Elf Plays in Two Campbell Buildings This December. One of Them Nearly Closed in January.

"We are thrilled to announce that Pruneyard Cinemas is open for business."

That banner went up on the Pruneyard Cinemas website on a Friday in mid-January, as San José Spotlight reported. A week earlier the theater had told customers that rising costs would force it to close permanently by the end of the month. It then reached an agreement with Regency Centers, the company that owns The Pruneyard. The terms weren't made public. In its email to customers, the theater credited the "overwhelming support" it had received with helping it get there.

Ten months later, that theater sits at the center of Campbell's holiday season. On Dec. 14 it screens Elf. On Grant Street, the historic Ainsley House is decorating rooms around Elf and three other Christmas films for a season it calls Hollywood Holiday. The free Carol of Lights festival downtown gets no city money and depends on small donations. The Pruneyard tree lighting is listed as an event supporting the Campbell Community Toy Program.

So Campbell's holiday season this year has a movie theme, and nearly every part of it runs because people in town keep it going. Below is how the pieces fit together, with dates you can plan around.

Ainsley House Turns 32 Holidays Into a Film Festival

This is the 32nd year of holiday celebrations at the Ainsley House. For 2026 the museum is "rolling out the red carpet" with rooms inspired by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Elf, The Polar Express and It's a Wonderful Life. Each room has movie scenes, holiday decorations and small surprises. You walk the house at your own pace, and the Holiday Boutique sells ornaments, jewelry, scarves, home décor and other gifts.

The house opens for the season one week after this post goes up. Here are the visiting details from the Campbell Museums holiday page:

The address is 300 Grant St. Museum members and volunteers get 10% off at the boutique.

The self-guided tour is the anchor, and the museum has built three ticketed events around it on separate schedules:

• Photos with Santa on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon, split into three one-hour reservation slots. It costs $20 per reservation, which covers up to six family members.
• The 32nd Annual Holiday Tea & Tour on Dec. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13, seated at noon. Tickets are $70, or $65 for members, and reservations are required. At the end of October, the Dec. 4 seating was down to one ticket and the other five dates were still on sale.
• Evening open houses on Thursday, Dec. 17, and Sunday, Dec. 20, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with live music, refreshments and advance tickets.

The evening dates are the only time the decorated rooms are open after dark. The regular 3 p.m. closing makes the daytime tour a weekend-afternoon outing for most working households.

The Same Movies, On the Pruneyard's Big Screen

The Ainsley House tells its movie story room by room. Pruneyard Cinemas shows the films themselves. Its December schedule lists five holiday classics:

1. Love Actually, Dec. 7
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Dec. 8
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dec. 9
4. Elf, Dec. 14
5. Scrooged, Dec. 16

Elf is the one film on both lists. A family could walk through the Ainsley room built around Buddy the Elf on a Sunday afternoon in December and then see the movie on a big screen that Monday night, Dec. 14.

The November lineup has repertory titles too, if you'd rather start before the holidays. Interstellar shows Nov. 2, You've Got Mail Nov. 4, Good Will Hunting Nov. 9, a Rocky 50th anniversary screening Nov. 11, Steel Magnolias Nov. 16, Knives Out Nov. 18, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Nov. 23 and Spirited Away Nov. 30.

That schedule is why January mattered. San José Spotlight reported that news of the planned closure had "unnerved nearby businesses that rely on foot traffic generated by the theater." A December lineup like this one is the kind of traffic those businesses were counting on.

The Pruneyard Lights Its Tree on Dec. 3

The theater's neighbors start the season two nights before downtown does. The Pruneyard Tree Lighting is Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Pruneyard Shopping Center. The center sits at 1875 S. Bascom Ave. The 2026 date comes from the Campbell Community Toy Program, which lists the lighting among its "holiday events supporting the toy program." The program has supported local families since 1984.

Two Days Later, Downtown's Festival Asks for $5

The Carol of Lights fills Downtown Campbell on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m., centered at E. Campbell Avenue and N. First Street. The listing includes Santa visits, a petting zoo, donkey rides, bounce houses, craft tables, face painting, carolers, free festival snacks and community performances. Admission is free. The listing notes that the date or time could change.

According to the Carol of Lights listing, the festival is independently produced by the Downtown Campbell Business Association and volunteers. It "is not funded by the City of Campbell or from any other public sources." The same volunteers who organize much of what happens downtown also raise the money for it. The listing asks attendees who can to give "$5, $10, or whatever you're comfortable with." Donations go through the DCBA donation page.

Dec. 5 is also the second day of the Ainsley House tea. The tea runs from noon to 2 p.m., and the festival starts at 4.

The Season, Date by Date

This list starts on publish day:

• Thursday, Nov. 5 through Saturday, Nov. 7: Campbell Union School District presents Shrek the Musical Jr. at Campbell Heritage Theatre, 1 W. Campbell Ave., 7–8:50 p.m. Tickets are $10 plus a $3 facility fee.
• Thursday, Nov. 12: Ainsley House opens Hollywood Holiday.
• Saturday, Nov. 21: Photos with Santa at Ainsley House, 9 a.m.–noon.
• Saturday, Nov. 28: Small Business Saturday in Downtown Campbell, 10 a.m.–11:59 p.m., with participating deals to be posted later in November.
• Thursday, Dec. 3: Pruneyard Tree Lighting, 6–8 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 4 through Sunday, Dec. 6: Holiday Tea & Tour, first weekend.
• Saturday, Dec. 5: Carol of Lights, 4–7 p.m.
• Dec. 7, 8, 9, 14 and 16: Holiday classics at Pruneyard Cinemas.
• Friday, Dec. 11 through Sunday, Dec. 13: Holiday Tea & Tour, second weekend.
• Thursday, Dec. 17 and Sunday, Dec. 20: Ainsley House evening open houses, 5:30–8 p.m. Dec. 20 is also the last day of Hollywood Holiday.

The Downtown Campbell Farmers' Market keeps its usual schedule through all of it, every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. Its listed 2026 dates run through Dec. 13. A Sunday tour at Ainsley House can follow a market morning, since the house opens at 11.

Where Your Ticket Money Goes

Seen together, the season's costs are modest. A family of four with two kids in the 7–17 bracket pays $40 for the Ainsley tour, or nothing with a museum membership. Santa photos are $20 per reservation for up to six people, and the Carol of Lights is free. The Holiday Tea & Tour is the one big-ticket item at $70 a seat.

Carol of Lights donations go to the volunteers who stage it. The tree lighting is listed as supporting the Toy Program. Pruneyard Cinemas told customers in January that their support helped it reach a deal to keep "serving our beloved community of Campbell and the South Bay."

To track what's opening downtown the rest of the year, our late-summer guide to Downtown Campbell covers the corridor's restaurants and the Thursday concert series. More on the city is on our Campbell neighborhood page.

If you have questions about Campbell, from which streets are an easy walk to E. Campbell Avenue on Carol of Lights night to how the neighborhoods around The Pruneyard compare, the team at Amanda Vang is glad to talk it through. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits your calendar this season.