Filoli's Holiday Season Opens Earlier This Year, With a Farm in the Redwoods

On Sunday, November 1, Filoli's Nightfall program ends its final night. Over the next 13 days, more than 200 Filoli staff take out thousands of pumpkins and put up the holiday season in their place. That means 350,000 lights on 28 miles of strands, which Filoli says is long enough to reach from the estate to Oracle Park.

When the gates open on November 14, a lot of the crowd will already have tickets. In its October 20 announcement, Filoli said it had sold more than 26,000 Holidays at Filoli tickets before opening day, after 25 sold-out Nightfall nights this fall. The evening lights are what draw visitors from across the Bay Area. Most of this year's new additions, though, are in the daytime program. Filoli's member benefits are also built mostly around daytime visits, which makes the season simpler for anyone who lives a few minutes away.

A longer season, starting sooner

Last year's Holidays at Filoli ran from November 22, 2025, to January 11, 2026. This year it runs from November 14, 2026, to January 10, 2027, so it opens eight days earlier and closes one day earlier. Thistlewyck Village, the holiday village in the redwoods, closes a week before the rest of the event, on January 3.

The extra days fall in the middle of November, before Thanksgiving week and well before school lets out for winter break. Filoli will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The schedule runs in two shifts:

Where this year's new features are

Filoli's announcement lists four main additions for 2026. Three of them are open only during the day.

The Filoli Family Farm is the first of its kind at the estate. It brings mini cows, goats, sheep, piglets, and a mother donkey with her foal to the redwood forest for daytime visits. Filoli presents the farm as a reminder of the estate's early years as a working country property, when horses were part of daily life there. In a town with Woodside's horse history, that's a fitting choice.

The Historic House has a Celtic Connections theme this year. It traces back to 1911, when William Bowers Bourn II, who built Filoli, bought Muckross House in Killarney, Ireland, as a wedding gift for his daughter Maud and her husband, Arthur Vincent. Filoli says the rooms will be decorated with layered tartans, jewel tones, evergreen garland and individually decorated trees and wreaths. Last year's House theme was Gilded, a deliberately maximalist display with 130 wreaths, 108 trees and more than 7,000 ornaments. This year the House trades that volume for tartan and evergreen tied to the Bourns' Killarney connection.

Thistlewyck Village debuted in 2025 and is back this year, described as expanded, with more family activities included in daytime admission. Visitors can add a $25 Thistlewyck Passport, which includes an Elf Hat, a toy train, passport stamps, stickers and a cup of Filoli's hot chocolate. Thistlewyck's redwood railway inspired this fall's Haunted Railway, and its track is changing over from Halloween to the holidays like everything else on the estate.

The evening garden gets new light orbs and glowing flowers in the 16-acre gardens, along with the 210-foot light tunnel. Filoli also notes that last season's hot cocoa used 2,500 pounds of chocolate. For evening visitors, the new ticket is Holiday Lights Anytime+. It lets you arrive at any time on your chosen evening and change dates easily, and it includes a festive drink, a light-up necklace, 3D light glasses, a collectible pin and 20% off eligible retail purchases. Only a limited number are available each night.

Why membership matters most in the daytime

According to Filoli's holiday FAQ, every member gets free daytime admission to Holidays at Filoli, Thistlewyck included, as long as they reserve ahead and tickets are available. All members also get 20% off up to four additional daytime tickets. For evening tickets, the same FAQ limits the 20% discount to Guild level and above, while the Holiday Lights event page describes the discount as applying to members generally. Members planning evening visits should check with Filoli before booking.

The member perk best suited to people who live nearby is the first hour of the day. Thistlewyck Village opens only to members from 9 to 10 a.m., before general admission. Families with young children can use that hour to see the trains and the Elf Academy before the general-admission crowds come up the drive.

Filoli's posted membership tiers show where each level fits:

• Filoli 1 through Filoli 4, priced at $139, $179, $229 and $279, with the number in the name matching the number of tickets included per visit.
• Filoli Family at $329, which covers three adults and six children under 18.
• Rose Guild at $550 and Camellia Guild at $750, the levels where the FAQ applies the evening discount.
• Circle, from Heritage at $1,000 up to Innovator at $25,000. Circle members get free daytime and evening admission with no reservation needed, even on sold-out days.

For comparison, two adult daytime tickets start at $80 for a single visit. A Filoli 2 membership at $179 includes free daytime holiday admission for two, and the season now runs eight weeks. At starting prices, two adults would pay $160 for two daytime visits and $240 for three, so the membership costs less than buying tickets from the third visit on. Filoli also offers Family for All, a $25 membership for eligible SNAP EBT cardholders, and this tier also gets free daytime and evening holiday admission without a reservation.

The dates to plan around

Beyond regular admission, Filoli has a handful of dated events this season, mostly in December:

1. Friday, November 13: Merry & Bright Preview Night, 6 to 10 p.m., the evening before opening. General admission is $125 and VIP is $195, both with a keepsake mug and a complimentary drink. Filoli's announcement says the evening includes live music by the fire pits and carolers.
2. Saturday, November 14: Opening day for both Holiday Daytime and Holiday Lights.
3. December 1 through 18: Holiday Teas, a family-style afternoon tea with tiered treats and sparkling wine in the Historic Garden House.
4. December 5, 12, 19 and 26: Filoli Reserve tastings, with sessions at noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., listed on Filoli's Holidays at Filoli page.
5. January 3: Last day of Thistlewyck Village, a week before the rest of the season ends on January 10.

Filoli recommends booking ahead, since weekends and holidays can sell out. It also asks guests to check in during their selected one-hour window so lines and parking keep moving. Holiday Lights guests can arrive after their ticket time, but Filoli recommends arriving at the time on the ticket.

Getting there from inside Woodside

Filoli's directions page sends most drivers to the Edgewood Road exit off I-280, then right on Cañada Road for about 1.25 miles to the entrance on the left. Parking is free with admission. On busy days such as holidays, staff may direct cars to overflow lots, and rideshare pickup and drop-off is in the main lot. For anyone coming from the village or the western hills, the visitor traffic will be on that same stretch of Cañada around the 4 p.m. switch from daytime to evening admission.

Two Town of Woodside projects affect driving this season. According to the Town's Old La Honda Road alert, on the upper section of the road contractors are installing guardrails and clearing the road through Friday, December 11. The upper section is closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. while crews are working and reopens after hours. At Four Corners, where SR-35 meets SR-84, the intersection is now an all-way stop. The Town's October 5 update says construction is expected to continue through spring 2027, with possible one-way traffic control, delays and reduced parking. The Town's alert center has the latest updates.

For a quieter morning before the season opens, San Mateo County Parks is holding a Ridge Trail Service Day at Huddart Park on Saturday, November 7, at 8:30 a.m. Volunteers will do heavy brushing and work to reduce trail erosion. One week later, Filoli opens.

If you're hosting family over the holidays and want help planning a Filoli visit with Woodside's trails and restaurants nearby, Scott Dancer has lived and worked in this valley since 1984 and is glad to share what he knows. Let's Connect.