On Thursday, Dec. 3, Sausalito lights its holiday tree at Tracy Way Plaza. Last year the ceremony was held at Viña del Mar Park. The new spot is about a block away, on the rebuilt ferry landing. For most of its history that ground was built around boats, bikes and parking. This season, more of the town's December calendar sits on it than anywhere else downtown.
The landing was designed as a front door for people arriving from San Francisco. Its first full holiday season shows it serving residents too.
Fifty Years From First Discussion to Finished Plaza
The Marin Independent Journal's account of the September 2025 ribbon cutting laid out how long this took. Mayor Joan Cox described the timeline at the ceremony:
- 1970: The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District starts ferry service between Sausalito and San Francisco.
- 1976: The district first discusses rebuilding the landing.
- 2012: Formal planning begins, bringing together the agencies that control the water side and the land side of the landing.
- 2017: The bridge district wins a federal grant after five years of design work and review.
- 2023: Critics appeal the Planning Commission's approval. The City Council later rejects the appeal and adds $100,000.
- July 30, 2024: The council approves a $1,416,000 construction contract with Bauman Landscaping Inc., plus a $258,511 contingency.
- Oct. 7, 2024: Groundbreaking, after construction started in late September.
- July 2025: Planting is finished.
- Sept. 5, 2025: About 75 local and regional officials and city staff attend the ribbon cutting on the bayfront plaza.
The City puts the total cost at $2.5 million. Its breakdown is $2 million from the Federal Transit Administration, $400,000 from the bridge district and $100,000 from Sausalito. The City also credits volunteers for much of the design: landscape architect Bill Hynes and architects Michael Rex and Jacques Ullman.
What Replaced the Old Arrival
The Independent Journal reports that Tracy Way, the street between Bridgeway and the ferry plaza, became a tree-lined walkway and small park. The plaza at the ferry entrance and the tourist kiosk were made larger. New sidewalks went in around the parking lots and next to Gabrielson Park, and the project added a bike parking area. Adrian Brinton started the local group Positive People for Sausalito in 2023 to support the project. He told the paper what the old arrival was like:
"When people came off the ferry, they used to get dumped straight into the parking lot."
Now riders walk out into a plaza with seating, and cyclists line up in a separate direction.
The furniture came last. The City's August 2025 newsletter describes dark- and light-blue benches, tables and chairs made by Vestre, with planters from Tournesol Siteworks. Public works maintenance staff put the furniture together. Volunteers from Sausalito Beautiful and the local SWA office planted the planters. According to the Independent Journal, downtown businesses donated the blue benches, picnic tables and hanging flower baskets. So the new seating came from local businesses, and town volunteers and staff helped plant and assemble it.
At the ceremony, Sausalito Chamber of Commerce board president Leigh Hunt called the plaza visitors' "welcoming spot for Sausalito." Bill Hynes described the goal as "improving the experience of downtown." The second goal is the one this December's calendar puts to the test.
The Tree Lighting Follows the Plaza
The City started Holiday By the Bay in 2021. That year's press release lists a 6 p.m. tree lighting at Viña del Mar Plaza on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The ceremony stayed in the park through Dec. 3, 2025, when Santa came in by boat.
For 2026, Downtown Sausalito's listing moves the ceremony to the "newly renovated Tracy Way Plaza." It runs Thursday, Dec. 3, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The program has a welcome, sing-alongs and performances by The Frosties and the Marin Girls Chorus, then Santa's arrival and photo time. The tree is lit at 6:15 p.m.
Viña del Mar Park still has a role. Downtown Sausalito's Holiday By the Bay page puts the Letters to Santa mailbox there for all of December. The same page lists carolers, holiday window displays and hot cocoa stops around downtown. The month-long program is presented by the City, local businesses, the Chamber of Commerce and community volunteers. That is much the same group that helped furnish the plaza.
A Market That Has Used the Plaza Since Its First Fall
The tree lighting is not the first recurring event on the new plaza. A Funcheap listing advertised Sausalito Art & Harbor Days as a "new monthly event" starting Nov. 22, 2025, about eleven weeks after the ribbon cutting. It now runs on the fourth Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., across Tracy Way, Ferry Landing Plaza and Gabrielson Park, with live music and local makers. The state's market list, current as of Oct. 1, 2026, includes it as a year-round Saturday market.
The City's event page says the market's job is to bring people into downtown shops, galleries and restaurants. It invites businesses to offer Harbor Days specials, themed drinks or appetizers, artist meet-and-greets and in-store promotions. In other words, the plaza hosts the market and the market is meant to send people on to Bridgeway.
Two market dates are left in 2026, and both fall on holiday weekends. Nov. 28 is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and Dec. 26 is the day after Christmas.
The Season, Mapped From the Ferry Plaza Outward
Most of Sausalito's November and December events take place within a short walk of the ferry plaza. The table runs from Tracy Way outward:
| Date | Event | Where | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Art & Harbor Days | Tracy Way, Ferry Landing Plaza, Gabrielson Park | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | Holiday Tree Lighting | Tracy Way Plaza | 5:30–6:30 p.m., lighting at 6:15 |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Lighted Boat Parade and fireworks | Waterfront at Gabrielson Park | Reserved seating 5 p.m., parade 6 p.m., fireworks about 7:15 |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Captain's After Party | The Spinnaker, 100 Spinnaker Drive | 5–10:30 p.m., dinner not included |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Jingle Bell 5K and Kids' Reindeer Dash | Humboldt Avenue | Race 8:30 a.m., kids' run 9:15 a.m., brunch at The Spinnaker by reservation |
| Sat., Dec. 26 | Art & Harbor Days | Tracy Way, Ferry Landing Plaza, Gabrielson Park | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
Winterfest Sausalito bills this year's boat parade as its 39th, and boat registration is open now. Watching from the shore is free.
A few events take place farther up Bridgeway or along the shoreline:
- Trekkin' the Model, Saturday, Nov. 7: a free ranger-led tour at the Bay Model Visitor Center, 2100 Bridgeway. You can join or leave the tour at any point, and no reservation is needed.
- SCA Open 2026, through Dec. 6: an exhibition at Sausalito Center for the Arts, 750 Bridgeway.
- The Art of Giving, Nov. 21–22: free gift wrapping at the Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for purchases over $30.
- Breakfast with Santa, Saturday, Dec. 5: at Sausalito Yacht Club, with seatings from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.
- "These are a Few of Our Favorite Things," Dec. 16–22: the Center's first Artist Member Exhibition.
Event pages can change late in the season, so check each one before you go.
The Next Piece of the Waterfront
The plaza is done, but the area around it is not. At the 2025 ribbon cutting, Cox said the City was "working to design and renovate this [parking] lot one in the coming year." The holiday events this year will be held next to that lot. The tree goes up in Tracy Way Plaza on Dec. 3, and the boats come past Gabrielson Park on Dec. 12.
Changes along the waterfront, like the Tracy Way promenade and the Lot 1 redesign that comes next, shape what it means to own a home a few blocks from the ferry. If you'd like to talk through how that applies to your property, Stephanie Lamarre offers a private consultation and confidential home valuation.
