Irvine's Holiday Faire Moved to the Great Park During the Pandemic. It Never Went Back.

In November 2019, the Irvine Fine Arts Center held its 37th annual Holiday Faire over two days, Friday and Saturday, inside Heritage Community Park on Yale Avenue. A year later the 38th edition had 50 artists selling outdoors at the Great Park's Palm Court. Admission was $2, everyone pre-registered, and temperature checks were taken at the entrance.

This Saturday, November 7, the 44th Holiday Faire opens on that same patch of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. About 100 local artists, makers and artisans will fill the Great Park Palm Court Arts Complex and Hangar 244. Admission is free, with no advance registration. The temporary outdoor venue became the Faire's permanent home, and the Faire has grown to fit it.

Six Novembers, Two Addresses

The 2020 edition hit a second problem on top of the pandemic. Storms were in the forecast, so the City pushed the Faire back from November 7 to November 14, and tickets bought for the original date were honored a week later. At the time, the City described the Palm Court as giving "ample space for both vendors and attendees."

In 2021 the City's 39th annual announcement said the event was returning to the Great Park "for the second year in a row, now with a larger roster of participating artists." The roster had doubled, from 50 to 100. That year, food was sold in collectible ceramic bowls made by Irvine Fine Arts Center volunteers.

From Home Boutique to Hangar

The City has described where the Faire started. Its announcement for the 40th Faire in 2022 put it this way:

"An event that began as a home boutique and has since tripled in size, the Holiday Faire has become Irvine's favorite destination to shop and support local artists, and expose new and established artists to a growing community."

Every count published since then has been about 100 makers or more. The City advertised more than 100 local and regional artisans for 2024. Irvine Connection reported more than 100 local artists and artisans at the Palm Court for 2025. The new piece in 2026 is the building. Hangar 244 is now part of the marketplace alongside the Palm Court.

The Faire's original home is still open. The Irvine Fine Arts Center remains at 14321 Yale Avenue, running art camps, classes, events and open-studio programs. Its future is part of the Heritage Community Park planning. The City's Heritage Community Park improvements page lists an "expanded and modernized Irvine Fine Arts Center" as a long-term improvement. In July 2025, the City invited residents to workshops on updating the park's master plan.

Who Is on the 2026 Map

The City's 2026 Holiday Faire map lists the makers by name. The City says to expect art, ceramics, jewelry, home décor and more. Here is a sampling from the map, grouped by medium:

• Clay: Barbara Gordon Pottery, Crazy Mad Potter, CruzinArt Ceramics, Doro's Ceramics, Hojin pottery, Joe Lee Ceramics and Natural Stone Art, Heather M. Lott Ceramics, Lihui Ceramics, Living Stones Pottery, Lydia Young Ceramics & Christie Hall Ceramics, Mable Yiu Ceramics, Mano Ceramic Studio and MYS Kobo Pottery
• Glass: Nathan Olvera Glass, Sea Urchin Glass Arts, Stephen Woodruff Glass Art and Velvet Glass
• Wood: Andersen Woodturning and Whittier Woodworks
• Fiber and textiles: South Coast Weavers and Spinners Guild, SoCal Fibers, LagunaSilks, Quilted Goodies, Michelle's Aprons, and Maria's hand knitted and crocheted designs
• Paper and cards: Hemana Paperie, Forever Card Company, Lifesmuse: Handmade Cards and ZeidenPress
• Jewelry: Allie Tagua Jewelry, Cherokee Ridge Jewelry Designs, Hodel McRae Jewelry and Eco-jewelry
• Holiday décor and imported goods: Dar's Homemade Holiday Décor, Pixie Village Cottages and Baskets and Beads Kenya

A few booths belong to local institutions. Irvine Animal Care Center is on the vendor list, and the Irvine Public Library and Irvine Connect both have spots on the map. Families with kids can stop at booth 25 for a free "Decorate a Bookmark" activity. The map shows two food truck locations and a first aid station, and the City promises live holiday music.

The Air Base Around the Booths

The Palm Court Arts Complex is made of repurposed military buildings. The City calls it a "cultural campus," and it holds the Great Park Gallery and the Great Park Studio. At Heritage Park, the Faire filled one arts center. Here it shares a campus with a gallery show and a hangar full of local history, and all of it is free on the same Saturday.

The Faire map marks the Great Park Gallery at 270 Corsair as open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the event. The current show is "Grrrl Germs: Punk feminism goes viral, 1991–2026," curated by Astria Suparak and presented by Daisy Chain Fields. It traces how the Riot Grrrl movement spread worldwide over 35 years, through five listening areas of music, event fliers, handmade zines and a shared map of Riot Grrrl chapters and Ladyfest gatherings. It runs through November 29.

Hangar 244 covers the ground the Faire stands on. Its displays follow MCAS El Toro from the start of construction on August 3, 1942, on land previously owned by the Irvine Company, to the base's official closure on July 2, 1999. One exhibit, "The Flying Bull," documents the El Toro insignia that Walt Disney designed in 1943. "Coordinates" pairs Legacy Project photographs of 18 former base buildings and sites with a large historic map of the base. A 9-minute film, "A Guide to Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro," plays every 20 minutes in the History Room hallway. The City notes that Hangar 244 can close for private rentals or larger city-wide events, and it lists 949-724-6599 for the building's status.

Saturday's Logistics

1. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 7. Admission is free, and no registration is needed.
2. Address: The Great Park, 8000 Great Park Blvd.
3. Parking: The City encourages visitors to use Lot 2, which is shown on the Great Park parking map.
4. Vendor list and map: Both are posted at artsinirvine.org/holidayfaire.

The Palm Court's December

The Faire is the first of several holiday events on this campus. The City's holiday roundup, published October 28, puts the season's tree lighting in the same spot.

• Illuminate Irvine takes place December 5, 3 to 8 p.m., at the Palm Court Arts Complex. The evening ends with the lighting of the Holiday Tree and the Palm Court itself.
• Holidayz at the Park fills the Palm Court with walk-through light displays from December 5 through January 3, 2027.
• The Irvine 2/11 Marine Adoption Committee Holiday Toy Drive runs November 1 through December 12. It collects new, unwrapped gifts for infants and children 12 and younger. The Great Park Visitors Center is one drop-off point, along with City Hall and the Irvine Police Department. Drive-through drop-offs at the Irvine Civic Center are December 6 and December 12, 9 a.m. to noon.
• Letters to Santa runs November 24 through December 12, with mailboxes at the Northwood, Portola Springs and Turtle Rock community centers. Replies arrive within a week.

With the toy drive's Great Park drop-off point, a gift bought at Saturday's Faire could go straight into a donation for a 2/11 Marine Battalion family.

Here at BAIKHOME, we follow Irvine's calendar through the whole year, from the Faire's first Saturday in November to the last night of Holidayz at the Park. If you'd like to talk through what the Great Park's growth means for your corner of Irvine, our bilingual team is happy to help, and you can start with a free home valuation.