A Christmas in San Francisco – one of America’s Greatest Cities. Deck the Halls near the Golden Gate Bridge and Jingle Bell in the Golden Gate Park!
Christmas in San Francisco, one of America’s Great Cities
The most joyful time of the year is back! Set up that Christmas tree, admire some Christmas lights and get in the holiday spirit with the best Christmas events and holiday things to do in San Francisco this year. From ice skating with drag queens and a live-action “Charlie Brown Christmas” to a life-size gingerbread house and pop-up holiday bars, these memory-making delights are sure to brighten up your December. And don’t forget to chow down on some delicious bites and sip festive tipples along the way! Happy holidays!
San Francisco Short History
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous city in California, with 808,437 residents, and the 17th most populous city in the United States as of 2022. The city covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second-most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.
Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include Frisco, San Fran, The City, and SF (although San Fran is generally not used by locals).
Prior to European settlement, the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu, who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone. On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate, and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi.
The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California’s population resided in the city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, it was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater.
In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations before permanently relocating to Manhattan, and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers. After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration, liberalizing attitudes, the rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution, the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States.
San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and the arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities, high-tech, healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors.
As of 2020, the metropolitan area, with 6.7 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris, London, and Singapore. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States with 4.6 million residents, and the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with a GDP of $729 billion in 2022.
The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the fifth-most populous, with 9.0 million residents, and the third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $1.32 trillion in 2022. In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $312,000. San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in the United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023. The city houses the headquarters of numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb, X Corp. (formerly Twitter), Levi’s, Gap, Dropbox, and Lyft.
In 2022, San Francisco had over 1.7 million international visitors – the fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami, Orlando, and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for a total of 21.9 million visitors.
The city is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods, as well as its cool summers, fog, and landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, Alcatraz, along with the Chinatown and Mission districts. The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco, the University of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the de Young Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, the SFJAZZ Center, and the California Academy of Sciences.
Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors, play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco’s main international airport offers flights to over 125 destinations while a light rail and bus network, in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with the wider region.
Christmas in San Francisco: Things to Do and See
1. The Golden Girls Live! The Christmas Episodes
This year, trade the traditional holiday shows for a classic Christmas parody full of joy, love and all the holiday feels. Join the “Golden Girls”—drag queens Heklina, Mathew Martin, D’Arcy Drollinger and Holotta Tymes—for a hilarious live take on two Christmas episodes from days gone by. It’s raucous fun and a San Francisco-must.
2. The Nutcracker
Since the 1944 American premiere of The Nutcracker, San Francisco audiences have embraced the sensational ballet as a true holiday tradition. From composer Peter Tchaikovsky and choreographer Helgi Tomasson, this magical event will delight your family and set the tone for the festivities to come.
3. Winter Park at Civic Center
The Civic Center’s Winter Park is back for its second season. Modeled after the Wiener Eistraum in Vienna Austria, a 6,000-square-foot rink and 400-square-foot track woven among the plaza’s trees are at the center of this winter wonderland. Special events like Drag Queens on Ice and Sunday morning curling lessons ($20) are planned throughout the month. General admission for a 75-min skating session is $13–$18 and includes skate rental.
4. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair
Step back in time at this holiday adventure set in Victorian London which features quaint shops, costumed performers, and the aroma of roasted chestnuts. A Bay Area tradition since 1970, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair takes over the Cow Palace for several weekends every holiday season. Guests can peruse corset stalls, engage in mead-chugging competitions and maybe even spot Scrooge himself.
5. Gingerbread House at the Fairmont
Nothing rings in the holidays like visiting the Fairmont’s massive gingerbread house. Each year the hotel’s talented culinary and engineering teams work together to create an edible two-story Victorian with more than 6,000 gingerbread bricks and 1,650 pounds of candy that stands more than 25 feet high. Parties of up to ten people can reserve the dining room for a private, super-sweet afternoon tea ($89–$129), dinner or special occasion.
