"Please note that the Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk will take place the same day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Expect increased crowds and limited parking in the area. We encourage you to allow extra time for arrival."
That notice ran on Sherman Library & Gardens' page for A Very Sherman Holiday, its most recent holiday event. The page lists Saturday, December 6, and Sunday, December 7, which fell on those weekdays in 2025. It was a daytime market from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it landed on the same weekend as the Walk. For one season, the Village's two biggest December draws ran during the same daylight hours on the same stretch of East Coast Highway.
That changes this year. Sherman's 2026 event, Merry & Bright Nights, opens its gates at 5 p.m. The 47th Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk runs Sunday, December 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sherman's opening weekend includes that Sunday night. So on December 6 the Walk ends at the same hour the gardens open, and the Village's holiday season becomes one long day on PCH that carries on into the evening.
Three years, three different Sherman holidays
The handoff comes from a format change that took three seasons to settle. Sherman has tried something different each year.
| Year | Event | When | Adult tickets, member / nonmember |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Nights of 1000 Lights, 10th anniversary | 9 nights, Dec. 6–22, 5–8 p.m., entry at 5, 6 or 7 | $30 / $50 |
| 2025 | A Very Sherman Holiday | Sat.–Sun., Dec. 6–7, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m.; Saturday members only | $20 / $25 |
| 2026 | Merry & Bright Nights | 14 nights, Dec. 3–22, 5–9 p.m., entry at 5 or 7 | $45 / $65 |
Compared with the 2024 light walk, the 2026 run adds five nights and an extra hour at the end of each evening. Adult tickets cost $15 more in both member and nonmember pricing. Children 3 and under are still free. Sherman calls the evening "all new." Stu News Newport describes it as "a totally reimagined event."
Guests will find Santa, the Wishing Tree and the Sherman Express, a G-gauge model train. The evening also includes a hands-on holiday craft, Mexican food for purchase, adult beverages and a dance floor stage for holiday music. Two rules matter more than they used to now that the event runs 14 nights. It goes ahead rain or shine, and dates can't be changed after purchase. Members could buy tickets starting October 5, and sales opened to the public on October 19. Sherman expects the event to sell out.
Sherman sells three membership bundles:
- Family Package: $335 for four tickets and a one-year Family Membership
- Adult Dual Package: $230 for two tickets and a one-year Adult Dual Membership
- Senior Dual Package: $205 for two tickets and a one-year Senior Dual Membership
Sunday, December 6, hour by hour
On the day the two events overlap, the timing works out like this:
- 11 a.m. The Christmas Walk begins. It's free and has no set starting point. Visitors walk the PCH sidewalks through the Village and find more than 17 local bands, Santa visits and photos, vendor gifts, children's activities, street performers, and merchant and restaurant promotions. Visit Newport Beach lists the event's address as 2407 East Coast Highway.
- Through the afternoon. The Walk's Beer & Wine Garden hosts dancing to the "Pinch Me" Band.
- 5 p.m. The Walk ends, and Merry & Bright Nights opens for the 5 p.m. ticket holders at Sherman, 2647 E. Coast Highway.
- 7 p.m. Second entry time at Sherman. The evening closes at 9 p.m.
The Walk ends just as the first Sherman entry begins, so the 7 p.m. ticket is the one that leaves room for dinner on PCH in between. The Chamber links an entertainment-location map from its Walk page. That file carries a 2025 upload path, so treat any stage locations on it as last year's layout until the Chamber posts an update.
November sets up the same street
Before December, the Village's November calendar fills in around the same corridor. Most of the dates cluster in the middle of the month.
- Sunday, Nov. 8: BLSSD the Label at 2721 E. Coast Highway, Suite 205, holds an Embroidery Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting, with free embroidery on purchases.
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 8–9:30 a.m.: The Chamber's Good Morning CdM meets at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive. City planners are scheduled to discuss the CdM Commercial Corridor Land Use and Mobility Study and its proposed zoning recommendations.
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Holiday Scented Soapmaking Workshop at Sherman.
- Nov. 13–14: The Sherman Sowers Gift Faire runs Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. for members and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 5:30–7:30 p.m.: The Chamber's Festive Holiday Networking Party takes place on the outdoor fireside patio at The Bungalow, 2441 East Coast Highway. It's free for Chamber members and $25 for guests. The evening includes appetizers, live music and a no-host bar with a happy-hour discount. Valet parking is in the rear, and street parking is also available.
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m.–noon: "Artful: The Art of Knitting," a holiday-stocking workshop at Sherman.
Sherman's November events are daytime workshops and a gift fair. Its December event happens at night. As a result, the gardens are active on PCH in both seasons without running at the same time as the Chamber's Walk.
The rest of December at Sherman
Wreath the Halls opens Sherman's December calendar on Wednesday, December 2, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Bexbloomz teaches guests to arrange greenery into a door wreath. Merry & Bright Nights begins the next evening.
Sherman's own pages don't agree on the exact nights. The ticket page lists three runs: December 3–6, December 10–13 and December 17–22, which adds up to its "14 Nights in December." The December calendar on Sherman's main site shows the final week as the 17th, 19th, 21st and 22nd only. Stu News lists the first run as December 4–6. Tickets are sold through the ticket page, and dates can't be changed after purchase, so the date on your ticket is the one that counts.
Families with younger children have a free option during the day. Little Seedlings Story Time runs Fridays at 10 a.m. for preschool children and their caregivers, including December 4, 11 and 18.
The merchants the Walk celebrates, under new ownership
The Chamber describes the Christmas Walk as a celebration of "the merchants and restaurants of the Corona del Mar Village." This year, one of the best-known of those addresses heads into the Walk with a new owner.
The Newport Beach Independent reported in late August that 2515 E. Coast Highway, the roughly 13,883-square-foot retail property that includes El Ranchito, sold for $13.7 million. That was $700,000 above its $13 million asking price, after more than 10 offers. The seller, Poole Properties, had owned the property through several generations of the Poole family dating to the 1940s. The buyer, Shops at CDM, LLC, is led by a local investor who also owns neighboring property.
Nathan Holthouser of Coastal Commercial, who represented the deal, told the Independent the building "is poised for a repositioning." He pointed to its PCH frontage and its roughly 20 on-site parking spaces, "which is extremely difficult to replicate in Corona del Mar." The Independent also reported that the seller hopes the new owner will invest in the property. No tenant changes have been announced. On East Coast Highway, El Ranchito's 2515 address sits between The Bungalow at 2441 and Sherman's gate at 2647.
The holiday calendar on PCH is the kind of local detail we follow closely at Weir Properties, because the Village's merchants, gardens and storefronts are part of what makes Corona del Mar home. If you're thinking about what your home on these streets is worth heading into the new year, request a home valuation and we'll prepare one built on the neighborhood itself.