El Paso Winterfest

This parade is completely mediocre recycled parade floats from the Dia de los Muertos. The organizers think people dont know or we are clueless. 3 bands in the parade. had parade floats where they just threw lights on the dia de los muertos floats. People in el paso are ignorant low class people that live in the ghetto and dont know any better. its a horrible experience the chase bldg security kept whining how its property its in public way if its private gate the outside of it.

What a treat! During a recent visit to El Paso we stumbled upon El Paso Winterfest Downtown. The San Jacinto Plaza and streets surrounding are festively decorated for the season! Everything is just so beautifully decorated! You can't help but feel like a kid again walking through the park with all the decorations and holiday displays. If we lived locally, this is definitely where we'd come every year for Christmas pics! The night we went, there was live music near the fountain in the middle of the park, ice skating, food booths and even a free pictures with Santa photo stop. So much fun! Wish more cities had community holiday festivals like this! Everything was just beautiful and everyone seemed so happy and friendly! Truly a Christmas gift! Bonus points: don't forget to get a hot chocolate and a cup of elotes- they're delicious!

Parking wasn't as bad to find. $10 is a good deal in the many parking garages that deemed to be safe, warm, and tranquil. Almost every food stand had some kind of hot chocolate or churros, which was a plus. We arrive around 6:30PM on a Saturday. The turnout was nice! E-scooters everywhere which was always nice to see. My only gripe was the ice skating rink which was a total rip-off. 8$ for an hour including rental might sound like a good deal but not when you're skating on what seemed to be plastic flooring. Peep the pics. This was the first year they supposedly used this instead of actual ice, which makes up for less maintenance and care, but hopefully this is the last. I've never been so bummed out to be ice skating. I called it quits 30 mins into the session.

For all the time it took the city to rebuild San Jacinto Plaza it ended turning out pretty great, and it really shines (literally and figuratively) during Winterfest, which is a Holiday themed festival held from November to Early January.The lights and decorations look pretty awesome, lots of great selfie opportunities, and I really like how inclusive they are, there's displays for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even the only-recently-legalized Christmas! (Did I spell it correctly?) I really like the big tree, which is packed with decorations, it's where I take my December profile pics, and there's also a Santa for parents to take their December profile pics.But what makes it a true festival is the food and stuff, and there is a plethora of food trucks and vendors available throughout the plaza. There's also events and music, which vary by day, and even an ice skating rink.Weekends get pretty packed, but Winterfest is totes worth a visit. Happy Holidays!

Thanks to the city of El Paso, this display of lights happens every year in San Jacinto Plaza. It starts in late November during a holiday lights parade. It'll be around until early January. Besides the lights and trees, they offer Christmas shopping, treats and live entertainment. There's also a small ice skating rink closeby. The Plaza Theatre offers free holiday movies throughout the holiday season. It gets packed pretty quickly. I would recommend buying ice skating passes online before. I took my son to see the Christmas display and we enjoyed it. There's no fee for any of it except for the ice skating. I believe it's between $5 and $8. The shopping and treats are also separate costs.You can also take the El Paso streetcar around the area. Some people park closer to UTEP and take the streetcar to Winterfest. That's a good idea I wish I would've known prior to going! You can park in the Convention Center for $10. No thank you! Sorry but not so sorry! I found parking closer to Union Plaza for free. I looked into parking inside Union Plaza off Durango but it was closed! Live and learn my friends! Take the familia out for a fun, no cost outing...Get on Santa's nice list!

Winterfest is one of the most beautiful things about El Paso. It is absolutely a MUST if you are in town during the time frame. It's one of our favorite things to go to every year. There's vendors selling items, food, beverages, ice skating, plenty of photo ops, Santa, performers, etc. Don't miss it in if you're in El Paso Nov-Jan!

So cute and a wonderful night. Cool displays and even better food! One of the nicest I've seen in a long time!!!

Fun time. It's a great way to get outside and see downtown. Great restaurants in the area.

Trash. Don't waste your time or money. Chaotic, disorganized, overpriced, rude staff. I would give negative stars if I could.

What a joke and disappointment for the ice skating rink. It's not even ice and some poor synthetic flooring. Might as well give everyone roller skates. Everyone is pretty much walking and not ice skating. I asked if we could get refunds and they said no that they put that they had synthetic ice. You can put that but if it does not do the job you should give refunds. Last time we come and do this. Can't make this up and they told my wife that professionals can do this! Really dumbfounded that my 10 year old who lives in El Paso can be a pro at ice skating. I almost died laughing at the ignorance of this employee!