From Spreckels Park to Rotary Plaza, Coronado's Fall Season Is Held on Public Ground

Last December, Santa lit the island's tree at 7 p.m. in Rotary Plaza, near 10th and Orange. From 1981 until this summer, that same plaza was home to the Coronado Flower Lady, which the Coronado Times calls a fixture there. The city asked the island's only florist to leave in August, and its permit ran out on August 31. As of mid-October, the city had not said what will go in its place.

That change matters more this season than it would in most years. Between now and early December, most of Coronado's calendar happens in community spaces: a city park, a library meeting room, Sacred Heart, the Village Theatre, and the plaza itself. The Hotel del Coronado has its own season, and it is a full one. But the five weeks start and end on public ground, and the most central of those spaces will look different on parade night.

The dates, in order

1. Fri., Oct. 30: Halloween Happening at Spreckels Park, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., then the Coronado Public Library at 6 p.m.
2. Wed., Nov. 4 to Sun., Nov. 8: The 11th Coronado Island Film Festival.
3. Fri., Nov. 20: Skating by the Sea opens at the Del. It runs through Jan. 3.
4. Thu., Nov. 26: Thanksgiving buffet in the Del's Crown Room.
5. Wed., Dec. 2: The Del's Holiday Festival.
6. Fri., Dec. 4: The Coronado Holiday Parade & Tree Lighting.

The season opens on the park lawn

The City of Coronado's Recreation and Golf Services department holds its annual Halloween Happening in Spreckels Park on Friday, October 30, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The city lists music, trick-or-treating, games, jumpees, crafts, prizes and a life-size Candyland game, all free. Food and drinks will be for sale. At 6 p.m. it moves to the Coronado Public Library at 640 Orange Ave. Questions go to the city at (619) 522-7342.

So the season starts at the library, which is a fitting place for it. One week later, that building hosts part of a film festival.

A film festival that runs through the library and the church hall

The Coronado Island Film Festival runs November 4 through 8, its 11th year, with more than 140 films. The Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Gala opens things on Wednesday evening, November 4, at the Hotel del Coronado. I Play Rocky, directed by Peter Farrelly, is the opening-night film on Thursday, November 5. The festival closes on Sunday, November 8, with Paper Tiger, James Gray's crime thriller starring Miles Teller, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. Danny Boyle's Ink and Brad Bird's Ray Gunn are among the San Diego premieres. Williston, from Adam Seidel and Jonathan Lipniki, has its world premiere here.

The festival's published schedule uses Village Theatre and its screening rooms, the Nautilus Room at the Coronado Community Center, Sacred Heart, the John D. Spreckels Center, the Winn Room at the Coronado Island Public Library, and spaces at the Del, The Bower Hotel and the Marriott Coronado Island Resort & Marina. During festival week, the box office is at the Spreckels Center, 1019 7th St.

Several events on the final weekend are free and take place in the library's Winn Room:

Sacred Heart hosts the weekday morning industry panels. "State of the Industry: Navigating a New Era" is at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 5, and "The Writers Room" is at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 6. The festival sells all-inclusive badges and also lets people attend individual events. The city's 2026 special-events calendar shows the festival running through Monday, November 9. The festival's own site and schedule end on Sunday, November 8. For planning purposes, the festival's dates are the ones to use.

The Del's season is the ticketed middle

Once the festival wraps up, the calendar moves down Orange Avenue to the resort. The Hotel del Coronado's holiday season runs from November 20, 2026, through January 3, 2027. It includes Skating by the Sea, the Frostbite Lounge, Beachside Igloos, a Lightshow Spectacular and the Nobu on the Knoll experience. Skating by the Sea is set up on Windsor Lawn at 1500 Orange Ave. for the whole season. On Thanksgiving, November 26, the Crown Room hosts a buffet.

The Del's event that overlaps most with island life is its Holiday Festival on Wednesday, December 2. The posted program includes performances by local schools, skating, a skydiving Santa, a light show and fireworks. Two days later, the island's own celebration takes over Orange Avenue.

December 4, and the plaza at 10th and Orange

The Coronado Chamber of Commerce lists the annual Holiday Parade & Tree Lighting for Friday, December 4, 2026. The city's 2026 events calendar has the same date. The 2026 start time, route, theme and tree-lighting location have not been posted yet. Last year's plan gives a good idea of the shape. According to the Coronado Times, the 2025 parade began at 6 p.m. at Orange Avenue and 8th Street and headed toward R.H. Dana Place near the Del. Santa lit the tree at 7 p.m. in Rotary Plaza, and businesses along the route stayed open late.

If the tree goes up in Rotary Plaza again this year, the crowd will gather in a space with a new look. The Coronado Flower Lady had operated there since 1981. Owner Shanel Albert has run it since 2016. When the city ended the arrangement, finding a storefront looked hard. The Coronado Times reported that island storefront rents were over $8,000 a month. Another local business stepped in. AR Workshop, at 1033 B Avenue next to Lobster West, offered space at the back of its shop. The florist now operates from 1033 B Avenue, #101.

Being indoors changes how the shop runs. In the same Coronado Times story, Albert said the outdoor stand had to close whenever it was windy, too hot, or raining. She plans to hold floral workshops, add cards, chocolates and candles, join the Chamber of Commerce, and sell flowers at local events. "I just want people to know that I'm here, and I'm open for business," she told the Coronado Times. Online orders are still steady, the paper reported, while walk-in customers are still finding the new location. So a holiday bouquet on parade night is now a stop on B Avenue rather than a stop at the plaza.

Three new doors along the same stretch of Orange

Most of the season's events line up along Orange Avenue, from the library at 640 to the Del at 1500. Three businesses on that stretch opened after the summer.

• By The Sea, a Mediterranean restaurant on the second floor of 1300 Orange Ave., opened the week of the Coronado Times' August 13 business roundup. It serves dinner Wednesday through Monday.
• Brio Recovery Studio and Wellness Market soft-opened on September 21 at Coronado Plaza, 1330 Orange Ave., Suite 120. It offers recovery services alongside a wellness market.
• Tate's on Orange, a traditional barbershop at 841 Orange Ave., began soft-opening appointments on October 13 and scheduled its grand opening for October 18.

Park Place Liquor & Deli, at 1000 Park Place, celebrated its 20th year with a customer event on August 21. The full season runs along Orange Avenue and the streets just off it, from a free afternoon in Spreckels Park on October 30 to a tree lighting on December 4. The plaza where that tree stood last year now has an empty spot where the flowers used to be.

Adriana Prieto follows Coronado week by week, including the parade route, the Winn Room schedule, and which storefronts on Orange are changing hands. If you'd like to know how the island's blocks and their daily routines compare, Schedule a Free Consultation.