The Tacoma Holiday Festival is back for its 44th year, filling the Tacoma Dome floor with hundreds of vendors, live performances and workshops through Sunday. Organizers expect the four-day run to pull in more than 22,000 shoppers looking for gifts, food and holiday inspiration before the season officially kicks off.
According to KIRO 7 News Seattle, assistant show manager Piper Newman said the festival offers food, gifts and holiday inspiration for shoppers browsing hundreds of local vendor booths. The event, produced by Marketplace Events, runs October 15 through October 18 at the Tacoma Dome, with Pierce County confectionery maker Puyallup Chocolates serving as the official presenting sponsor this year.
New Attractions Join a Decades-Old Tradition
The show has deep roots in Tacoma's shopping calendar, having operated for decades under its original name, the Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Festival, before its official rebrand to the Tacoma Holiday Festival. This year's edition introduces a Picture-Perfect Cottage photo setup for visitors and a new Merry Money program, which lets attendees scan QR codes around the venue to earn credit toward shopping at the show, per the station's report.
Workshops on hosting, baking and making centerpieces round out the hands-on programming, giving shoppers a reason to linger beyond the vendor aisles. Puppermint Lane, the pet adoption feature that debuted the previous year, returns with a different adoption agency or foundation featured each day of the festival, the same account notes.
Cheaper Tickets and Charitable Add-Ons
For its second annual Friday Ladies Night, the Tacoma Dome box office is offering a discounted $5 admission ticket starting at 4 p.m. today for the 5 to 7 p.m. event window, according to Tacoma Holiday Festival show information. Standard general admission runs $19.50 at the box office or $22.15 online with service fees, while active-duty military members with government ID and children 12 and under get in free.
Festival organizers have also partnered with MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital this year, letting ticket buyers donate during online checkout to the hospital's 35-year-old Toys for Kids initiative, which supports families of chronically ill children.
Venue Rules Shoppers Should Know
The Tacoma Dome remains a completely cashless venue for concessions and parking, but management has relaxed its usual strict clear bag policy specifically for holiday festival shoppers, per the venue's event listing. The dome opened in April 1983 at a cost of $44 million, and it remains one of the world's largest wooden domed structures, with an event capacity ranging from 21,000 to 23,000 people, according to its Wikipedia entry.
The festival's economic footprint extends beyond the vendor floor. Food and beverage taxes collected at Tacoma Dome events help fund the City of Tacoma's Events and Recognitions Committee grants, which allocated $90,000 to support 28 local organizations in 2026, including festivals, cultural celebrations and community gatherings.
