The Mad Hatter Holiday Festival, Parade & Tree Lighting returns to Vallejo's historic downtown district on Saturday, December 6, 2025, offering a whimsical blend of classic holiday traditions and fairytale fantasy. The event, produced by Hyperion Community Partners LLC in partnership with the City of Vallejo, transforms Georgia Street into a Wonderland recreation, attracting thousands of visitors with creative lighted and fire-shooting displays.
The festival begins at 2:30 PM with festival grounds featuring food trucks, hot cocoa, holiday vendors, live music, and interactive Wonderland characters. The highlight parade starts at 4:30 PM, led by larger-than-life characters including the Mad Hatter, March Hare, Cheshire Cat, and Lion King. The procession includes award-winning Burning Man mutant vehicles such as serpents and dragons, a restored 48 and 8 train from the 1900s, Darth Vader and Storm Troopers, marching bands, lighted floats, and Krampus. Two announcing stages will provide commentary: one is a 15-foot elevated chair called the Stairway to Heaven, originally built for Burning Man, and the other hosts the Hatter's Queen Court, which crowns young princesses and queens before the parade.
The tree lighting ceremony at 6:00 PM takes place on a Victorian ship with a 30-foot colorful blimp. Performers sing holiday tunes alongside Santa and his elves, while Mayor welcomes the season. Grand Marshals Freddie Stone of Sly & The Family Stone and Amanda Williams, a single mom recognized for risking her life for another, lead the countdown to light the 3,000 bulbs on the giant tree. The festival concludes with a lighted boat parade at 6:30 PM, illuminating the waterfront.
For more information, visit the festival's website at HatterVallejo.com and Facebook page at http://facebook.com/MadHatterHolidayVallejo. A YouTube video produced by WhatSF, a San Francisco television program, provides a preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN6MhLHYFrI.
