Capitola Village's Holiday Season Runs on a Wine Walk
On December 5, the palms in Esplanade Park will light up, carolers will walk the Esplanade, and a line of vintage Volkswagens will roll through the Village at 6 p.m. Much of the money behind that night comes from a $50 ticket on Saturday, November 14, when about 30 Village shops team up with wineries for an afternoon of pours.
The Capitola Village and Wharf Business Improvement Area runs this calendar. It's a group of Village and Wharf businesses that pay assessments to promote the district, put on family events and keep the place looking good in partnership with the City of Capitola. Its board chair is Anthony Guajardo of Mijo's Taqueria. Its budget sits in a May 19, 2026 agenda packet on the city's website, and those numbers tell you more about Capitola's holiday season than any events page.
The packet compares three years. In FY 2024-25, the actual year, member assessments brought in $54,945 and Sip N' Stroll brought in $46,665. For FY 2026-27, the proposed budget puts Sip N' Stroll at $54,800, a little more than the $54,000 expected from member assessments.
| CVWBIA line item | FY 2024-25 actual | FY 2025-26 adopted | FY 2026-27 proposed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Member assessments | $54,945 | $55,000 | $54,000 |
| Sip N' Stroll revenue | $46,665 | $54,000 | $54,800 |
| Hotel tax (TOT) revenue | $37,315 | $35,000 | $37,000 |
| Sip N' Stroll and Cookie Walk costs | $35,964 | $36,000 | $28,000 |
| Holiday & Events | $1,974 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| Palm Tree Lights | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fund balance at start of year | $32,486 | $19,608 | $5,008 |
The proposed budget expects Sip & Stroll to clear about $26,800 after the $28,000 set aside for running it and the Cookie Walk. That's far more than the $4,000 "Holiday & Events" line. The reserve has also shrunk. The district started FY 2024-25 with $32,486. It started FY 2025-26 with $19,608 and FY 2026-27 with $5,008, and the year is projected to end at $6,208. The cushion that once covered a bad event year is mostly gone, so each Sip & Stroll matters more to the district's budget than it did two years ago.
The district holds Sip & Stroll three times a year, in November, February and May. The November one is the first of the three in each fiscal year.
Sip & Stroll runs Saturday, November 14, from noon to 5 p.m. The $50 ticket gets you a Sip & Stroll logo glass, twelve 2-ounce pour tickets and a map of the participating shops. Check-in opens at 11 a.m. in the Capitola Community Room at City Hall, 420 Capitola Avenue. Bring your Eventbrite ticket and a photo ID. The event is 21+ and happens rain or shine. The Village's own preview says it will sell out, and proceeds go toward the beautification and sustainability of the Village. Tickets are on Eventbrite.
The November 2026 event page lists the wineries pouring, including Bargetto, Alfaro, Burrell, Windy Oaks, Wright Station, Sones, Neely Wines, Martin Ranch Winery and Ridge. You'll also find Chaucer's Mead, Pozzan Winery, Perrucci Family Wines, Field Recording, Farm Day Winery, Blade and Talon, Bottle Jack Winery and close to a dozen more. The shops that host them are printed on the map that comes with your ticket.
The ticket also has a second purpose. The packet describes Sip & Stroll and the Cookie Walk as events that "benefit all the businesses in the village." The same afternoon that sends ticket holders into about 30 shops also raises money for the district's holiday program.
Today, Thursday, November 12, Outstanding in the Field holds a long-table dinner on the rebuilt Capitola Wharf from 1 to 5:30 p.m. The Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust is hosting, and the kitchen is led by Outstanding in the Field founder Jim Denevan, a Capitola local.
Ahead of the dinner, the Village ran a raffle for two seats. Each $25 donation to the Capitola Beautification Project counted as an entry, and winners were announced November 8. The Village said those donations pay for its holiday decorations, the Holiday Extravaganza, beach maintenance and new signage. The raffle ties back to the budget table. The "Palm Tree Lights" line shows $0 in every year, so the lights get paid for some other way, and $25 donations are one of the ways the Village is asking for that help.
Surfing Santa is the free event in the middle of the season. On Saturday, November 28, from noon to 3 p.m., Santa paddles a kayak in to Capitola Beach, then sits in a beach chair on the Esplanade Stage to hear kids' wish lists. The Capitola-Soquel Chamber listing says heavy rain will cancel the event.
That day is also Small Business Saturday, and the Village preview asks people to stay afterward to shop and eat in the Village. Those sales are what the district's member businesses depend on, and their assessments are the other big revenue line in the table above.
The first Holiday Extravaganza happened in the 2025-26 season. The district's report lists what made it up: palm tree lighting, cookies and hot chocolate from Shadowbrook and Gayle's, community caroling through the Village, the annual VW Christmas parade and late-night shopping. That one was held December 6, 2025, with the parade at 7 p.m. This year's second Extravaganza is Saturday, December 5, and the parade starts an hour earlier. Here's the schedule:
The Cookie Walk costs $20. Tickets will go on sale through Eventbrite and can also be bought at Capitola Candy Cafe. The 2026 shop list isn't up yet. Last year's stops included El Toro Bravo, Margaritaville, Pete's Fish House, Capitola Wine Bar, Mr. Toots, Vanity By the Sea, Capitola Paws, Oceania, Art Inspired, Craft Gallery, Craft Gallery Annex, Out West Boutique, Studio About Her, Kickback, Sea Level, Euphoria, Castagnola, Capitola Reef, Sweet Asylum, Hot Feet and Boba Bay. Check the Cookie Walk page for the final date and stops before you go.
Last November, KSBW reported that the Golden Gate Chapter of the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America, a club founded in the 1980s, planned to bring its Christmas cruise to Capitola in December.
The holiday events are only part of the budget. For FY 2026-27, the district proposes $3,000 for City Public Works and $10,000 for Village Enhancement. This year that work focuses on landscaping and keeping both public spaces and private planting areas in the Village clean. The district also puts up and maintains the Long Term Parking signs in Lots 1 and 2. For 2026-27, it's building a Village directory that will feature work by the artists who made the wharf mosaics. The packet also lists lighted wreaths and a window-decorating contest as part of its winter festivities, alongside the palms.
All of that comes out of about $146,300 in projected revenue, with roughly $6,200 expected to be left at the end of the year. The next Sip & Stroll after this one is in February, and the next chance to raise money after that is in May.
I grew up in Santa Cruz County, and the December lights are one of the best parts of the year in Capitola. If you're out at Sip & Stroll or the palm lighting and have questions about Capitola itself, from the streets around the Village to what's changing near the wharf, I'd love to talk. Jessyka Sommers is always happy to share what she knows about this town. Let's Connect.
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