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Grass Valley’s 57th annual Cornish Christmas celebration has returned for the 2025 holiday season! The charming street festival celebrates the town’s Cornish mining heritage with holiday lights, food, performers, music, and a Victorian-era atmosphere.
Join the festivities on four Friday nights leading up to Christmas, starting Nov. 28, 2025.
Things to do at Grass Valley’s Cornish Christmas
Thousands of visitors come to Grass Valley to experience the magical Cornish Christmas each year, where streets are closed to cars and filled with vendors and performers to recreate a 19th-century Christmas celebration.
Grab a hot cider or hot chocolate and stroll through the vendors selling handmade crafts and specialty foods such as roasted chestnuts and Cornish pasties. After a Cornish Town Crier opens the celebrations, performers in Victorian garb entertain the crowds with juggling, dancing, live street music, and traditional carols.
Cornish Christmas is one of Grass Valley’s most significant cultural events, celebrating the legacy of skilled Cornish miners from Cornwall, England, who arrived here during the California Gold Rush. For over a century, the area was known for hard-rock gold mining and became one of the richest gold districts in California. Today, there’s still an active community of descendants of the original miners living in town.
Attending Grass Valley’s Cornish Christmas
Admission is free to attend Grass Valley’s Cornish Christmas, and the event is held rain or shine, with large crowds expected every year. Organizers encourage guests to dress in Victorian or festive attire to get into the spirit of the old-fashioned celebration.
This year, Grass Valley will also offer a free shuttle service to nearby parking areas, including the Fairgrounds, Pine Creek Shopping Center, McKnight Crossing Shopping Center, Broad Street Bridge, and Tinloy Street Transit Station. The shuttle runs on 30-minute loops between 6 and 8pm.
📍 Location: Cornish Christmas takes place on Main and Mill Streets in Downtown Grass Valley
🗓️ Dates: Friday nights, Nov. 28-Dec. 19, 2025, from 6-9pm.
🌐 Website: Grass Valley Cornish Christmas