On Saturday, December 5, Main Street closes to cars from 4 to 9 p.m. Up to 80 white vendor canopies go up, Santa arrives, and a tree gets lit for what will be the 32nd Holiday on Main. Three days later, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum lights its own tree at a ticketed evening that costs $60 for a general-admission adult. Friends Church on Mountain View Avenue runs a third lighting with its own parking rules. One of those rules affects the Nixon Library's lot.
A market operator, a presidential foundation and a church each set the price, the parking and the schedule for their own event. If a plan works for one, it won't necessarily work for the next.
Holiday on Main is 32 years old, and a market operator now runs it
The longest-running of the three belongs to Main Street, but the organizer name on it has changed. The current Eventbrite listing credits Uptown Village Market as organizer. The vendor page at Modern Makers Mart, which sends its registration to an Uptown Village Market form, carries the event details and states the date outright as "Event date 2026: December 5th 4-9pm." The event's longtime website, holidayonmainstreet.com, still shows last year's December 6, 2025 date and credits Old Town Yorba Linda Merchants as host. For 2026 information, use the Modern Makers Mart and Eventbrite pages.
You may already know the organizer from Saturday mornings. Uptown Village Market's Eventbrite profile lists the Yorba Linda Certified Farmers Market at Friends Church alongside the Dana Point Harbor Farmers Market and the Mission Viejo Certified Farmers Market. That explains a lot about how Holiday on Main works. It runs on a juried vendor market, much like the farmers market does. The operator describes it this way:
"This event is a juried event... This event is 10x10 spaces only, you must have a white canopy. The cuter the better! This location is set for 80 outside spaces. Parking is free in the parking structure. This is a city sponsored event and on its 32nd year."
The city-sponsored description comes from the operator's page. Vendors pay $125 for a standard 10-by-10 space, $150 for a cottage space and $235 for an open food space. Those fees pay for an evening that's free for visitors. The operator puts attendance at roughly 5,000 people.
For families, the two listings cover these basics:
- When: Saturday, December 5, 4 to 9 p.m.
- Where: Main Street, Yorba Linda, closed to traffic
- Activities: Santa, the tree lighting, face painting, a kids craft and holiday shopping from local vendors
- Parking: Free, in the parking structure
Three days later, the Nixon Library sells tickets and adds a museum
The Richard Nixon Foundation calls its Tuesday, December 8 evening "A Revolutionary Christmas." It runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd. The theme ties into the country's 250th anniversary. The event page opens with George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas night in 1776.
According to the Nixon Foundation's event page, the ticket includes:
- A tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m.
- Photos with Santa in the Oval Office
- Santa's reindeer, up close
- Live music by the Huntington Beach Concert Band
- The Dickens Carolers from Foothill High School
- A holiday appearance by an Elvis Presley tribute performer
- Hot cocoa, light bites, Polly's Pies' Backburner Soup and a no-host bar
- After-hours access to the museum galleries and a candlelight walk through the gardens
Before the ceremony, food trucks and Chick-fil-A set up at the library entrance starting at 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are $60 for general-admission adults and $25 for children ages 5 to 11. Nixon Foundation members pay $50 and $20. Children 4 and under get in free. That makes a night out for two adults and two school-age kids $170 at general admission. The same family pays nothing on Main Street three days earlier.
Part of the difference is the special exhibit. The ticket includes the after-hours galleries, and the event page tells guests to see "America 250: A More Perfect Union" "before it closes." The exhibit opened at Thanksgiving 2025. Its interactive sets recreate the Boston Tea Party, Sutter's Mill during the Gold Rush, Thomas Edison's laboratory and the World Wars. Among its artifacts are a George Washington portrait, an engraving of the Declaration of Independence, cloth from the Wright Flyer and Dwight Eisenhower's West Point sword. The Foundation's exhibit page says only "Open through 2026" and gives no final day. If you haven't seen it yet, December 8 is one of the last chances on the calendar.
The church lighting with its own parking rules
The third lighting is the reason a parking lot in this part of town matters. Friends Church Yorba Linda and Friends Christian School host an annual Christmas Tree Lighting with Friends at 5091 Mountain View Ave. It starts with a 5 p.m. service featuring the FCS choir. The outdoor event opens at 6 p.m., and the tree lighting ceremony is at 6:30. The church lists two snow play areas, a light walk-through, food and dessert trucks, a hot chocolate bar and photo spots. Admission is free, and food truck dinners are for sale.
The church's parking note matters most. You can park on the church campus or at the Packing House, but "Nixon Library parking will NOT be available." The Nixon Library hosts its own lighting a few days later, so the Nixon lot isn't overflow parking for the church event.
You'll also need to check the church's date. Its event page lists "Saturday, December 4, 2026," but December 4 falls on a Friday this year. Holiday on Main has December 5, the actual Saturday. Check the church page again closer to the date before you plan around either day.
How the first two weeks of December line up
Lined up together, the three lightings fall within five days if the church means Friday, December 4. A free community concert closes out the stretch the following Sunday.
| Event | Host | Date and time | Cost | Parking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Tree Lighting with Friends | Friends Church Yorba Linda and Friends Christian School | Listed as "Saturday, December 4, 2026," 6 to 8:30 p.m.; confirm the day | Free; food trucks for purchase | Church campus and the Packing House; no Nixon Library parking |
| Holiday on Main | Produced by Modern Makers Mart / Uptown Village Market | Saturday, December 5, 4 to 9 p.m. | Free | Free in the parking structure, per the operator |
| A Revolutionary Christmas | Richard Nixon Foundation | Tuesday, December 8, 5 to 9 p.m.; food at 4:30 | $60 adult, $25 ages 5 to 11 general admission; under 5 free | Not listed on the event page |
| Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda Community Christmas Concert | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Yorba Linda stake | Sunday, December 13, 6 to 7:30 p.m. | Free, refreshments after | Not listed on the event page |
The concert listing is a reminder that this season reaches into Anaheim Hills too. The event carries both communities' names.
Dinner before or after Main Street
Holiday on Main has food vendors, and the operator offers $235 open food spaces. If you'd like a sit-down meal before or after, the City of Yorba Linda's September 8 business update lists a few recent openings. SHO Handroll Bar serves Japanese hand rolls at 18657 Yorba Linda Boulevard. Sushi Mura serves sashimi, rolls and ramen at 4895 Valley View Ave. The same update lists Broken Yolk Café as coming soon to Main Street with breakfast and brunch, but gives no opening date. Don't count on it for December 5 unless it has opened by then.
On Nixon night, the food trucks and Chick-fil-A at the entrance open half an hour before the 5 p.m. lighting. You can eat on site and still be in place for the ceremony.
Ryan Salloum tells Yorba Linda's neighborhood stories through video and photography, and a December on Main Street is one of the best of them. If the season has you curious about what your own home on these streets is worth, ask Ryan for a free home valuation. You'll get a straight answer in time for the holidays.
