Mountain View Holiday Events and Activities Guide

Mountain View has tons of family-friendly activities and the holidays are no different! There are many activities in the winter all over the South Bay and we've compiled some to give you a great start!

Here are some great family-friendly activities for this holiday season:

Community Tree Lighting Celebration

Take part in this joyous community event and join others at the Civic Center on Monday, Dec. 3 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. for caroling, activities, charity and of course, a chance to take a photo with Santa Claus—who rumor has it arrives at 5:45 p.m. Part of the yearly tradition also includes donating a can of food to the Community Services Agencies.


Hanukkah Events

Celebrate Hanukkah at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center starting with the Steve Weitzman: Shedding Light on the Festival of Lights talk on Monday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Free. On Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9 p.m., head over to Hillel at Stanford 565 for the first of the eight days of Hanukkah and the Light It Up! Hanukkah Party. $15 pre-registration/$20 at the door. For the third day of Hanukkah on Monday, Dec. 10 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. stop by the OFJCC for the Festival of Lights Community Hanukkah Party. Free. But the fun doesn't stop there! Learn about the different traditions and symbols—and make your own dreidel—during the Hanukkah Factory on Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Free, but RSVP recommended.

Christmas in the Park

San Jose’s very own Christmas in the Park begins Nov. 23 with a tree lighting at 5:30pm right in downtown San Jose. After that it runs from 9 a.m. to midnight until Jan. 1, 2013.


Caltrain Holiday Train

Caltrain will have one of their trains beautifully decorated with 60,000 glittering lights for the 2012 Holiday Train! Enjoy fun, festive activities and decorations on the train running Dec. 1 and 2 at various times. This event also benefits local children, collecting toys and donations for charity!

Holiday Ice Rinks

There are quite a few ice rinks around the bay area, and we’ve made a list for you!

• Embarcadero Rink (San Francisco)
• Union Square Ice Rink (San Francisco)
• Walnut Creek on Ice (Walnut Creek)
• Oakland Ice (Oakland)
• Downtown Ice at Circle of the Palms (San Jose)
• Winter Lodge (Palo Alto)
• Ice Center (Cupertino and San Mateo)
• Yerba Buena (San Francisco)
• Dublin Iceland (Dublin)
• Ice Oasis (Redwood City)

Do you have know of any other holiday events or activities not mentioned above? We’d love to hear from you all! Please share with us in the comments below.