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Central Coast Hot Spots Transition To 2025’s Holiday Season

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - The holiday spirit is sweeping across the Central Coast, ushering in 2025’s Christmas season.

Some of the most popular spots have transformed.

Santa Claus arrived in downtown San Luis Obispo Friday afternoon, kicking off his daily hours at Mission Plaza.

“Day one, this seems to be a very popular day today,” says Dean Klintgaard with Solvang’s Visitor Center. “We've got a lot of visitors and most people have enjoyed a great Thanksgiving. And so now they're ready to go on to the next phase of the holidays, which of course is Christmas.”

The Pismo Beach Pier is fully decked with their boughs of holly, and a giant light tree, which really dazzles after sundown.

“We got another Thanksgiving tomorrow, so we're going to head back today and prepare for that,” says Joe Saminski, visiting with his friend Jackie Fitzhenry from their home in Sacramento. “But back up to Sacramento where it's having 54 degrees and foggy. So we're trying to extend this warm weather as much as we can before heading back.”

And the annual Solvang Julefest kicked off as The Zoe Report Jet-Set Readers’ Choice Awards declared them number one of the ‘Best Christmas towns in the US.’

“In Danish we say ‘glædelig jul,’ that's part of the language of heaven,” says Klintgaard. “Glædelig jul!”

For in-person experiences of holiday spirit, locals and tourists agree you simply can’t beat the various Central Coast options during the winter months.

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Article Topic Follows: San Luis Obispo County

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Jarrod Zinn

Jarrod is a North County Reporter for News Channel 3-12. For more about Jarrod, click here.

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