"We're hosting our inaugural Granite Bay Christmas Tree Lighting," read a Placer County District 4 bulletin from Supervisor Suzanne Jones's office on Dec. 4, 2025. It invited neighbors to Quarry Ponds that Sunday evening for the lighting, holiday cheer and Santa photos.
Granite Bay has long had Folsom Lake and plenty of restaurants along Douglas Boulevard. Until last December, it didn't have a tree lighting of its own. That event now has a second date on the calendar. It's also the last lighting of the season in this corner of Placer and Sacramento counties, so you can catch Palladio, downtown Roseville and Historic Folsom in the days before and still finish at home.
Year Two Moves Up an Hour
Quarry Ponds Town Center lists the "2026 Granite Bay Christmas Tree Lighting Event" for Sunday, Dec. 6, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Here's how this year's listing compares with last year's announcement:
2025, the first year | 2026, the second year | |
|---|---|---|
Date | Sunday, Dec. 7 | Sunday, Dec. 6 |
Start time | 5 p.m. | 4 p.m. |
End time | 7:30 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. |
Location | Quarry Ponds | Quarry Ponds |
Announced by | Placer County District 4 bulletin | Quarry Ponds Town Center's website |
Moving the start from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m. turns a two-and-a-half-hour evening into three and a half hours. Families with young children get an earlier window, and anyone planning dinner nearby has more room around it. The event appears on the center's upcoming events page next to its tenant announcements.
Last year's bulletin advertised Santa on site for photos. If a Santa photo is part of your plan for Dec. 6, check the Quarry Ponds events page that week for this year's program.
Every Other Tree Gets Lit First
From Granite Bay, the other lightings fall into a short, dated sequence, each about a short drive away. Here they are in order:
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Palladio Tree Lighting. One hour, 5 to 6 p.m., at the Piazza at Palladio in Folsom. Style Magazine's November 2026 calendar lists it as free, with refreshments, performances and a visit from Santa.
- Wednesday, Dec. 2: Roseville Tree Grove. A free evening on downtown Roseville's Square, 6 to 7:30 p.m., with decorated trees, crafts, music, Santa and vendors, according to the City of Roseville.
- Thursday, Dec. 3: Roseville Christmas Tree Lighting. The city lists the lighting on the Square from 6 to 8 p.m., free, with Santa, cookie decorating, children's activities, music and food.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Historic Folsom Tree Lighting. Historic Folsom runs its community lighting from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Ice Rink Plaza and along Historic Sutter Street, with Santa, children's activities and live performances. Skating is a separate admission.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: Granite Bay Christmas Tree Lighting. Quarry Ponds, 4 to 7:30 p.m.
Granite Bay's night is the only Sunday on the list and the only one that starts before 5 p.m. The three downtown events fall on back-to-back weeknights, Wednesday through Friday, and each runs into the evening. If you'd like to see the bigger downtown displays, you can do them during the week and come back to a neighborhood event on the weekend. If you'd rather skip the downtown crowds, the hometown lighting is the one that doesn't need a weeknight drive.
Palladio sits apart from the rest, two weeks earlier. It's the only one on the list that lasts a single hour, and it falls on the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Morning Sits Between Them
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, comes between Palladio and the Roseville-Folsom week, and both neighboring cities hold races that morning.
The City of Roseville's Turkey Trot starts at Vernon Street Town Square, with the 10K at 9 a.m. and the 5K at 9:05 a.m. The event page now shows it as sold out. Folsom holds the other Thanksgiving race nearby. Style Magazine lists the 20th annual Folsom Turkey Trot, with a 5K and a 10K, starting at 8:50 a.m. at Rodeo Park/Folsom City Lions Park. A portion of proceeds goes to Twin Lakes Food Bank, the Folsom Athletic Association and the Johnny Cash Trail.
From Thanksgiving to Dec. 6 is ten days. In that time the area goes from race morning to four holiday evenings, and Granite Bay's comes last.
The Rest of the Evening Is at the Same Address
A 4 p.m. start leaves room for an evening around the lighting, and the Quarry Ponds tenants on Douglas Boulevard make that easy without moving the car.
Brew Bird Coffee & Creative is at 5550 Douglas Blvd., Suite 110. It pairs coffee with paint-your-own pottery, according to WhatNow Sacramento. The Sacramento Business Journal reported the café open in August 2026 and listed pastries on the menu as well. Quarry Ponds still promotes it under a grand-opening banner. On a holiday weekend, a pottery table can double as a gift-making stop, since a painted mug or plate is a handmade present. Café hours can shift around a holiday weekend, so check before planning a pre-lighting visit.
Kiku Japanese Cuisine dates its opening to August 2025 on its own website, so this will be its second holiday season at Quarry Ponds, the same as the tree lighting. A Style Magazine dining feature from late 2025 places it at 5550 Douglas Blvd., Suite 200, and describes sushi, rolls, bento, a changing seasonal fish selection and an omakase of roughly 15 courses, served with beer and sake. That feature listed dinner service from 5 to 9 p.m. daily. If those hours hold, dinner would line up with the back half of the lighting. A long omakase would fit better as a reservation after the tree is lit. Hours that date from last year are worth confirming directly with the restaurant before booking a party for Dec. 6.
Fagnoni's Italian Restaurant has a space at 5540 Douglas Blvd., Suite 150, next door at the center. ABC10 described the planned menu as Italian dishes, including handcrafted pizzas and pasta, house-made gelato and seasonal ingredients.
Body Rok Granite Bay and J. Hilburn are also on the Quarry Ponds tenant list. On a lighting night, the same lot that serves the coffee shop and the sushi counter serves the tree. The other lightings mostly run on downtown streets and plazas.
Folsom's Rink Stays Open After the Lights Go Up
Once the Dec. 6 lighting is done, the tree-lighting season in this area is over. The Historic Folsom Ice Rink keeps going. Its season began Nov. 7 and runs through Jan. 18, with regular 90-minute sessions every two hours. Over the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks it's open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
That makes the rink the one holiday plan nearby that isn't tied to a single night. It's open on the Friday of the Folsom lighting, but skating there costs a separate admission. If grandchildren or holiday guests arrive after Dec. 6, the rink is the activity still on the calendar. If they arrive before Thanksgiving, Palladio's Nov. 21 lighting is the first event they'll be in town for.
Laid out together, December's first week moves toward Granite Bay. Roseville lights its Square on Wednesday and Thursday, Folsom lights Sutter Street on Friday, and Quarry Ponds lights its tree on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
If the season also has you thinking about where your Granite Bay home stands before the new year, Shawn Claycomb can walk you through it calmly and in plain numbers, with no pressure to act. Request a complimentary home valuation, and enjoy the lights at Quarry Ponds either way.
