The tree at Tracy Way Plaza won't light until 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, December 3. By then the season will have been running for three weeks, about a mile north in the old Marinship. There, a 1942 shipyard office, a converted boatyard and an 800-square-foot community art room do their holiday business well before downtown starts.
This weekend is the one to know. Between Friday, November 13 and Sunday, November 15, nearly 100 artists open their studios on Gate 5 Road. On Saturday night a small arts space a few addresses south holds its first holiday fundraiser as a nonprofit. On Saturday afternoon, the gallery at 750 Bridgeway runs artist demonstrations. The order in which Sausalito celebrates the holidays roughly follows its shoreline, from north to south.
A Shipyard Office With Nearly 100 Doors Open
ICB/ART is at 480 Gate 5 Road. Its building went up in spring 1942 as the Marinship's Yard Office and Mold Loft. It covered about 110,000 square feet in a shipyard that launched its last ship in 1945. Today ICB/ART lists more than 100 professional artists working in the building. The studios open to the public only a few times a year.
The Big Open is the biggest of those openings. ICB/ART calls it its biggest event of the year, with nearly 100 artists opening their doors. The hours:
- Friday, November 13: evening preview, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, November 14: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sunday, November 15: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The November date is newer than many longtime residents may remember. A 2019 MarinArts profile of the ICB Artists Association describes the winter open studios as a first-weekend-of-December event. In 2026 they come three weeks before the town tree lighting. That makes the ICB weekend the opening of the season.
Saturday Night Moves a Few Doors Down
At the end of Saturday's open studios, the action moves to 200 Gate 5 Road, Suite 110. The Art Bloc Sausalito calls itself "a hearth for the creative life on Gate Five Road." It is a community arts space of about 800 square feet that, in its own words, sits on "Sausalito's working waterfront, one of the last of its kind on the West Coast." It opened in 2024 and became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in June 2026.
That makes its Wishing Tree Fundraiser on Saturday, November 14, from 6 to 9 p.m., its first holiday event as a nonprofit. Ticket sales fund its community programs. With ICB closing at 5, a full Saturday on Gate 5 Road can run from late morning to 9 p.m.
Spaulding Marine Center at 600 Gate 5 Road explains why this stretch still feels like a working waterfront. Myron Spaulding founded Spaulding Boatworks at the foot of Gate Five Road in 1951. His wife Gladys later entrusted the boatyard to become a nonprofit center that preserves maritime heritage through hands-on craft and education. Its events calendar is at spauldingcenter.org.
The same Saturday reaches south as well. The SCA Open 2026 at Sausalito Center for the Arts, 750 Bridgeway, runs October 30 through December 6, with free admission and artist demonstrations on Saturday, November 14. One Saturday on the calendar connects the north end of town to the middle.
Lunch Between Studios
The open-studio hours cover the middle of the day, so where to eat is a practical question. These places are on Gate 5 Road or close by on Harbor Drive and Bridgeway, with addresses and hours as each business lists them:
- Heath Ceramics, 400 Gate 5 Road. Showroom and factory, with showroom hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, which fits around the ICB hours.
- Anchorage 5, 475 Gate Five Road, Suite 105. Coffee and a restaurant menu, nearly across from ICB.
- Davey Jones Deli, 1 Gate 6 Road. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so get there before the last studio hour.
- Sausalito Seahorse, 305 Harbor Drive. Billed as Cucina Toscana, a good choice for dinner after the Friday preview.
- Bar Bocce, 1250 Bridgeway. Farther down Bridgeway, on the way back toward downtown.
Heath's showroom stays open until 5, the same closing time as the Saturday and Sunday open studios. That makes it easy to combine with an ICB visit on either day.
The Rules Under These Buildings Were Just on the Ballot
The Marinship's mix of studios, boatyards and a few cafés exists inside zoning that goes back four decades. In February, the Marin Independent Journal reported that the city would revisit Ordinance 1022, which restricts Marinship development. By September the issue had become Measure X, the "Arts, Industrial and Maritime Preservation and Improvement Initiative," on the November 3 ballot.
According to the Marin Independent Journal's September report, the measure would rezone commercial parcels from Spinnaker Point north, including about two-thirds of the 210-acre former shipyard. It would allow buildings up to 47 feet tall, compared with the current 32-foot limit. It would also permit many new business types, including art galleries, marine facilities, museums and retail shops. The same report says Measure X does not create housing sites or affect the historic downtown.
Whatever the vote means for the long run, the November open studios happen in the buildings as they are today. The ICB building alone has more than 100 working artists inside a structure designed for a shipyard's drafting and pattern work.
Then the Season Moves South
After the ICB weekend, the calendar heads toward the ferry. Art & Harbor Days at Tracy Way and Ferry Landing Plaza bookends the stretch, running 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 28, and again on Saturday, December 26. In between, nearly everything happens downtown or on the water:
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Dec 3 | 5th Annual Holiday by the Bay Tree Lighting | Tracy Way Plaza | 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., tree lit at 6:15 |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Breakfast with Santa | Sausalito Yacht Club | 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. seatings |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Trekkin' the Model ranger tour | Bay Model Visitor Center, 2100 Bridgeway | Free, no reservation |
| Sun, Dec 6 | Sausalito Woman's Club Holiday Open House | 120 Central Ave. | 3 to 5 p.m., free |
| Dec 8 to 31 | 20th Annual Gingerbread House Tour | Downtown, waterfront, Caledonia Street | Free |
| Wed, Dec 9 | Hanukkah Menorah Lighting | Viña del Mar Park | 6 to 7 p.m., free |
| Sat–Sun, Dec 12–13 | Sausalito Winter Market | Sausalito Center for the Arts, 750 Bridgeway | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 12 | 39th Annual Lighted Boat Parade | Waterfront at Gabrielson Park | 6 p.m., fireworks around 7:15 |
| Sun, Dec 13 | Jingle Bell 5K and Kids Fun Run | Humboldt Avenue | 5K at 8:30 a.m., kids at 9:15 |
The Holiday by the Bay tree lighting includes performances and a visit from Santa before the 6:15 lighting. At the Breakfast with Santa on December 5, Santa arrives during the first seating. The Woman's Club open house asks guests to bring toy donations. The Gingerbread House Tour is in its 20th year and spreads its displays across downtown, the waterfront and Caledonia Street through the end of the month.
December 12 Is the Busiest Night
Winterfest packs the most into one evening. Reserved seating at Gabrielson Park opens at 5 p.m., the lighted boats start at 6, and fireworks follow at about 7:15. Watching is free. The Captain's After Party at The Spinnaker, 100 Spinnaker Drive, runs from 5 to 10:30 p.m. VIP ticket holders get in at 5 and general admission starts at 8. Dinner is not included.
That same day, the Sausalito Winter Market fills Sausalito Center for the Arts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with local artists, food and drink. You can shop the market until 5 and walk to the water for the 6 p.m. parade. On Sunday morning the Jingle Bell 5K starts on Humboldt Avenue. Bib pickup opens at 7:30 a.m. and the race starts at 8:30. Brunch at The Spinnaker afterward requires reservations.
The season that opens at 480 Gate 5 Road on November 13 reaches its biggest night a mile south, with fireworks over Gabrielson Park on December 12, and keeps going through the gingerbread displays until December 31.
As a Marin resident for more than 35 years, Ruth Linn has watched Sausalito's holiday calendar move up and down this shoreline, and she would be glad to talk about how the Marinship and the waterfront fit into the town's character. If you're curious what your own Sausalito home is worth this season, start with an Instant Home Valuation.
