Montebello's holiday season starts with a Center Court full of people at The Shops at Montebello on a Sunday evening in late November. Thirteen days later it starts again on the lawn at City Hall, with snow slides, an ice rink and Santa switching on a second tree. Between those two nights, downtown Whittier Boulevard holds its own Saturday night market. The season happens in three parts of the city, and the weekends link them together. That makes this a calendar you can build a whole month around.
Here is every date on the calendar, from the weekend before Thanksgiving through Dec. 23.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Downtown Montebello BLVD Night Market: Noche de Rock! | BLVD MRKT, 520 Whittier Blvd. | 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Holiday Tree Lighting | The Shops at Montebello, Center Court | 4 to 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Sounds of the Season | The Shops at Montebello, Center Court | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Sounds of the Season | The Shops at Montebello, Center Court | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Winter Wonderland & Tree Lighting | Montebello City Hall, 1600 W. Beverly Blvd. | 3 to 9 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Sounds of the Season | The Shops at Montebello, Center Court | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Sounds of the Season | The Shops at Montebello, Center Court | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Mon., Dec. 21 to Wed., Dec. 23 | Sounds of the Season, daily | The Shops at Montebello, Center Court | 2 to 4 p.m. |
The Weekend Before Thanksgiving Opens the Season on Both Ends of Town
The Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving put two parts of Montebello on back-to-back nights.
On Saturday, Nov. 21, the Downtown Montebello BLVD Night Market hosts "Noche de Rock!" from 5 to 9 p.m. at BLVD MRKT, 520 Whittier Blvd. Angel City Market organizes it, and the listing promises vendors, food and entertainment. Pets are welcome too. BLVD MRKT is the food hall that co-owner Barney Santos told ABC7 has been helping put Montebello on the map since 2021.
Less than 24 hours later, The Shops at Montebello holds its Holiday Tree Lighting on Sunday, Nov. 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. in Center Court. The mall lists live music, holiday treats and family activities around the lighting. One detail matters if you saved an old link: the mall's standalone tree lighting page from last year is still up, and it shows Nov. 23, 2025. The current events calendar has the right date, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2026.
So the season opens downtown on Saturday night and moves north to the mall on Sunday afternoon. If you have family visiting that weekend, the two events pair naturally: dinner and vendors on the boulevard one night, then the lighting the next.
The Mall Keeps the Music Going Into Christmas Week
After the lighting, the mall's holiday programming settles into a steady pattern. "Sounds of the Season" brings holiday music, classic carols and live performances to Center Court from 2 to 4 p.m.
The first one falls on Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving. After that it moves to Saturdays: Dec. 5, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19. Then it runs three days in a row, Monday, Dec. 21 through Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Every session is a two-hour afternoon slot, so it fits around an errand run without taking over the day. Two of the Saturdays, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, have nothing else on the city's calendar. The other one, Dec. 5, is a different story.
Dec. 5 Is the One Day Both Calendars Run at Once
On Saturday, Dec. 5, the mall's music runs from 2 to 4 p.m. At 3 p.m., an hour into that set, the City of Montebello opens its Winter Wonderland & Tree Lighting at City Hall.
According to the city's own event listing, the City of Montebello and Adventist Health White Memorial Montebello are hosting Winter Wonderland together. It runs from 3 to 9 p.m. at Montebello City Hall, 1600 W. Beverly Blvd. It is free, and you don't need a ticket or registration. The listing includes:
- A tree lighting ceremony at 7 p.m.
- A holiday market with food and handcrafted gifts from local artisan vendors
- Live entertainment
- Snow slides and an ice-skating rink
- Santa's photo booth
The city's special events page adds Santa's Village, where kids can do holiday crafts. It also says Santa himself lights the tree.
Both tree lightings are free and open to everyone, but they aren't the same kind of evening. The mall's lighting takes three hours in one courtyard. Winter Wonderland takes six hours across the City Hall grounds, and the tree doesn't light until 7 p.m., four hours after the gates open. That gap is what makes a two-stop afternoon work.
How the Shuttle Turns Dec. 5 Into One Outing
Winter Wonderland comes with free parking and shuttles from two locations, and the shuttles run from 3 to 10 p.m.:
- Chet Holifield Park, 1060 S. Greenwood Ave.
- Montebello Intermediate School, 1600 Whittier Blvd.
The shuttles keep running an hour after the event ends at 9 p.m. Nobody has to rush out right after the tree lighting or worry about where the car is parked. The city hasn't published any road closure details.
Here's one way to plan the day:
- 2 p.m. Start at Center Court for Sounds of the Season.
- 4 p.m. The mall set ends. Drive to Chet Holifield Park or Montebello Intermediate School and park there.
- Late afternoon Take the shuttle to City Hall while there's still daylight for the snow slides, the rink and Santa's photo booth.
- 7 p.m. Tree lighting.
- By 10 p.m. Last shuttle back to your car.
The order matters because the city's timing gives you the room. With the lighting at 7 and shuttles until 10, you can hear the carols at the mall first and still get to City Hall with hours to spare.
A Different Building on Beverly Boulevard This Year
If Winter Wonderland usually doubles as your library stop, plan around one change. The Montebello Library at 1550 W. Beverly Blvd., just down the street from City Hall, is closed for renovations. LA County Library has moved holds pickup to the Chet Holifield Library. Chet Holifield Park is also one of the two Winter Wonderland shuttle stops, so you can pick up your holds the same afternoon you park there for the shuttle, as long as the branch is open when you arrive.
Where the Decorations and the Dessert Come From
The holidays also bring a month of errands, and a couple of the newer stops are worth adding to the list.
Hobby Lobby opened at 1445 N. Montebello Blvd. on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, according to the company's newsroom. That makes this the first holiday season Montebello has had a Hobby Lobby for ornaments, wrapping supplies and craft kits. You can also pick up supplies there before the kids head to the crafts at Santa's Village.
That opening is part of a bigger run of new businesses in Montebello that ABC7 covered last December, when the outlet called the city the most business-friendly in LA County. Nothing Bundt Cakes at 2545 Via Campo is another stop for anyone bringing dessert to a holiday gathering.
The Saturdays After the Lights
Once both trees are lit, the rest of December is quieter. The mall's Sounds of the Season returns on Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, then plays daily from Monday, Dec. 21 through Wednesday, Dec. 23, always from 2 to 4 p.m. These are low-key afternoons for last-minute gift shopping, with live carols in Center Court. The last one is on Dec. 23, two days before Christmas.
If you're filling in a family calendar this week, the dates to protect are Saturday, Nov. 21, Sunday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Dec. 5. On Dec. 5, set aside the whole afternoon and evening.
Whether you're hosting family for the holidays or thinking about what next year could look like, our team is always happy to talk about life in Montebello, en inglés o en español. Elizabeth Sanchez and Team Sanchez would love to hear from you, maybe at the night market on Whittier Boulevard. Schedule your free consultation.
