Winter Fest OC 2026: Make a Night of It with a Party Bus

There are winter destinations where the cold is part of the adventure and others where you have to travel somewhere far away to find snow. Winter Fest OC takes a different approach. Each holiday season, Costa Mesa becomes home to a festive winter attraction filled with lights, entertainment, seasonal activities, and plenty of reasons to stay for the evening.

For 2026, Winter Fest OC returns to the OC Fair & Event Center from November 27, 2026 through January 3, 2027, on select dates. The lineup includes holiday lights, snow play, live entertainment, Santa, tubing, and a new holiday light trail.

Start the Evening Before You Arrive

The best way to approach Winter Fest is not as a quick stop. Give yourself time to enjoy the atmosphere.

A party bus can pick up your group at home, a hotel, a restaurant, or another starting point and make the journey part of the evening. Everyone can travel together, catch up, listen to music, and arrive without having to coordinate multiple cars.

For larger groups, that can make the difference between a complicated outing and a relaxed one.

Explore the Holiday Attractions

Once inside Winter Fest, there is plenty to keep a group occupied. The 2026 season features a Holiday Light Trail, dazzling light displays, a Holiday House Light Show, snow play, live performances, and the 150-foot Snowflake Summit tubing hill.

Ice skating is also new for 2026, with unlimited skating available through select admission options or as an add-on, subject to session availability and rink capacity.

Families may gravitate toward the snow and skating, while groups of friends may prefer the lights, entertainment, rides, food, and evening atmosphere.

Make It More Than One Destination

Winter Fest can easily serve as the centerpiece of a larger Orange County night.

Start with dinner in Costa Mesa, head to Winter Fest after sunset, then continue toward Newport Beach for waterfront views. Another option is to pair the festival with a holiday lights drive through nearby communities.

With a party bus, there is no need for everyone to return to a single vehicle between stops. The group stays together while the itinerary moves along.

A Holiday Outing for Groups

Winter Fest is particularly well suited to group celebrations. Families can enjoy a seasonal night together, coworkers can plan a holiday outing, and friends can use the event as the starting point for an evening around Orange County.

Winter Fest OC supplies the setting. A party bus gives the evening a little more room to unfold.

Rather than arriving, walking around, and heading straight home, consider making the festival one chapter in a full holiday night. With lights outside the windows and friends together inside the bus, even the drive between destinations becomes part of the experience.