On Saturday, December 19, the Hamilton Arts Foundation will lead its fifth annual holiday caroling walk through historic Hamilton. It starts at the Amphitheater gazebo and ends two hours later with hot cider and a Secret Santa raffle at the Hamilton Community Center on South Palm Drive. The free event is the most visible thing the volunteer group does to support a much larger goal, which is to reopen the old Hamilton Field base theater as a music and arts hub.
The City of Novato lists the route's final stop, the Community Center, together with the former theater next door under a single City-owned Town Center property. The Foundation tells carolers to park in the Hamilton Theater lot. So on December 19 the singing ends on the property the organizers are campaigning for.
The route, stop by stop
The Foundation's event page lists the walk from 4 to 6 p.m. and asks people to arrive at 3:45 at Hamilton Amphitheater Park, 500–598 Hamilton Parkway. Here is the posted timing:
- 3:45 p.m. Arrive at Hamilton Amphitheater Park.
- 4:00 p.m. The carolers sing at the gazebo, and then the crowd joins in for a few carols.
- 4:15 p.m. Walk to Traditions.
- 4:30 p.m. Carols at the corner of Alconbury and Hayford Court.
- 4:45 p.m. Walk to the Hamilton Community Center, 503 South Palm Drive.
- 5:00 p.m. Carols at the Community Center to open the after-party.
- 5:15 p.m. Break for hot apple cider, cookies, face painting, snowflake making and the Secret Santa raffle, where winners choose from a table of wrapped gifts.
- 6:00 p.m. Farewell.
The singing is led by the Comfort and Joy Carolers, a professional quartet led by Anthony Martinez. They sing along the route, and the Foundation encourages people to either walk with the group or pick one spot and listen. The event is free. The Foundation offers optional $20 donation tickets and an RSVP form, and it also lists the event on Eventbrite. A song sheet for the 2026 sing-along is listed as coming soon on the same page.
The schedule shows how short the walk is. From the gazebo to the Alconbury and Hayford Court corner to South Palm Drive, it stays inside the old base, and the Foundation calls the stops "historic landmarks." Each stop gets about fifteen minutes. If you miss the gazebo start, you can still catch the group at the corner stop at 4:30.
Where the walk ends
The City of Novato's page on City-owned Hamilton properties groups the end of the route into one listing called "Town Center (former Theater, Community Center, vacant land and parking lot)." It is at 507 S. Palm Drive, Assessor's Parcel Number 157-690-47, with a second parcel at Hamilton Parkway and Palm Drive, APN 157-180-47. The status line for the Town Center says "Coming Soon."
Other City-owned Hamilton sites have already gone through formal processes. The same page notes that on June 25, 2019, the City Council authorized a purchase and sale agreement with City Ventures for the Hamilton Commissary parcel. The City's Hamilton page also records Council direction on September 22, 2020, to issue a request for proposals for the BOQ, the Officers' Club, the Old Gym site and nearby parking. That list does not include the Town Center theater parcel.
The Foundation describes what it sees from the Town Center on its homepage:
"After the departure of the MOCA (Museum of Contemporay Art) from our Hamilton Field Town Center, a void was left behind. What if we build a Marin Music And Art Museum at this location?"
The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art now promotes coverage of its San Rafael location opening on its About page. The same Foundation homepage links to a page titled "30 Years Of Disrepair - This Needs To Change."
What the Foundation's plan asks for
The Foundation's Hamilton Field Town Center Master Plan is a draft last updated May 1, 2026. It is the clearest statement of what the caroling, the opera afternoons and the raffles are supporting. Its main points:
- A music and arts hub on the Hamilton Theater parcel and the Town Plaza, with the community asking the City to support renovating and rebuilding.
- A lease with the City as the way to preserve and develop the parcel, plus a suggestion that the land could be rezoned back to Park & Recreation.
- A live performing arts conversion of the theater. The plan notes that ADA design work and construction advice depend on getting access to the building.
The plan's "Next Steps" page describes the effort as early-stage. It says the Foundation intends to use the document to begin fundraising and would like the City Council's blessing. Its first numbered step lists Council support as confirmed and says a letter of intent is still needed to put that commitment in writing. The next steps are to start fundraising and to set up third-party account management for incoming funds.
At this stage, a free Saturday event that brings families onto the Town Center site with the theater lot full of cars is the Foundation's most visible way of making its case.
Five Decembers and four Septembers
The Foundation's news page shows the caroling walk running every December since 2022. Since 2023 it has been paired with a second yearly event, Opera in the Amphitheater, a free afternoon of arias at the same park where the caroling begins.
| Year | September | December |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | None | Caroling, Dec. 17 |
| 2023 | 1st Opera in the Amphitheater, Sept. 9, with Golden Gate Opera | Caroling, Dec. 16 |
| 2024 | 2nd Opera in the Amphitheater, Sept. 14, with Golden Gate Opera | Caroling, Dec. 14 |
| 2025 | 3rd Opera in the Amphitheater, Sept. 13 | Caroling, Dec. 20 |
| 2026 | 4th Opera in the Amphitheater, Sept. 12 | 5th annual caroling, Dec. 19 |
Between these yearly events, the group has held events tied directly to the base's history and the theater. One was a Roaring '20s party on February 18, 2023, marking Hamilton Field's 94th birthday. The Foundation's description of it says the airfield "is the reason we have our Hamilton homes and the Hamilton Theater in this amazing neighborhood." Another was the "Raise The Roof" Mega Raffle, drawn on Veterans Day, November 11, 2023, after the Novato Veterans Day Parade. Its tickets were sold through the Save Hamilton Theater site. The raffle's name sums up the campaign.
Put together, the record shows a small volunteer group holding a free December walk for five years and a free September opera afternoon for four, with fundraising for the theater alongside them. The walk on December 19 is the fifth time they have closed the year this way.
Planning the rest of the day
Two other holiday-season options are nearby. Only one of them falls on December 19.
Up the road at Hamilton Landing, the Marin Open Studios juried exhibition of work by 70 local artists is on display at the Marin Community Foundation, 5 Hamilton Landing, Suite 200. It is free and open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through January 8, 2027. Because December 19 is a Saturday and the exhibition is open weekdays only, plan a separate weekday visit.
Across town, the Bel Marin Keys Community Services District's Q4 2026 newsletter lists the Lighted Boat Parade for the same evening, December 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. around both lagoons, weather permitting, and says it is open to everyone. The caroling ends with its 6 p.m. farewell, so a family could do the cider and raffle in Hamilton and then drive to the lagoons for the second half of the parade.
The caroling details to remember are 3:45 at the Amphitheater gazebo and 4:30 at Alconbury and Hayford Court. If you're coming for the raffle, be at 503 South Palm Drive by 5:15. Park in the Hamilton Theater lot or the Community Center lot.
What happens to the Town Center parcel will shape the center of historic Hamilton for years, and our team follows City actions on these Hamilton properties closely. If you live nearby and want to talk through what Town Center decisions could mean for your street, Imagine Marin is happy to walk through the record with you. Book an Appointment.
