"Due to the City's current financial situation, all events traditionally sponsored by the City have been put on hold until further notice." That sentence sits at the top of the City of Orange's special events page. Right below it is a short list of the traditions that carried on anyway, each with the name of the nonprofit now hosting it.
That list is now Orange's civic calendar. Kiwanis of Orange hosts Concerts in the Park. The Community Foundation of Orange hosts the Veterans Day tribute at the Field of Valor. Orange Plaza Traditions hosts Treats in the Streets and the Christmas Market and Tree Lighting. When the Plaza tree lights up this December, it will still be the City's tree. The evening around it belongs to a nonprofit.
How the Tree Lighting Changed Hands
The handoff took about two years, and it happened in steps.
- June 11, 2024. The Orange County Register reported a structural budget gap of $19.1 million, with the City on track to use up its emergency reserves within two years. A council vote that night kept some community events going for the time being.
- June 25, 2024. Two weeks later the council voted to end city-funded community events after July 10 unless outside sponsors paid for them. According to the Register's coverage, the events at stake were the July 3 fireworks, Concerts in the Park, Treats in the Streets and the Christmas tree lighting, which together cost about $500,000 a year.
- November 2024. Voters turned down a half-cent sales tax increase. Mayor Pro Tem Denis Bilodeau later told Spectrum News that it lost by 400 votes.
- April 8, 2025. The City Council approved an agreement for Orange International Street Fair, Inc. to produce Treats in the Streets for three years, after the nonprofit offered to take it on.
- Summer 2025. Spectrum News reported in August that the City had cut summer park activities and canceled the annual Third of July event. The same report cited a Grant Thornton consultant's projection of deficits as high as $45 million through 2031.
- 2026. Orange Plaza Traditions, Inc. took over unified production and financial stewardship of three Old Towne events: the Orange International Street Fair, Treats in the Streets, and the Christmas Market and Tree Lighting. It works in partnership with the City.
- July 3, 2026. The neighborhood site I Heart Old Towne Orange reported that the City's planned Semiquincentennial Celebration in the Park had been canceled.
The Register's two June 2024 stories, published 13 days apart, show how quickly things moved. The first said Orange would save its cherished community events for now. The second reported they would end unless someone else paid.
Same Plaza, New Host
The 2026 Christmas Market and Tree Lighting is set for Sunday, December 6, around Plaza Park. According to Orange Plaza Traditions, the event covers Chapman Avenue from Grand to Lemon and Glassell Street from Almond to Maple. Expect market vendors, seasonal treats, activities, live entertainment and the lighting of the City's Christmas tree. Admission is free.
The organizer's own description calls the City's tree the centerpiece of "this beloved community tradition." That is the point of the arrangement. Visitors walking up Glassell on December 6 should see the same Plaza they have always seen. The change is that a nonprofit now handles production and the money.
There is a recent test run to judge by. Treats in the Streets, the first of the City's former traditions to move to a nonprofit, took place Thursday, October 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. The Register's same-day coverage described a dry evening with costumed children and families, candy from participating businesses and community groups, and Halloween activities on Plaza streets closed to traffic.
The same group produced the Orange International Street Fair over Labor Day weekend, September 4 through 6. In practice, the three biggest gatherings in Old Towne's year now share one producer.
The Rest of December Was Never on the City's Books
Outside the Plaza, much of Orange's December has long been run by churches, the university and the county. Those events are fuller this year, in date order:
- The Sounds of Christmas, December 4 and 5. St. John's Lutheran Church at 185 S. Center St. holds performances Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Admission is free, with a freewill offering.
- Christmas Market and Tree Lighting, December 6. Plaza Park and the surrounding blocks of Chapman and Glassell, hosted by Orange Plaza Traditions.
- Christmas at the OC Zoo, December 12. The county's OC Zoo at 1 Irvine Park Road starts at 10 a.m. The event page lists Santa, story time with Mrs. Claus, crafts and holiday treats for the animals. Regular zoo admission applies, and parking is $5.
- Christmas Extravaganza – Follow the Star, December 12. St. John's runs this free afternoon from 3 to 7 p.m. on Senne Field at 175 S. Shaffer St. It includes games, rides, crafts, music, a petting zoo, a live nativity and walk-through lights.
- Campana Sobre Campana: Christmas in Mexico, December 12 and 13. Chapman University's Musco Center for the Arts at 1 University Drive has shows Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $33.
December 12 is the busiest day. A family could see Santa at the zoo in Irvine Regional Park in the morning, go to Senne Field in the afternoon and end the night at Musco Center, and none of those hosts depends on the City's events budget.
The earlier fall calendar ran the same way. The Community Foundation of Orange set up more than 1,200 full-sized American flags at Handy Park, 2143 E. Oakmont, for its 2026 Field of Valor. The field opened with ceremonies on November 7 and stays up through noon on November 12. The schedule for the week included a Marine Corps birthday celebration with the Orange Police Department on November 10 and a Veterans Day lunch for veterans on November 11.
What the Budget Says About Next Year's Calendar
The City has not gone back to sponsoring events. Its FY 2026–27 adopted budget, approved June 9, 2026, still projects a General Fund operating deficit of $4.379 million. Transfers produce a projected net surplus of about $1.067 million, and the City describes its structural operating imbalance as unresolved.
The budget document describes the current setup as a partnership. Among the City Council's accomplishments for 2025–26, it lists working with nonprofit organizations and private entities to support the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony, Concerts in the Park and Treats in the Streets. For the 2026 Concerts in the Park series, the Kiwanis of Orange presented free Wednesday-night shows at the Hart Park bandshell.
Two revenue measures were on Orange's November 3 ballot. Measure I would add a temporary one-cent local sales tax for 13 years, which the City projects at about $37 million a year. Measure J would raise the hotel guest tax from 10% to 14% at lodging with 11 or more rooms, projected at about $3 million a year. The City's revenue measures page has the full descriptions. The Orange County Registrar of Voters lists the measures by letter, and it posts returns on its current election results page, where they are labeled unofficial until certified.
For the 2026 holidays, the hosts are settled. On December 6, Orange Plaza Traditions will light the City's tree on Plaza Park, and St. John's, Chapman's Musco Center and the OC Zoo will fill the weeks around it.
Following how Orange's civic life is changing is part of knowing this market street by street. If you own in Old Towne or anywhere else in Orange and want to see where your home stands heading into the new year, Monarch Home Group can walk you through it. Request your free market valuation, and we'll put together a clear picture based on recent sales near you.
