Holiday spirit is in the air and the crafters of San Francisco are working at full throttle to sell their wares! We’ve gone ahead and rounded up some of the best holiday markets, craft fairs, and more in the San Francisco Bay Area for December 2023. Think Bay Area Christmas markets with homemade pastries, decorations, and innovative products. Or holiday craft fairs with all the handmade jewelry, pottery, and art you could wish for.
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Table Of Contents
Ongoing/recurring Bay Area holiday markets
1. Dickens Christmas Fair
Weekends Nov. 18-Dec. 17, 2023 – Cow Palace, Daly City
This beloved annual event drops you into a 140,000-square-foot Victorian London, brought to life by hundreds of costumed players and a plethora of shops, stages, pubs, parties, and memorable performances. The Holiday Handcraft Marketplace is full of vendors with everything from collectible art to jewelry and textiles. Tickets to the fair are $45 general admission.
2. Enchant San Jose
Nov. 24-Dec. 31, 2023 – PayPal Park, San Jose
When it comes to holiday light displays in the Bay Area, it’s hard to beat this enormous Christmas maze and ice skating rink in San Jose. Enchant is essentially a massive glittering winter wonderland rife with photo opportunities, fun activities, and a winter village full of artisan-made gifts.
3. Creativity Explored Holiday Pop-Up
Saturdays Nov. 25-Dec. 16, 2023 – Ferry Building, San Francisco
This beloved market features original drawings, paintings, ceramics and more by neurodiverse and disabled Bay Area artists. This is the third annual event and artists earn income directly from each sale.
4. Menagerie Yuletide Oddities Market
Saturdays, Nov. 25-Dec. 30 – Winchester Mystery House, San Jose
A special holiday market devoted to occult products including antique items, taxidermy, one-of-a-kind collectibles, medical specimens, and natural science specimens. Take a tour of the Winchester Mystery House while you’re at it.
5. Head West Marketplace
This market pops up in locations around the Bay Area through the holiday season. They celebrate creators and artists as well as small brands, local shops, and local non-profits.
- Dec. 9-10, 2023 – The Barlow, Sebastopol
- Dec. 17, 2023 – St. George Spirits, Alameda Point
6. Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair
Weekends Dec. 9-24, 2023 – Telegraph Ave, Berkeley
Over 200 local artisans will take over Telegraph Ave between Dwight and Bancroft near the UC Berkeley campus. This is the 40th annual fair complete with fun decorations and a multicultural shopping atmosphere.
7. Winter Walk in Union Square
Dec. 15-24, 2023 – Stockton Street from Post to O’Farrell, San Francisco
This popular Union Square holiday tradition is back due to popular demand after a pandemic hiatus. Explore two pedestrian-only blocks in Downtown SF with food trucks, a beer garden, family activities, and entertainment. Vendors are TBA but should include gift items as well as food and drink.
8. Bernal Village Marketplace
Weekends through December – 434 Cortland Ave, San Francisco
The Bernal Village Marketplace showcases a rotating lineup of talented creators every single weekend. Some frequent featured businesses include Good Junk, which specializes in upcycled apparel; and Kikariki, which creates kids lifestyle gift bundles.
Bay Area holiday markets: Dec. 4-10
9. Ferry Building Holiday Open House
Dec. 6, 2023 – Ferry Building, San Francisco
The Ferry Building will be decked out for holiday gift shopping with warm drinks, free samples, photo ops, music, family activities, and more from 5-7pm.
10. Yerba Buena Art & Makers Market: Holiday Edition
Dec. 7-10, 2023 – Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
Yerba Buena Gardens hosts their first-ever holiday makers market with over 25 creators selling creative gift items all four days. The fair will feature food trucks, music, and activities for all ages.
11. NightLife: Santa Claude’s Workshop at the CA Academy of Sciences
Dec. 7, 2023 – CA Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
The Academy of Sciences’ holiday NightLife event will feature a fully-stocked gift marketplace. The popular Thursday night festivities feature live DJs, outdoor bars, ambience lighting, and more alongside the Academy’s nearly 40,000 animal residents. General admission tickets are $20.25.
12. Halo Halo Holidays
Dec. 9, 2023 – SoMa Pilipinas, San Francisco
The event will celebrate Christmas Filipino-style with plenty of art and cultural exhibits, amazing food, the Parol Lantern Festival, and a DJ party, among other things.
13. German Holiday Market
Dec. 9, 2023 – Mountain View City Hall Plaza, Mountain View
The German International School of Silicon Valley hosts a German-style holiday market in downtown Mountain View. Proceeds go to benefit the school, which has a dual German-English language program and grants graduates with both an American and a German high school diploma.
14. Pop-Ups on the Plaza: Black Holiday Market
Dec. 9, 2023 – Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, Ferry Building, San Francisco
Buy from 20+ Black-owned businesses specializing in artisan preserves, baked goods, skincare, apparel, and much more. Make sure you show up hungry so you can snack while you shop. (Pop into the Ferry Building to see Creativity Explored while you’re at it!)
15. Mill Valley Lumber Yard
Historic retail village Mill Valley Lumber Yard hosts multiple maker’s markets and a festive holiday faire.
Dec. 9 – Maker’s Market
Browse artisanal work from 10+ artists in an open-air craft fair taking place among Mill Valley Lumber Yard’s other retailers. Santa will be present at the December market.
Dec. 10 – Holiday Faire
Details TBA for 2023, but if this holiday faire is anything like last year’s, you can expect the works. Get ready to sip on mulled wine and snack on roasted chestnuts while enjoying events like holiday cocktail classes, a festive dog parade, Santa visits, drop-in candlelit caroling, live music, and more.
16. Center for Community Arts Handcrafted Holiday Sale
Dec. 9-10, 2023 – Shadelands Art Center, Walnut Creek
This lovely community holiday market highlights artisan ceramics and pottery by local creators. A portion of proceeds goes to support community arts organizations.
17. Temescal Holiday Faire
Dec. 10, 2023 – 49th St. from Telegraph Ave to Clark St., Oakland
This holiday fair shuts down 49th Ave for a festive afternoon with music, a petting zoo, and local merchants from the Temescal Artist Community.
18. NEON Holiday Market
Dec. 10, 2023 – NEON, San Francisco
NEON, a creative neighborhood workspace in SF, will host a holiday market on Dec. 10 from 11am-3pm. Vendors specialize in artwork, jewelry, leather goods, culinary goods, and more.
19. Vesuvio Holiday Fair
Dec. 10, 2023 – Jack Kerouac Alley, San Francisco
Happy House hosts their first-ever holiday market in Jack Kerouac Alley between Vesuvio Cafe and City Lights Bookshop. Patrons can browse locally-made products from Happy House, Odd Theory, Mortal Kiss, and more. Mira Flores will be creating live custom chainstitch embroidery and the whole event includes live music from DJ Jess Hart.
Bay Area holiday markets: Dec. 11-17
20. Anti-Capitalist Art Market
Dec. 15-16, 2023 – The Birdcage, San Francisco
Buy an open bar ticket and sip on a drink while you browse this SF market. Goods include art prints, candles, artisan wood home goods, apparel, upcycled denim tote bags, paintings, zines, tarot readings, and more.
21. West Coast Craft
Dec. 16, 2023 – Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
West Coast Craft is primarily inspired by the west coast lifestyle and local materials with products including ceramics, sculpture, fiber arts, textiles, home furnishings, paper goods, wood crafts, bath and body products, and more. This outdoor version of WCC hosts 100+ vendors in the Fort Mason Center parking lot.
22. UICC Holiday Boutique Artisan Craft Fair
Dec. 16, 2023 – United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco
The United Irish Cultural Center’s 2023 Christmas boutique with local vendors selling chocolates, baked goods, jewelry, candles, soap, and Irish food and candy.
23. Winter Wonderland at RWOH
Dec. 16, 2023 – Ruth Williams Opera House, San Francisco
A free community event with all the holiday essentials including gift vendors. Other attractions include snowman building, ice sculpting, s’more making, live music and performances, pictures with Santa, and much more.
24. Harajuku Holiday
Dec. 16, 2023 – 833 Market St, San Francisco
“The Bay’s Cutest Marketplace” is back in SF with themed food, drinks, baked goods, iconic kawaii characters, and photo ops. Pick up exclusive handcrafted merch and try to RSVP in advance, because they’re giving out the first 500 tickets free.
25. Gifts at the Garden
Dec. 16-17, 2023 – SF Botanical Garden, San Francisco
60+ vendors will showcase botanical gifts at the SF Botanical Garden. The free market will be carefully curated to show the best sustainable, local, and fair trade gifts available, as well as a plant sale, free craft activities, a photo booth, and a gift-wrapping station.
26. Sunday Spotlights: Holiday Marketplace and Collage-Fest
Dec. 17, 2023 – Oakland Museum of California, Oakland
Shop for artwork by artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth, and the NIAD Art Center. Guests are invited to get creative themselves with a hands-on collage activity.