The 2026 Alys Beach calendar puts Santa photos at the Amphitheatre on November 14 and 15. That's two weeks after Halloween and nearly six weeks before Christmas. Then the tree goes up on November 27, the Friday after Thanksgiving. After that, the official December listings show nothing until December 27.
So the holiday season in Alys Beach is mostly over before December begins. If you plan your fall around that, the busy weeks are easy to pick out, and so are the quiet ones.
October Builds Toward One Thursday
The month starts slowly. On Tuesday evenings, NEAT Bottle Shop holds Wine + Song from 5 to 7 p.m. Each night is a four-wine tasting for $30 per person with a different musician:
- October 13: Max McCann
- October 20: Steven Theriot
- October 27: Corey Hall
Thursday, October 22, brings two events onto the same date. Howl-O-Ween + Merchant Trick-or-Treating takes over Alys Beach Town Center from 4 to 7 p.m. The dog-and-owner costume contest runs first, from 4 to 5 p.m., and only a limited number of contestant tickets are sold in advance. Merchant trick-or-treating follows from 5 to 7 p.m., and DJ Mike Whitty is scheduled. If your dog has a costume ready, buy the contest ticket early.
That same Thursday is also the first day of the Garden & Gun Society and Friends Gathering. It runs through October 25 at venues across town, with dinners, conversations, tours, outdoor activities and music, and the official listing sells tickets. The listing also invites out-of-town guests to book accommodations, so Howl-O-Ween shares its Thursday with the start of a four-day gathering.
Crafted Is Where the Holiday Season Actually Starts
Alys Beach Crafted returns November 11 through 15 for its fifth year. That puts the first holiday shopping of the season, and the first Santa sighting, inside a food-and-maker festival. In its 2026 Crafted preview, 30A notes that "several events" have limited capacity.
| Date | Event | Venue | Time | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Nov. 11 | 30A Songwriters Session | Red Loggia at Caliza | 5:30 p.m. | Ticketed, 21+ |
| Thu., Nov. 12 | Three Experiential Dinners | Red Loggia at Caliza, George's, The Summerhouse at The Silva | 5 p.m. | Ticketed |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Holiday Makers Market | Alys Beach Amphitheatre | 2–4:30 p.m. | Free |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Cocktails & Clay | The Summerhouse at The Silva | 2:30 p.m. | Ticketed |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Firkin Fête | Central Park | 6:30–9 p.m. | Ticketed |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Holiday Makers Market | Alys Beach Amphitheatre | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Free |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Spirited Soirée | North Sea Garden Walk | 1–4 p.m. | Ticketed |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Holiday Makers Market | Alys Beach Amphitheatre | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Free |
The free Holiday Makers Market fills the Amphitheatre with regional artisans and live music, and 30A lists photos with Santa on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. If you do your gift shopping locally, this weekend is when the town's market happens. Nothing in the official December calendar replaces it later.
The ticketed nights are built around specific people:
- The Songwriters Session on Wednesday is presented with the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County. It brings the 30A Songwriters Festival format to Caliza, with a singer-songwriter performing and telling the stories behind the songs. The official event page says it's 21 and up and includes food and drink.
- The Thursday dinners happen at the same time, so you can attend only one. At Red Loggia, Birmingham chef Rob McDaniel of Helen and Bayonet cooks a family-style, live-fire Southern menu, with cocktails by José Medina Camacho using Foursquare Rum Distillery spirits. At George's, Chef Camille Withall serves Gulf ingredients with global influences, paired with Nicole Greenwell's cocktails from the Brown-Forman portfolio. At The Summerhouse at The Silva, Chef Drew Dzejak and the Alys Beach Culinary team pair courses with Menagerie wines, and the room is hung with David Yarrow's photography.
- Cocktails & Clay on Friday is a hands-on session led by local ceramicist Sarah Bumanglag. Each guest makes two vessels, which are later professionally glazed and kiln-fired.
- The 6th Annual Firkin Fête that evening brings firkin beers from local and regional breweries to Central Park, with food from Southeast chefs and live music by Scott T. Smith.
One scheduling note: an older Crafted page on alysbeach.com still says November 11–14, and the ticket button on the Crafted site points to a 2025 page. The 2026 schedule runs through Sunday, November 15. Ticket prices weren't posted in the sources we reviewed, so check the Crafted schedule before you plan around a specific night.
The Tree Goes Up the Day After Thanksgiving
Twelve days after Crafted ends, Alys in Winter Wonderland fills the Alys Beach Amphitheatre on Friday, November 27. A concert starts at 4 p.m. and leads into the tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. Cookie decorating and Santa photos cost $3 each.
That makes two Santa appearances in two weeks, both at the Amphitheatre. Families who missed the Makers Market weekend get another chance on Thanksgiving weekend. A household hosting relatives for Thanksgiving can also walk everyone over for the lighting without driving anywhere.
December's Calendar Starts on the 27th
As of October 12, the official Alys Beach December calendar lists three events. All three fall in the last five days of the year:
- Alys Foundation Gala, Sunday, December 27, in Central Park at 23 Nonesuch Way. No time or price has been posted yet, and the page says more information is coming.
- Alys Classics, Tuesday, December 29, 6 to 9 p.m. at The Silva on Longtail Road. It's a movie-and-picnic night. The film isn't named yet, and the listing says details may change.
- Noon Year's Eve Party, Thursday, December 31, 10 a.m. to noon at the Alys Beach Amphitheatre on Somerset Street. Admission is free, and beverages and cotton candy are sold on site.
That leaves 30 days between the tree lighting and the Gala with nothing on the official calendar. No December holiday market, Santa schedule or merchant holiday hours had been posted when we checked. Calendars do fill in, so new listings could still appear. For now, the town's organized holiday programming ends on November 27 and picks up again for the week after Christmas.
What Fills the Quiet Weeks Is Town Center
During those empty December weeks, the main things to do in town are the shops and restaurants, and Town Center has more of them this year.
Indaco, the Italian restaurant from Indigo Road Hospitality Group, opened at Alys Beach Town Center in July 2026. Its menu centers on fresh seafood, wood-fired pizza and handmade pasta. SoWal reported that Indaco joins the group's O-Ku, which opened in Alys Beach in 2024. Indaco is listed at 40 Mark Twain Lane, Suite 101. This is its first holiday season in Alys Beach.
Two shops are also on the way. Neither had confirmed an opening when we checked:
- Rowan, a California menswear brand, is opening its first location outside that state at 11 North Castle Harbour Drive, Units 6–7. SoWal's October 7 report said it was expected to open in October 2026, and the Alys Beach merchant directory says "Fall 2026."
- KREWE, the New Orleans eyewear brand, has sold in town for years through the Alys Shoppe and its Tiny House. SoWal reports that this fall it will open its first Florida brick-and-mortar store, with optical frames, lens cutting and other services. No storefront address or date has been published yet. KREWE's own store locator still lists only the Tiny House at the Amphitheater on Somerset Street.
They'll join the merchants who were already open. The Alys Beach directory listed 19 businesses as of late July 2026, including George's, The Citizen, Fonville Press, Charlie's Delights and Raw & Juicy. If Rowan and the KREWE storefront open on schedule, the weeks between November 27 and December 27 will be the first stretch with both of them open and no town events competing for attention. That would make those weeks the town's main holiday shopping window outside the Makers Market weekend.
If you'd like to know how the year-round side of Alys Beach works, including which weeks are busy, which are quiet and how Town Center changes between them, The Polakoff Group is happy to talk it through over coffee at Fonville Press. Request a White‑Glove Consultation, and we'll share what we see on the ground in Alys Beach from season to season.
