Anonymous
Source: Solvange Julefest
Solvang, California has officially announced preliminary plans and dates for this year’s celebration of Solvang Julefest (www.SolvangJulefest.org; pronounced ‘Yule-Fest’), the Santa Ynez Valley wine country town’s annual celebration of all things “holidays”. The 2020 holiday season event, which has been modified as per Santa Barbara County COVID guidelines, will begin on Saturday, November 28, 2020 and run through Friday, January 1, 2021. The 2020 edition of Solvang Julefest will entail multiple holiday happenings all located within the walkable California Central Coast destination, recently named by Country Living as one of the USA’s “Best Christmas Towns”.
“With so many holiday season activities being cancelled this year, we are both fortunate and thrilled that we can still host some of Solvang’s annual Julefest festivities. We will roll out the red Christmas carpet as we do every year, for all of our locals and visitors in need of a Southern California holiday escape, with Danish heritage flair,” said Scott Shuemake, President of IDK Events, producers of the 2020 Solvang Julefest.
As one of the nation’s most Christmas-y towns, Solvang will present a modified line-up of Julefest offerings and extra holiday cheer in the form of enhanced, village-wide illumination and celebratory scenes, interspersed with Instagram-able holiday vignettes.
During Solvang Julefest, the village will once again host its now-annual Nisse Adventure, upon which participants join in a City-wide hunt for the mysterious Solvang Nisse (Christmas elves) which will have hidden themselves throughout downtown Solvang. Elf-trackers may visit www.NisseAdventure.com, where clues will be provided to the various hiding spots which the Nisse frequents. Once guests find the Nisse they scan a QR code to continue along the adventure, earning a special prize at completion.
Saturdays throughout the Julefest stretch town-wide Solvang Food Tours will be led by the foodie – and photo – experts at Eat This, Shoot That!, and Julefest’s popular evening Candlelight Tours will return on select nights. Either tour option presents a unique, educational, and entertaining way to explore the history-filled village on foot during the most festive of Solvang’s seasons.
More than 100 Christmas trees will line Solvang’s lanes as the town’s businesses hold a tree decorating contest, similar to Solvang’s fall season Scarecrow Fest. Solvang’s shops, Danish bakeries, restaurants, wine tasting rooms, wine and beer bars, and hotels will join the friendly competition, with many of the town’s merchants welcoming guests into the evening, for after-hours shopping and dining in a European night market setting.
Shuemake continued, “Solvang Julefest is a holiday season staple on California’s Central Coast. We’re hoping to keep as many of the aspects that everyone looks forward to, as possible, while enhancing the overall Christmas vibe in town through COVID-safer, open-air opportunities.”
Solvang, known for its Danish-American roots, architecture and design details, pastries, bakeries and plentiful wine tasting options, also boasts dozens upon dozens of unique boutiques, restaurants and gourmet food purveyors. Carefully-curated indie bookstores, high-end stationers, children’s shops and spice merchants sit alongside foodie havens offering up everything from elevated street cuisine – like locally-sourced fish tacos on hand-made tortillas, and comforting ramen noodles – to European-style pretzels and sausages, to Italian standbys or iconic Danish dishes, to elevated new-Californian fare in the form of Michelin-honored menus, to heritage grain sourdough loaves or limited edition cheese releases, to small-batch, locally-roasted coffee, to Tiki cocktail and craft beer dens, all forming an indulgent holiday shopping and playing scene.
Dog-friendly and ideal for kids, Solvang Julefest promotes family fun and adventure through traditional holiday-favorite activities, with the addition of more-adult, wine country entertainment.
Shuemake concluded, “As we said last year, we’re in the business of making memories through experiences. We still take that job very seriously, and Solvang Julefest 2020 will be no different.”
Further event announcements about Julefest 2020, and updates to the Julefest schedule, will be made over the course of the next month.
The 2020 Solvang Julefest is produced by the City of Solvang (www.CityofSolvang.com) in partnership with IDK Events (www.idkevents.com). All Solvang Julefest events are open to the public with either free or paid admission. More information will be available at www.SolvangJulefest.org. Event updates will also be posted to the SolvangUSA Instagram and Facebook accounts: @SolvangUSA and facebook.com/SolvangUSA.
