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Holiday spirit in Orange County? Register staff reveals favorite spots

December 13, 2024

Everyone has a favorite spot to get in the holiday spirit, and no one is wrong.

Still, we at the Register cover Orange County – with its 34 cities and 3.2 million people – and have some ideas to share in case you’re stumped or simply looking for a new spot to check out.

We asked our local reporters, columnist and editors to share with you, our readers, the places they go to get festive. They came up with a wide range of options – everything from Santa’s Village to a bar, but lights almost always were involved – and two of our folks insisted on giving you two options.

The keys were finding things that didn’t require exclusive access or great expense, though how much you choose to spend at a couple of these spots is on you. They also needed to be available to check out moving forward, so nothing that wrapped up earlier in the month is included.

And, yes, we almost certainly missed your favorite because there are so many options in the nation’s sixth-largest county.

Here are our selections, from north to south. Click on the links if you want to learn more about each spot:

Fullerton’s Sparkle Ball Lane

Chosen by reporter Alexcia Negrete

See’s Candies ‘volume savings’ store

Chosen by local editor Heather McRea

Irvine Park’s Santa’s Village

Chosen by reporter Jonathan Horwitz

Irvine’s Jini Mini

Chosen by reporter Hanna Kang

Harbor boat parades

Chosen by reporter Laylan Connelly

South Coast Repertory’s ‘A Christmas Carol’

Chosen by columnist Teri Sforza

Winter Fest OC

Chosen by reporter Destiny Torres

Pacific City

Chosen by reporter Michael Slaten

Balboa Island

Chosen by senior editor Todd Harmonson

Bluffs at Crystal Cove State Park

Chosen by projects and topics editor Andre Mouchard

Crystal Cove cottages and tree

Chosen by reporter Erika I. Ritchie

Sawdust Art Festival’s Winter Fantasy

Chosen by columnist Teri Sforza

Jingle Bar in Laguna Beach

Chosen by politics editor Kaitlyn Schallhorn

San Clemente Pier

Chosen by reporter Laylan Connelly

Lighted balls hang from trees in a neighborhood in Fullerton in 2021. Drive under the Sparkleball lights around Yale and Nutwood avenues, near Fullerton College. The neighborhood display is so popular that simply typing “sparkleball” into Google Maps will direct you to streets full of lit-up balls. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)