Vallejo's Mad Hatter Holiday Festival Returns with Wonderland Magic and Community Celebration

The Mad Hatter Holiday Festival returns on Saturday, December 6, 2025, transforming Vallejo's historic downtown district into a fantasy world that attracts thousands of visitors with its creative lighted and fire-shooting Wonderland recreations. The festival blends classic holiday traditions with a unique twist, creating a fairytale world that unfolds before attendees who choose to walk through the looking glass and experience this enchanting Wonderland recreation.

The festival features a spectacular parade led by larger-than-life Wonderland characters, including the Mad Hatter and his marvelous tea party guests. The procession includes award-winning Burning Man mutant vehicles and creations of serpents, dragons, and an oversized lighted dancing Cheshire Cat, March Hare and Lion King. A restored 48 and 8 train from the 1900s will appear in its full glory, blowing its horn with its awesome sound down the main street to the festival grounds, adding historical significance to the magical atmosphere.

Additional parade participants include Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers, Marching Bands, Maritime Cadets in their blues, lighted floats, cultural groups, Aladdin's Lamp, the Grinch and its dancing followers and Krampus, the half goat seeking misbehaving children. The festival utilizes two announcing stages: one created for Burning Man as the Stairway to Heaven that is an elevated chair fifteen feet above the Mad Hatter Holiday Parade as they pass, and the second stage another block down hosts a Hatter's Queen Court that will also be crowning young princesses and Queens before the parade begins.

The event schedule includes the Mad Hatter Holiday Festival starting at 2:30 PM, the Mad Hatter Holiday Parade beginning at 4:30 PM, the Mad Hatter's Tree Lighting at 6:00 PM, and the Lighted Boat Parade commencing at 6:30 PM. The festival grounds are filled with lights, food trucks, hot cocoa, holiday vendors, live music, and all of the Wonderland Tea Party Characters to interact with families. There are also two giant firing feathers encircling an area for picture taking and a lighted red bell-ringing train to usher families about and around the large glowing holiday tree.

The tree lighting program takes place on a huge Victorian Ship which has a 30' colorful blimp on its top. Performers will sing holiday tunes along with Santa and his elves, while the mayor welcomes in the holiday season. Grand Marshals Freddie Stone of Sly & The Family Stone and Amanda Williams, a single mom who put her life on the line for another in a devastating situation, will begin the countdown to light the 3,000 bulbs on the giant tree. The conclusion of the festival features the lighted boat parade illuminating the waterway after the tree lighting, creating what organizers describe as a magical time and forever memory that captivates attendees of all ages.

Hyperion Community Partners LLC partners with the City of Vallejo in a private/public partnership to produce their two major holiday events: The Mad Hatter's July 4th Waterfront Celebration and the Mad Hatter Holiday Festival, Parade & Tree Lighting the first Saturday of December. The event leadership includes Frank Malifrando and Michael Bauman along with partnership with Kathy and Shannon O'Hare of Obtainium Works, the creative compound of the extraordinary creations. More information about the festival can be found at HatterVallejo.com and a YouTube video produced by WhatSF, a weekly television program that aired in San Francisco with a growing viewership of over 100,000, is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN6MhLHYFrI.