Between November 18 and December 19, downtown Redwood City has five holiday dates, and every one of them is at either 2200 or 2221 Broadway. The first address is the San Mateo County History Museum, the old courthouse with the stained glass dome, and Courthouse Square sits in front of it. The second is the Fox Theatre.
The block has a short window. After the Bay Area Hip~Hop Nutcracker on December 19, the Fox Theatre's posted schedule has nothing else until January 9, 2027. If you want the downtown version of the holidays, plan around five dates spread across about four and a half weeks, and keep the last full week before Christmas for everything else.
Two buildings, two addresses on Broadway
Most of what happens downtown this season moves between these two buildings, so they're the place to start.
The San Mateo County History Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with last admission at 3:45. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and students. Children 5 and under and members get in free. Its current exhibits include Courtroom A, Charles Parsons' Ships of the World, a Maverick's gallery, the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame and Peninsula Innovators Changing the World. That last one opened in September 2024. Those galleries are open on any ordinary weekend. In December, the building also serves as Santa's photo studio.
The Fox Theatre at 2221 Broadway carries the season's ticketed shows. All three of its holiday performances fall within the same five weeks as the museum's events at 2200 Broadway.
The block, date by date
| Date | Where | What | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Nov. 18 | Fox Theatre, 2221 Broadway | Jim Brickman, "Piano Sensation & a little bit of Christmas" | 7:30 p.m., doors 6:30 |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | History Museum, 2200 Broadway | ART on the Square, 11th Annual Holiday Show | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Fox Theatre | A Celtic Christmas | 7:30 p.m., doors 6:30 |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Courthouse Square, the museum and the Fox lobby | Hometown Holidays | 10 a.m. to about 6 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Fox Theatre | Bay Area Hip~Hop Nutcracker | 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. |
The calendar is lopsided. Two events, on November 18 and 21, land before Thanksgiving week. One lands on the first Friday of December. Then the two biggest dates fall on back-to-back Saturdays, December 12 and 19, the last two Saturdays before Christmas. The busiest stretch of the season is also the end of it.
November is for shopping under the dome
The season starts at the Fox on Wednesday, November 18, when Jim Brickman plays "Piano Sensation & a little bit of Christmas." The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and doors open at 6:30. It's a weeknight evening, so dinner downtown beforehand is easy to fit in.
Three days later the action moves to the museum at 2200 Broadway. ART on the Square holds its 11th Annual Holiday Show inside the History Museum on Saturday, November 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The City of Redwood City's event listing describes it this way:
"We'll have 25+ artists selling their distinctive creations under the museum's spectacular stained glass dome."
According to the same listing, sponsors cover admission to the show, so it's free. More details are on ART on the Square's own site. The date matters. The Saturday before Thanksgiving is the last weekend before out-of-town guests arrive and the gift list gets longer, and this show puts more than 25 artists in one room on that day.
December 12 turns the block into one venue
For most of the season the two buildings run on separate calendars. On Saturday, December 12, they work together as one event. Hometown Holidays runs from 10 a.m. to "6:00 pm-ish," according to the City. Food vendors, artisans, local businesses and community organizations fill the streets around Courthouse Square.
Here's what's at each location on the block that day:
- Fox Theatre lobby, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Merry Marketplace, where young entrepreneurs the City calls "Kidpreneurs" sell handmade items and run interactive games from their own mini-businesses. It closes at 1 p.m., so it's a morning stop.
- History Museum rotunda. Santa photos, under the same dome that hosts the artists in November.
- Inside the museum. The museum's Family Past Times page lists Tree Treasures, a children's craft activity it offers during Hometown Holidays.
- Santa's Village. Run by the Redwood City Parks & Arts Foundation, with crafts, cookie decorating, letters to Santa, photo spots and storytimes with Mrs. Claus.
- The main stage. Music, dance and other performances by local schools and community groups all day, including a community holiday singalong with Sound Union.
- Carnival rides. Tickets are required.
- The parade and tree lighting close out the day.
The City calls all of these details tentative and subject to change, and the event page has the current schedule. Last year gives a sense of how the afternoon usually goes. Redwood City Pulse reported that the 2025 parade ran from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. on Marshall and Jefferson, and the tree was lit at 6 p.m. If the timing is similar this year, a family with young kids could visit the Merry Marketplace in the morning, stop by Santa's Village and the rotunda midday, and come back for the parade and the lights as it gets dark.
December 19 is the last date on the block
A week later, on Saturday, December 19, the Bay Area Hip~Hop Nutcracker plays the Fox twice, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Doors open at 1 p.m. for the matinee. If you're looking for a Nutcracker, this is the one on the Fox's calendar this season. The World Ballet Company's Fox Nutcracker played December 3, 2025, last year.
Before that, A Celtic Christmas plays the Fox on Friday, December 4, at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30. That puts one ticketed holiday show in each of the season's three phases: a weeknight concert in November, a Friday night in early December and a two-show Saturday at the end.
After December 19, the Fox's schedule lists nothing until January 9, 2027. If you're hosting family for the week of Christmas, plan their downtown evening for the 19th or earlier. The museum is a different case. With its Tuesday-through-Sunday hours, its galleries stay open on ordinary weeks after the events are over, for anyone who wants an indoor outing for visiting relatives.
A few new tables just off the block
A night at the Fox usually comes with dinner, and the newest options this fall are a few minutes off Broadway.
- Passport Cafe & Bar at 2159 Roosevelt Ave. soft-opened October 2, according to Redwood City Pulse.
- Mr. Pan Bistro began serving Taiwanese comfort food at 711 El Camino Real on September 17, Redwood City Pulse reported.
- House of Humor expanded into 731 El Camino Real and reopened the larger shop on September 1, per Redwood City Pulse. It's a stop for stocking stuffers on the way to or from the square.
Mr. Pan Bistro before the Celtic Christmas show, or Passport Cafe & Bar after the 2 p.m. Nutcracker, would fit easily into the same evening.
Thank you for spending your holiday weekends close to home. If a December morning at the Merry Marketplace or a night at the Fox has you thinking about which part of Redwood City is the right fit for your own next chapter, I'd be glad to walk the blocks around Broadway with you. Reach out to Debbie Elowson to start that conversation. Work with Debbie.
