The merriment begins with the traditional "Christmas Tree Lighting” at City Hall on Friday, December 5, 2008, 6:15 pm.  The Old Monterey Business Association’s “Old Monterey Market Place” will run each Tuesday in December, and "Santa arrives downtown" on Saturday, December 20 with free wagon rides given to the public through the streets of Monterey.  Thursday, November 20, 2008,  the annual showing of “Artists’ Miniatures 2008” will open presented by the Monterey Museum of Art;  Old Monterey Preservation Society's annual “Christmas in the Adobes” will be Thursday and Saturday, December 11^th and 13^th including Monterey History and Art Association’s Casa Serrano and the Maritime Museum; Monterey Yacht Club's lighted boat parade, “Brighten the Harbor” will be held on Sunday, December 14; and new this year the Old Fisherman's Wharf Association will sponsor "Monterey on Ice" - Ice Skating by the Bay, at the Custom House Plaza November 26 through January 4. 
 

The Old Monterey Business Association’s “Old Monterey Market Place” will run each Tuesday in December, and Santa arrives downtown on Saturday, December 20 with free wagon rides given to the public through the streets of Monterey.
 

Cannery Row Santa House, Dec. 1 - 23

Artists' Miniatures, Nov. 20 - Jan. 4

“Artists’ Miniatures 2008” will be on display at the Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, from November 20 through January 4, 2009.  Supported by donations from area artists, this popular fundraiser is an exciting opportunity to win a fine work of art.  Tickets are available at the Museum for $5 each or seven for $30.  The works of art will be given away in a prize drawing held in January, 2009.  Visitors may also shop for gifts in the Museum Store. 
   For more information about the “Artists’ Miniatures 2008” please call the Monterey Museum of Art at 831.372.5477 or visit www.montereyart.org
 

Holiday traditions and Monterey history merge in “Christmas in the Adobes” to be presented by California State Parks in association with the Old Monterey Preservation Society on Thursday, December 11 and Saturday December 13 from 5 to 9 P.M.  Hosts and Hostesses dressed in period costume will welcome visitors to nearly twenty participating adobes clustered in a five-block area.  All are within walking distance for the self-guided tour Monterey’s historic buildings lit by luminaria, candle-light and enhanced with period Christmas decorations, musical entertainment and refreshments.Free parking is available at selected locations with your ticket purchase. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Cooper Museum Store at 525 Polk and Pacific House Museum at 10 Custom House Plaza.
   For more information about “Christmas in the Adobes”, please call California State Parks at 831.649.7118 or visit www.parks.ca.gov/mshp .
 

The annual lighted boat parade “Brighten the Harbor” will be held this year on Sunday, December 14 beginning at 5:00 PM from the U.S. Coast Guard Pier.  The parade will continue to Lover’s Point and then return to the Monterey Harbor.
   For more information about “Brighten the Harbor”, please contact the Yacht Club at 831.372.9686.
 

New this year the Old Fisherman's Wharf Association is sponsoring Monterey on Ice - Ice Skating by the Bay, at the Custom House Plaza November 26 through January 4.
   For more information about "Monterey on Ice - Ice Skating by the Bay", please call 831.649.6545 or visit www.montereyonice.com.