On Friday, December 4, the 6 p.m. Holiday Parade will end with the island's 120-foot tree lighting up at Rotary Plaza, all 18,175 lights of it. The crowd will gather at Orange Avenue and Isabella, the corner where the Coronado Flower Lady had operated since 1981. This year the stand is gone. Nobody has said what will replace it.
That empty corner gives the whole season a theme. Between now and the Bay Parade of Lights, most of Coronado's holiday calendar either leads up to Rotary Plaza or runs past it. Every one of those events now happens around a public space the city is still deciding what to do with.
What the city has said about the corner
The Flower Lady's permit to operate commercially at the plaza expired on August 31, 2026, and the city did not renew it. When Coronado Times reported the decision in August, Kaylee Ricci, the city's communication and engagement officer, described the plan this way:
"The city is returning the park to its full public use while considering potential for the future. No decisions have been made and the city is interested in the community's ideas."
According to the same article, Ricci said future uses could include more public amenities, other community uses, or limited commercial use. She also noted that the city very rarely grants private commercial use of public space. Councilmember Amy Steward wrote in an email the paper quoted that the city had decided "to leave the area as a park for the time being," and that if the space reopens to a business, the Flower Lady "will be welcome to apply."
By mid-October, Coronado Times reported that the city still had not announced what, if anything, would go into the space. So the plaza goes into its busiest night of the year as a park whose next chapter hasn't been written. The city has also asked residents for ideas.
Where the island's only florist works now
Owner Shanel Albert has run the Coronado Flower Lady since 2016. The shop now works out of the back of AR Workshop at 1033 B Avenue, #101, next door to Lobster West. AR Workshop offered her the space, and Coronado Times notes she is the island's only florist. The paper also pointed out that island storefront rents run above $8,000 a month, which is why the shared arrangement mattered.
Albert told Coronado Times that online orders have stayed busy, but walk-in customers are still finding the new location. "I just want people to know that I'm here, and I'm open for business," she said. She added an upside of the move: "I like being inside and the flowers like being inside."
For the season ahead, that changes one routine. Holiday flowers, centerpieces and last-minute bouquets for a party on the 4th now come from B Avenue, not from the corner where the tree stands.
The decorations already going up away from Orange Avenue
Some of the season's most visible displays are blocks from Rotary Plaza. The city's Avenue of Heroes program scheduled its Group XXIII ceremony for Saturday, October 31, at the Coronado High School Performing Arts Center, 650 D Avenue. The ceremony honors 14 veterans and active-duty service members who live in Coronado, have lived there, or have served there. Their names and service details hang on banners along Third and Fourth Streets, from Orange Avenue to Naval Air Station North Island, from October 2026 through May 2027. Anyone driving to or from the North Island gate this holiday season passes all 14.
The program started in 2014 as a partnership between the city, VFW Post 2422, the Third & Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association and the Coronado Historical Association. Nominations are open year-round, and the committee holds ceremonies in May or November.
At the other end of Orange Avenue, Hotel del Coronado's season runs from November 20, 2026, to January 3, 2027. This year it includes a new Lightshow Spectacular alongside Skating by the Sea, the Beachside Igloos and a set of themed trees tracing The Del's history back to 1888. The rink is back on the beachfront Windsor Lawn at 1500 Orange Avenue, and skating schedules vary by date. The Del's community Holiday Festival is on December 2, two days before the parade.
Thanksgiving week runs through downtown
The two November events with the most foot traffic both happen within walking distance of the plaza.
- Thursday, November 26: The 13th Annual Coronado Turkey Trot is a flat 5K walk/run with views of San Diego Bay. It benefits research and treatment at Rady Children's Hospital and welcomes all ages.
- Saturday, November 28: Coronado MainStreet hosts Shop Small Saturday downtown, and Discover Coronado says Santa may be out walking the streets.
Shop Small Saturday is an easy day to find the Flower Lady's new spot on B Avenue, since that is the morning downtown expects the most shoppers out on foot.
December 4 at Rotary Plaza
The parade and tree lighting fall on Friday, December 4. That's one day earlier on the calendar than last year's Friday, December 5. Discover Coronado lists a 6 p.m. parade, with thousands of spectators along the route, followed by the tree lighting at Rotary Plaza. San Diego Tourism's 2026 holiday guide describes the evening stretching from the Ferry Landing down Orange Avenue toward Hotel del Coronado, with local business open houses and sing-alongs along the way. Times and details for the rest of the evening can still change before the 4th, so check the organizers' final schedule that week.
This is the first time in more than four decades the tree lighting happens without the flower stand on that corner. The plaza holds the same crowd it always has. What it might hold next spring is the question the city opened in August.
The rest of December, at a glance
Once the tree is lit, the season moves to the craft fair, the concert hall and the bay.
| Date | Event | Where it points you |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | 54th Artisan's Alley Craft Fair, 150+ vendors, with Coronado Elementary, Middle and High School bands and choirs | Vendor list |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Coronado Philharmonia's Holidays in Coronado, with selections from Handel's Messiah, Stravinsky and holiday favorites at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. | Tickets |
| Sundays, Dec. 13 and 20 | 55th San Diego Bay Parade of Lights, 75+ decorated boats, best viewed from Coronado Ferry Landing | Schedule |
Artisan's Alley falls the day after the tree lighting, so anyone downtown on the 4th can make it a two-day stretch of Coronado events. The Parade of Lights moves the crowd from Orange Avenue to the bayfront for two Sundays, while the skating and lights at The Del carry on through January 3.
Rotary Plaza stays open as a park through all of it. The city has said it wants community input on what comes next, and the Flower Lady is on B Avenue, inside AR Workshop, next to Lobster West.
At Edna Mitchell, we follow how changes like this one shape everyday life on the island, from a corner of Orange Avenue to the banners on Third and Fourth. If you're thinking about what your own Coronado home is worth heading into 2027, or you're planning a move around a PCS timeline, get your home valuation or call to discuss your move. We'll talk it through with you in English or Spanish.
