No Ice Rink at the Fairgrounds This December: Where Petaluma Skates, and What Fills the Season Instead

Last winter the Petaluma Fairgrounds had a rink from December 10 to January 6. Exchange Bank presented it. Mickelson Events ran a tractor-pulled holiday wagon that rolled through a decorated concourse of lights next to the ice. The LUMA Ice website still lists those 2025-26 dates.

It won't be back this year. In the 2026-27 budget, the City of Petaluma put LUMA Ice on hold. That makes the rink the only big piece of the holiday season the city ran itself, and it is the piece that stopped. Nearly everything still on Petaluma's December calendar has a merchant, nonprofit, church or sponsor behind it. You can still have a full December in town this year. Who puts it on is what changed.

What the pause saves the city

The Argus-Courier reported in June that the City Council unanimously approved a $400.4 million budget for 2026-27 on May 18. The budget includes $1.6 million in cuts, made mostly through hiring freezes, smaller cost-of-living increases and fewer service contracts. In that same report, Parks and Recreation Director Drew Halter said his department would spend less on special events. He also said it would look for more sponsorship of events like the Fourth of July fireworks and freeze LUMA Ice, "the winter ice skating rink the city has deployed the last two years."

City staff gave the numbers at the May Recreation, Music & Parks Commission meeting. Over two seasons the city's net investment in LUMA Ice was about $300,000, and ticket sales held at around 10,000 a year. Halter said the rink would not run this year because of cost and sponsor shortfalls. Staff proposed moving that money toward fairgrounds programming and other priorities.

Divide $300,000 by roughly 20,000 tickets and the city covered about $15 for every ticket sold. That is about what an adult pays for a weekend session at the nearest year-round rink, which comes up again below. Ticket sales were steady, so attendance was not the problem. The problem was the gap between what each ticket brought in and what the rink cost, once sponsors had paid their share.

The rest of December already had other hosts

The 2026 holiday calendar from the Petaluma Visitors Program shows how much of the season was never city-run. Each listing names its host, and most of them are businesses or community groups:

• "Light Up the Square" Tree Lighting, Saturday, Dec. 5, at Theatre Square, 140 Second St. It is presented by Basin Street Properties and the Petaluma Downtown Association, with live music, Santa's mailbox, a laser light show and the tree lighting at 7 p.m. Free, 6 to 8 p.m.
• Holiday Lighted Bike Ride, Friday, Dec. 18, from Lucchesi Park at 320 N. McDowell Blvd. It is the fifth year for the ride, sponsored by Safe Streets of Petaluma. It's a 5.4-mile loop through East Petaluma, starting at 5:30 p.m. Registration is required.
• Gingerbread House Showcase and Competition, Nov. 27 to 29 at Hotel Petaluma, 205 Kentucky St. This is its 10th year. It runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Windrush Farm Holiday Art Faire, Nov. 28 and 29 at 2263 Chileno Valley Rd. The faire runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is canceled if it rains. The farm asks visitors to leave dogs at home and prefers cash.
• Festival of Christmas, Dec. 12 and 13 at Petaluma Valley Baptist Church, 580 Sonoma Mountain Pkwy. Free, 4 to 8 p.m., with the Casa Grande Jazz Band & Choir and the Kenilworth Concert Band.

The calendar's sponsor list includes Adobe Road Winery, Hotel Petaluma, Killer's Firehouse Foods, Montagne Russe Winery & Record Lounge, the Petaluma Downtown Association, Safe Streets of Petaluma, Taste Petaluma and Windrush Farm.

The Holiday Food Fair shows the clearest change. Taste Petaluma presents its 10th annual fair on Monday, Nov. 23, from 3 to 8 p.m. It has moved to the Barber Lee Spirits distillery at 120 Washington St. The organizers say this is the first year it will be held at their own distillery, with spirits tastings and seasonal cocktails while you shop. Proceeds go to the Petaluma Firefighters Foundation. Last year the fair was held on a Sunday afternoon at Hall of the Above, 199 Petaluma Blvd. N. It's an indoor farmers market for the week of Thanksgiving, with local cheese, bread, charcuterie, chocolate, honey and preserves. Tickets are sold through the fair's site.

The Downtown Holiday Shopping Stroll changed too. On Saturday, Dec. 5, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Petaluma Downtown Association is holding the activities inside participating shops, with entertainers roaming the sidewalks. In 2023 the event closed Kentucky Street for an outdoor marketplace. The Saturday now leans on what each storefront puts on.

Where the skates go this winter

If skating is a December tradition in your house, the closest options are outside Petaluma. Here is how they compare for the 2026-27 season:

Snoopy's Home Ice is the closest and the cheapest. You can only buy admission in person, and sales open 30 minutes before each session. The rink posts a daily schedule and asks skaters to check it or call before heading over. Weekend and holiday sessions last two hours or more. Weekday and night sessions last 90 minutes. A family of four with two kids under 12 would pay $52 for a weekend session, plus $16 for rentals.

The Meritage rink opens Thursday, Nov. 19. Through Dec. 17 it runs 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. On Thanksgiving it's open 2 to 10 p.m. From Dec. 18 through Jan. 3 it is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Rentals are included in the price, which helps if your kids have outgrown last year's skates.

What's on in town during the rink's old weeks

LUMA Ice ran from Dec. 10 to Jan. 6 last season. This year Petaluma has something on most of those weeks without a rink:

1. Dec. 1 to 31: City of Lights Driving Tour. It's a free, self-guided route past decorated homes and businesses. The map is available online and at the Petaluma Visitors Center, 210 Lakeville St.
2. Dec. 10: Petaluma Winter Wine Stroll. It covers nine downtown wine destinations from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $50, and Montagne Russe Winery & Record Lounge at 155 Petaluma Blvd. N. organizes it.
3. Dec. 12: Lighted Boat Parade. Boats leave the marina at 5:30 p.m. and reach the Turning Basin around 6 p.m.
4. Dec. 12 and 13: Festival of Christmas at Petaluma Valley Baptist Church, with a living nativity, a tea room and a carol sing-along.
5. Dec. 18: Holiday Lighted Bike Ride from Lucchesi Park. Bring a helmet and lights for your bike.

The Downtown Holiday Hen Hunt covers almost all of the rink's old season by itself. It's the second year for the hunt. Kids search participating downtown shops for festive hens, fill in a map and enter to win prizes, including a $200 Shop Petaluma gift card. According to the Petaluma Downtown Association, it runs Nov. 28, 2026 through Jan. 3, 2027. Grab the map early in the season, since entries close in early January.

Nov. 28 is also when most of the season starts. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by tugboat at River Plaza Shopping Center, 54 E. Washington St., at noon, with entertainment starting at 11:30 a.m. From there it's a short walk downtown for Small Business Saturday. Two days earlier, the Petaluma Turkey Trot 5K and 5-mile race starts at 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning at the Ellis Creek Recycling Center.

Halter's comments to the commission focused on sponsor shortfalls, so a sponsor would most likely be the deciding factor in any return of the rink. For this December, the in-town calendar runs on Barber Lee's distillery, Basin Street's square, Safe Streets' bike ride and the downtown shops hiding hens.

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