From mid-November to New Year's, the Seaside Civic & Convention Center at 415 First Ave hosts something almost every week. That includes a chef competition, a one-day gift sale, a two-day holiday market, a gingerbread village, a gala, a toy program and a recital that doubles as a toy drive. Most of the season's indoor events raise money or gather gifts for a specific local cause, so the calendar works as a list of what Seaside is supporting this winter.
Outdoors, the season comes down to Broadway and a handful of hours over Thanksgiving weekend. Here is how those two parts fit together.
Seven holiday bookings at one address
These are the Convention Center's holiday-season events, in order:
- Tuesday, November 17, 6 p.m.: Iron Chef Goes Coastal, 16th annual
- Thursday, November 19, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: P.E.O. Holiday Treasures Gift Sale, one day only
- Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28: Yuletide Holiday Festival & Market
- Saturday, December 5: Providence Festival of Trees, open house in the morning and gala in the evening
- Thursday, December 10, noon to 8 p.m.: Encore Dance Studio Toy Drive & Recital
- December 17 and 18: Rotary Club of Seaside's Santa's Workshop
- December 31 through January 3: Almost New Years Roundup, sponsored by Sober In Seaside
Six of these seven fall inside about four and a half weeks. Each one has its own host: United Way, P.E.O., the Seaside Chamber of Commerce, Providence Seaside Hospital Foundation, Encore Dance Studio, the Rotary Club of Seaside and Sober In Seaside. The building stays the same while the organizations change week to week.
Who the building raises money for in December
Start with the two biggest evenings, which sit on either side of Thanksgiving.
Iron Chef Goes Coastal is presented by United Way, and proceeds go to nonprofits across Clatsop County. Local chefs from Clatsop and Pacific counties go head to head in two rounds built around secret ingredients. The night also includes a People's Choice competition among restaurants and a dessert contest. Seating is sold by the table through the Afton ticket page, and doors open for ticket holders at 5 p.m., an hour before the competition starts.
The Providence Festival of Trees reaches its 29th year on December 5. This year's proceeds go to rehabilitation services at Providence Seaside Hospital. The Foundation describes the 2026 event as the second year and the culmination of its two-year, $500,000 commitment to those services. That makes this a deadline year, with this gala completing the two-year pledge.
The December events in between work by collecting gifts. The Convention Center describes the Rotary Club of Seaside's Santa's Workshop on December 17 and 18 as providing a couple of Christmas toys for local children in need. A week before that, Encore Dance Studio pairs its recital with a toy drive on December 10. The timing lines up well. Toys collected at a recital on the 10th come in a week before Rotary's workshop opens on the 17th. Both organizations list event details through the Convention Center, which also points recital-goers to Encore directly for specifics.
Even the gift sale is a group effort. The P.E.O. Holiday Treasures Sale runs one day only, Thursday, November 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with holiday decor and handcrafted gifts. It falls on a weekday morning more than a week before the Chamber's market, so it is the earliest of the season's shopping dates.
Thanksgiving weekend fits the outdoor season into three days
The outdoor events, the ones that put people on Broadway, run from Thanksgiving morning to Saturday evening.
| When | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov 26, 8 a.m. check-in, 9 a.m. start | Seaside Turkey Trot 5K, with a costume contest | Sunset Recreation Center, 1120 Broadway |
| Fri, Nov 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Holiday Festival & Market, day one | Convention Center, 415 First Ave |
| Fri, Nov 27, 7 p.m. | Parade of Lights | Downtown Seaside |
| Fri, Nov 27, 7:30 p.m. | Community tree lighting | Downing Park, N Downing and Broadway |
| Sat, Nov 28, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Holiday Festival & Market, day two | Convention Center, 415 First Ave |
Sunset Empire Park & Recreation District runs the Turkey Trot as a downtown 5K family run and walk. Entry is $35 and includes a T-shirt while supplies last. Children under 4 run free. Seaside Public Library is closed November 26 and 27 for the holiday.
Friday is the day the indoor and outdoor parts overlap. The Chamber's market closes at 5 p.m., and the Parade of Lights starts two hours later. This year's theme is "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and the parade loops through downtown Seaside. The community tree lighting follows at Downing Park on Broadway, just west of the Seaside Carousel Mall. The Seaside Chamber of Commerce lists it at 7:30 p.m. and promises:
"Come enjoy caroling, refreshments, and a chance to meet Santa Claus!"
The parade and the tree lighting are both listed as free. Together they make up the shortest event of the season. The tree lighting begins half an hour after the parade, both on the same downtown blocks, and that half hour is the whole of Seaside's outdoor holiday kickoff.
Morning events and evening events
The Convention Center calendar also falls into a split by time of day. Morning and daytime hours mostly go to open houses and shopping. Evenings mostly go to the ticketed fundraisers.
December 5 shows the split most clearly. The Festival of Trees Community Open House and Gingerbread Village runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Four hours later, the same building hosts the Gala Dinner & Auction from 5 to 9 p.m., with tickets sold through the Foundation's gala page. The trees can be seen in the morning, and the money for rehabilitation services is raised that night.
Iron Chef follows the evening pattern, with table seating and a 6 p.m. start on a Tuesday. The Yuletide market and the P.E.O. sale follow the daytime pattern, with both closing by late afternoon or earlier.
December 5 also starts with something away from the Convention Center. Seaside's monthly Treasure the Beach Cleanup falls on the first Saturday of every month, and sign-up begins at 9 a.m. in front of the Seaside Aquarium. That is the same hour the Festival of Trees opens its doors, so the morning offers two 9 a.m. starts, one on the beach and one at the Convention Center.
What carries the calendar between the big dates
The weeks between the major bookings fill in with smaller things, and several run all season.
Seaside Public Library at 1131 Broadway opened an art exhibit on November 4 that runs through January 3, 2027, which means it is on display for the entire holiday stretch. The library also has a film screening this Saturday, November 14, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
Throughout December, the Chamber's Coast Coins program gives holiday shoppers a $5 Coast Coin to spend like cash at participating Seaside businesses. This is the Chamber's way of carrying the energy of Thanksgiving weekend into the storefronts for the rest of the month. The Yuletide in Seaside page has the program details.
After Santa's Workshop wraps up on December 18, the building's holiday run closes with a gathering of a different kind. The Almost New Years Roundup, sponsored by Sober In Seaside, runs from December 31 through January 3. It carries the Convention Center's calendar into 2027 the same way the season began, with a local group booking the building for its own community.
If you're putting a calendar on the fridge, three dates do most of the work. November 17 is United Way's night. November 27 is the market, the parade and the tree on one Friday. December 5 is the Festival of Trees, morning and evening, as Providence Seaside Hospital Foundation finishes its $500,000 commitment.
If you have questions about any of these events, or about how the season looks from your corner of town, Cindy Hawkins Colley has spent 28 years on the North Coast and is glad to talk Seaside anytime. Let's Connect.
