tree at Paradise Hills Library
Session 1 | Tuesday, Dec. 9 | 5:30 p.m.
Session 2 | Saturday, Dec. 13 | 10:30 a.m.

Winter Wonderland
Wednesday, Dec. 10 | 4 p.m. | Carmel Valley Library
This Polar Express-themed party features train crafts, a sleigh photo-op, tasty reindeer food, face painting and more.

Gingerbread House Making Party
Saturday, Dec. 13 | 1 p.m. | Balboa Library
Make a Gingerbread House and decorate it with treats from a candy buffet.

Winterfest at the Pauline Foster Teen Center
Tuesday, Dec. 16 | 4 p.m. | Central Library
Teens are invited to partake in cocoa, crafts, gingerbread houses and more!

Preschool Story Time: Winter Holiday Edition
Wednesday, Dec. 17 | 10 a.m. | Carmel Mountain Ranch Library
Bundle up and join us for a cozy winter storytime designed for children ages 2-4.

Crafts for Kids: Winter Holiday Ornaments
Saturday, Dec. 20 | 3 p.m. | Carmel Mountain Ranch Library
Get crafty with Toshwerks at this holiday-themed workshop for kids 5-12. Registration Required.

Winter Crafts - Maker Mondays for Adults
Monday, Dec. | 5 p.m. | University Heights Library
Unleash your creativity this December (1 / 8 / 15 / 22) whether you're a seasoned crafter or a beginner.

DIY for Adults: Christmas Village House
Wednesday, Dec. 17 | 11:30 a.m. | San Ysidro Library
Design and decorate your very own wooden Christmas village house—all supplies provided. Sponsored by the Friends of the San Ysidro Library.

Adult Crafts: Macramé Ornaments
Saturday, Dec. 20 | 4 p.m. | Carmel Mountain Ranch Library
Learn macrame techniques and incorporate unique artistic beads to an ornament. This class is geared towards adults and teens. Registration Required.

Cinema Club: Die Hard (1988)- Is It a Christmas Movie?
Tuesday, Dec. 30 | 5:15 p.m. | La Jolla Library
Watch Die Hard (1988) with the Cinema Club and discuss whether or not the action film qualifies as a Christmas movie. Light refreshments provided.

San Diego Opera Presents: Making Merry
Tuesday, Dec. 2 | 6:30 p.m. | Central Library
Join Soprano Lily Berthold, tenor Felipe Prado and pianist Bruce Stasyna in the Neil Morgan Auditorium. This Opera Insights program features music spanning centuries: carols, modern favorites and timeless holiday classics.

Holiday Music Show Featuring Miss Marae
Wednesday, Dec. 3 | 4 p.m. | Rancho Bernardo Library
Miss Marae and her playful puppet friends present a silly holiday adventure filled with music, laughter and surprises as they journey through snowflakes, candy canes and goofy holiday characters.

Holiday Music Concert
Saturday, Dec. 6 | 3 p.m. | Scripps Miramar Ranch Library

Trinity Theatre presents The Littlest Reindeer
Wednesday, Dec. 10 | 12 p.m. | San Ysidro Library

Mistletoe & Melodies with Sacha Boutros
Monday, Dec. 15 | 6:30 p.m. | Point Loma/Hervey Library
Everyone is welcome to hear Grammy-nominated jazz musician Sascha Boutros perform.

Ukulele Strum-Along Christmas Concert 
Tuesday, Dec. 16 | 4 p.m. | Mira Mesa Library 
Enjoy a festive afternoon of Christmas carols and songs. All skill levels and ages are welcome to participate in this informal and fun program.

Winter Holiday Concert: Relative Pitch
Saturday, Dec. 20 | 2 p.m. | Balboa Library
Watch an a cappella quartet with roots in Barbershop and a penchant for jazz harmonies. Their repertoire also spans pop, R&B, doo-wop, blues, American songbook and more. Sponsored by the Friends of the Balboa Library.

Persian Music Concert in the Park
Saturday, Dec. 20 | 2 p.m. | Kensington-Normal Heights Library
This all-ages performance featuring Dornob Collective takes place outdoors—bring a blanket (and even an instrument to jam along with)! Sponsored by the Friends of the Kensington-Normal Heights Library.

Hanukkah · Dec. 14–22

This Jewish holiday celebrates the triumph or light over darkness, spiritual over materialistic and freedom over oppression. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the victory of the Maccabees.

It is observed by lighting a candle on a menorah (a nine-armed candelabra) for eight nights and days starting on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar. Modern celebrations also include gathering with family and friends, eating foods prepared in oil and playing games like dreidel. 

Learn more about Hanukkah.

Christmas · Dec. 25

Commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, this Christian holiday celebrates religious themes of redemption, hope and joy. The most widely celebrated winter holiday, Christmas celebrations often include cultural traditions from each region from the piñatas of Las Posadas festivities in Mexico, to the demonic costumes of Krampus Night in Bavaria to the Gena field hockey games in Ethiopia, Christmas today is celebrated with a beautifully diverse array of traditions.

Learn more:

• Christmas Traditions of Polynesia (Polynesian Cultural Center)
• Ethiopia: Reclaiming Africa’s Place in the Story of Christmas (BLAM)
• Feast of the Nativity (Boston Public Library)
• Three Kings Day (Smithsonian)
• 25 Objeks and Tings for Christmas (The National Caribbean Heritage Museum)
• The Parol (Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture)

Kwanzaa · Dec. 26–Jan. 1

Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday that began in 1966 and focuses on remembering the past and celebrating Black American culture. Celebrated over the course of seven days that represent a different theme: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).

Created in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, Kwanzaa was part of a movement among Black Americans to celebrate and take pride in their Pan-African heritage. The holiday is celebrated with poetry recitations, feasts of African-diaspora foods, African drumming and more.

Learn about Kwanzaa from the National Museum of African American History & Culture.