The Cambria Christmas Market is known for featuring local artisan vendors and all the holiday magic that comes with Christmas. Two million Christmas lights will be on display starting this Friday.
This will be the 12th year for the Cambria Christmas Market. A team of 40 people have been setting up lights five days a week since mid-August. The Golden Gate Bridge and rainbow tunnel are included in the displays and a new food menu featuring traditional German menu items is being offered during the event.
Event coordinator Michael Arnold says Santa Claus will also be a part of the festivities along with live music, a train ride and numerous local vendors.
“It’s always exciting that we get to participate with a lot of local vendors here. There’s 26 of them this year — all handcrafted, local artisans. We definitely recommend you coming out and doing some Christmas shopping," Arnold said.
Alan Fraser and his wife own The Love Story Project in Cambria and have been vendors at the Christmas Market for the past eight years.
“I’m always excited to be up there. Everyone is having fun. It’s the Christmas season. People now come from all over the place. We see people coming from Fresno, Bakersfield as far as southern and northern California. The light shows and the displays got a reputation for one of the best around," Fraser said.
Local businesses in the area say the Christmas Market also impacts them.
“The Christmas Market is huge. It definitely brings in a lot of people and it grows every year. There’s a lot people that come in and stay at the hotels here and they probably come in for breakfast," said Jesus Hernandez, The Spot restaurant owner.
With 3,000 tickets available every night, Arnold says they sold 70,000 tickets last year. Opening day is already sold out and they anticipate the same for many other nights.
All parking is off-site. Visitors can park around town or use shuttles.
“The website is the best resource for that. We have a whole parking page. We do offer complimentary shuttles from all of the off-site parking lots," Arnold said.
The Christmas Market starts this Friday and runs through December 23. It’s open from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase on their website.
