At 3 p.m. on Friday, November 20, vendors will set up again along La Mesa Boulevard between 4th Street and Palm Avenue for the weekly La Mesa Village Farmers Market. Three Fridays later, the Village's biggest holiday event takes over the next stretch of the same street, starting at 4th Street.
The season in La Mesa Village is built on a weekly routine, plus one Saturday that sits right next to it. Once you can picture both stretches of the boulevard and know which Fridays the market skips, the rest of December is easy to plan.
The Friday Count Between Now and New Year's
Six Fridays fall between this week and Christmas. The market is open on four of them. The La Mesa Village Association's farmers market page lists closures on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, on December 25, and on January 1, 2027.
Here is the season in order:
- Friday, November 20: Farmers market, 3 to 7 p.m.
- Friday, November 27: No market
- Friday, December 4: Farmers market, 3 to 7 p.m.
- Friday, December 11: Farmers market, 3 to 7 p.m.
- Saturday, December 12: Holiday in the Village, noon to 9 p.m.
- Wednesday, December 16: Holiday Light Stroll at La Mesita Park, check-in at 5 p.m.
- Friday, December 18: Farmers market, 3 to 7 p.m., the last one of 2026
- Friday, December 25: No market
- Friday, January 1, 2027: No market
The market is on its October-through-April schedule, so it closes at 7 p.m. Summer nights ran until 7:30. In late November and December, the sun goes down well before closing, so most of every market night this season happens after dark.
The Friday before Christmas is the last market night of the year. The market is closed on the next two Fridays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Two Stretches of One Street, Meeting at 4th
The market and the holiday festival use neighboring parts of La Mesa Boulevard. The market runs from 4th Street to Palm Avenue. Holiday in the Village runs from Spring Street to 4th Street.
| Farmers Market | Holiday in the Village | |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks | La Mesa Blvd, 4th St to Palm Ave | La Mesa Blvd, Spring St to 4th St |
| When | Fridays, 3 to 7 p.m. | Saturday, Dec. 12, noon to 9 p.m. |
| Organized by | La Mesa Village Association | La Mesa Village Association, 11th annual |
| Draw | Produce, prepared food, live music, Village shops | 100+ vendors, ice rink, Santa nook, elf hunt |
The market's page says its layout is "inverted," so vendor booths face the boulevard's own storefronts and the shops and stalls work as one long row. The holiday festival does something similar on the Spring Street end. Its elf scavenger hunt is set in the storefronts along that stretch, so the event runs through the businesses that are open year-round.
That is why the weekend of December 11 and 12 matters. On Friday evening, the market fills the 4th-to-Palm end of the boulevard. By noon Saturday, the festival has set up on the Spring-to-4th end. Over about 30 hours, the whole length of the Village's main street has an event on it.
What December 12 Puts on the Spring Street End
The Village Association's Holiday in the Village page lists each attraction with its sponsor.
- Ice-skating rink, presented by the La Mesa Village Association
- Santa nook, sponsored by La Mesa Lumber
- Mrs. Claus reading nook
- Holiday 360 photo op, sponsored by Pete's Place
- Mini golf, sponsored by Pen Checks
- Winter Wonderland, presented by the La Mesa Village Association
The page lists more than 100 vendors selling art, home decor, handcrafted goods, jewelry, clothing and food. If you're bringing kids, look at the Kids Shopping Program. Children 10 and younger can shop at more than 50 participating vendors with items priced at $5 or less, from noon to 9 p.m. Those vendors are marked with an asterisk on the event map.
The elf hunt runs from 12:15 to 7:45 p.m. Twelve elves are hidden in storefronts between Spring and 4th, and families who find all twelve can enter to win an elf of their own. Instructions are at the Information Booth. The hunt ends more than an hour before the festival does. If a younger child wants to finish, start in the afternoon, before the evening crowd arrives.
The Names Behind the Booths
The 2026 sponsor list reads like a short directory of the Village. It includes Mario's de la Mesa Restaurant, Surf Rider Pizza, Curbside Eatery + Drinkery, Casa Gabriela, La Mesa Wine & Spirits, Pierre's Jewelers, Amethyst Moon, La Mesa Lumber & Hardware, La Mesa Thrift & Welfare and California School of Dance, along with others.
That list is useful on December 12 for a practical reason. The event page sends hungry shoppers to the Village's own restaurants, cafes and bars, and it points to nearby small businesses selling apparel, antiques, music and home goods. The sponsor list tells you which of those businesses put money into the day.
The Thursday Gap, and the Wednesday That Fills It
From June 4 through August 27, Thursday evenings in the Village belonged to the La Mesa Classic Car Show, held from 5 to 8 p.m. around 4th and Spring. That intersection is where this year's holiday festival begins. The car show is off for the season, so Friday is the only regular Village night until next summer.
The city's one holiday evening this season is away from the boulevard. The City of La Mesa calendar lists a Holiday Light Stroll on Wednesday, December 16, at La Mesita Park, 8855 Dallas Street. Check-in starts at 5 p.m. with cider and cookies, and the stroll begins at 5:30. Dogs are welcome on leash.
It falls in the middle of the week, between the festival Saturday and the year's last market Friday. That gives you a third kind of evening this season, at a neighborhood park with no vendors and an early start time.
Planning Around the Weekend That Holds Both
The week of December 11 to 18 has the most going on. If you can keep only one weekend clear, make it December 11 and 12. Friday's market runs 3 to 7 p.m. on the Palm Avenue end, and Saturday's festival runs noon to 9 p.m. on the Spring Street end. Then the stroll on the 16th and the final market on the 18th finish out the week.
A few details for market nights:
- Reusable bags are $10 at the market's Info Booth if you forget yours.
- Live music is part of the regular Friday program.
- The market posts updates on Instagram at @officiallamesafarmersmarket, and the Village Association posts at @lamesavillageasso.
The two Fridays to watch are November 27 and December 25. On both, the boulevard between 4th and Palm will have no booths, and only the regular shops will be open.
A December on La Mesa Boulevard shows you a lot about the street. If you own a home near the Village and want to know what it's worth before the new year, Tanya Williams can prepare a valuation and talk it through with you. Request Your Free Home Valuation.
