Midway City has no downtown of its own. The closest thing it has to a holiday main street sits just south, at Old World Village on Center Avenue in Huntington Beach. This year the village's Christmas Market OC opens on Sunday, Nov. 15 and runs through Jan. 3, with German-style decorations, baked treats, live music and an indoor European shopping village that's open every day. On the Old World events calendar, every day from Nov. 15 through Dec. 31 shows the same free "Christmas Fest" listing, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The market's own schedule is more specific. Santa, the Wiener dog races, the Village Train, the carolers, the church concerts and the Nativity Play all fall on nine weekend days between Nov. 15 and Dec. 20. Weeknights get one act or none. A Tuesday visit and a Saturday visit get you two different markets.
Fifty Days, and Nine of Them Carry the Big Events
The season is longer this year. Old World's 2025 announcement gave the market a daily run from Nov. 16 to Dec. 28. The 2026 season starts a day earlier and goes past New Year's, to Jan. 3, which makes about 50 days in all.
Every weekend has music. Curtis Hoffmann plays the Garden Stage on all 15 weekend dates of the run, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Country Christmas follows on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 6 p.m. with Kylie Trout, Justin McCormick or Ashley Felton. On Saturday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m., either Steven Bejarano or The Silk Button Butchers takes the stage. Santa takes photos in the Festival Hall from 2 to 5 p.m. on nine days. The visits are free, professional photos are for sale, and Santa's elf will take pictures on your own phone. The other special events fall on those same nine days:
| Date | Beyond the daily market and weekend stage music |
|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Opening day, Wiener dog races, Santa, Village Train, St. Martin lantern parade |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Santa, The Silk Button Butchers |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | Santa |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Santa, holiday carolers, Vocal Ensemble at Old World Church 7 to 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Santa, Wiener dog races, String Quartet at Old World Church 5 to 6 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Santa, train from noon to 2:30 p.m., carolers, Woodwind Ensemble 7 to 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Santa, train from noon to 3 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Santa, carolers, The Silk Button Butchers, Brass Quintet 7 to 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 20 | Santa, Nativity Play from 5 to 8 p.m. |
The carolers feature Santa Ana's Little Helpers. The weekends of Nov. 21 to 22 and Dec. 26 to 27 still have stage music, with Steven Bejarano on Saturday night and Country Christmas on Sunday afternoon, but no Santa or special events. The final weekend, Jan. 2 to 3, has only Curtis Hoffmann.
November 15 Holds More Than Any Other Day
Opening day is the only date with both the Wiener dog races and the train, and the only night with the lantern parade. The races run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the village and come back only once, on Dec. 6. The train runs from 3 to 5 p.m. that day and returns only on Dec. 12 and 13. Kylie Trout plays the Country Christmas set from 4 to 6 p.m.
The evening belongs to German School Campus, a bilingual school with locations in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. It's hosting the free Saint Martin Day Lantern Parade at Old World that night, and the schedule goes like this:
- 5 p.m.: Setup begins.
- About 5:45 p.m.: The St. Martin play starts.
- About 6 p.m.: The lantern parade steps off. It ends by 7 p.m.
Each child who walks in the parade needs a free ticket, and adults can come along without one. The organizer asks families to bring their own lanterns and suggests a $5 donation to the nonprofit school.
Put together, opening day starts with the races at 10 a.m., moves on to Santa and the train in the afternoon, and finishes with the parade before 7 p.m. No other day on the calendar offers all of that.
The Weekday Version Runs on One Act a Night
Weekdays still have a program, just a smaller one. The indoor European Christmas Shopping Village is open daily with artisan crafts and seasonal goods. Christmas with Elvis plays the Garden Stage on Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m., Nov. 18 through Dec. 30. The Biergarten Holiday Jazz Band plays Fridays from 7 to 10 p.m. on Nov. 20 and Dec. 4, 11 and 18, and from 5 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving. The most unusual weekday date is Thursday, Dec. 24, when the jazz band plays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If you're mostly after gifts, a Wednesday or Friday evening gets you the shopping village and one set of music without the full weekend lineup. The tradeoff is that you skip Santa, the races and the carolers.
Three Days the Restaurant Closes
The Biergarten at Old World posts regular hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. It closes on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. This year those dates are Thursday, Nov. 26; Friday, Dec. 25; and Friday, Jan. 1. All three fall during the market's run, so anyone planning a holiday-week meal there should check the restaurant's page first. The village's general line is 714-895-8020.
Where the Market Overlaps the Rest of the Neighborhood Calendar
Midway City is unincorporated, so much of its holiday calendar comes from Westminster, its neighbor city. Two of the market's busiest Saturdays line up with Westminster's own Santa dates.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, Westminster holds Breakfast With Santa, which takes registration. Its Santa on the Go! tour stops at Westminster Village Park, 5300 Tattershall Ave., from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and at Sigler Park, 7200 Plaza St., from 1 to 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 12, Santa on the Go! visits Coronet Park, 15252 Oakcliff Dr., from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and Westminster Park, 14402 Magnolia St., from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Old World's Santa hours start at 2 p.m. on both days, so a morning park stop and an afternoon at the market fit together. Westminster's Tree Lighting Ceremony follows on Monday, Dec. 7, at the Westminster Civic Center, with performances, Santa photos, activities and food vendors.
Trash pickup shifts during the season too. The Midway City Sanitary District collects household waste, and under its rule, a holiday during the workweek pushes service back one day for the rest of that week. Here's how that works out this season:
- Thanksgiving week: Thursday routes move to Friday, Nov. 27, and Friday routes move to Saturday, Nov. 28.
- Christmas week: Friday routes move to Saturday, Dec. 26.
- New Year's week: Friday routes move to Saturday, Jan. 2, the market's last weekend.
The district also tells residents to check its calendar for changes. For trees, put them out next to your trash containers on your regular service day during the first two weeks of January. For a missed pickup or an artificial tree, call 714-893-3553. The market's last day, Jan. 3, falls in that first week, so you can take your tree to the curb the same week the Garden Stage goes quiet.
Old World is one of the places that makes living in Midway City feel connected, and the Lily Campbell Team follows dates like these as closely as we follow the homes nearby. If the holidays have you wondering what your Midway City home is worth this season, ask us for a home value estimate and we'll give you a clear, local answer.
