WinterFest
WinterFest
December 20th – 21st | 10AM-5PM
FREE for Members, $24 Adults, $19 Children (2-12) and Seniors (65+)
Join us for a two-day celebration that marks the launch of Winter at Chabot! The Center comes alive with festive energy. Enjoy live music, face painting, and special activities that blend holiday cheer with cosmic exploration. Meet Chabot’s science and astronomy experts as they share real research about icy worlds, planetary missions, and the search for life beyond Earth. From sparkling décor to hands-on discovery, WinterFest is the perfect start to a season filled with imagination, science, and family fun.
2025 Dates
WinterFest - Day One
December 20th | 10AM-5PM
DC Dance Center Holiday Showcase, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, SMAX, Astro Everywhere, and more!
Buy TicketsWinterFest - Day Two
December 21st | 10AM-5PM
SMAX, SIPREME Hot Chocolate, Astro Everywhere, Gingerbread Rover Making workshops and more!
Buy Tickets
Step Into a Season of Science and Wonder
Your winter adventure begins at the Chabot Space Station, where frozen frontiers await! Step through the portal and prepare to journey across some of the coldest, most captivating worlds in the cosmos: the ocean-covered moon Europa, the dazzling ice plains of Pluto, and a mysterious icy exoplanet orbiting a distant star.
Take our Gingerbread Rovers Workshop!
Put your engineering skills (and your sweet tooth) to the test in our Edible Mars Rover Lab! Learn about the real rovers exploring Mars, then design and build your own gingerbread decorated version using graham crackers, frosting, and other delicious materials. It’s a fun, creative workshop that combines science, engineering, and holiday cheer all in one tasty mission. Each ticket includes one rover kit. A maximum of two people may work on each rover. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
WinterFest Member Perks
Join during WinterFest weekend to receive 30% off at the Gift Shop and Café PLUS a complimentary winter drink! (Hot cocoa recommended for chilly space explorers.) Members will also enjoy exclusive access to special programs like Gingerbread Rover Building and more!
NEW Planetarium Show!
SPACETIME
Telescopes built to detect electromagnetic waves, like visible light, infrared, radio waves, and other forms, give us the ability to see objects and events at great distances in the universe, and far back in time. Today, a new type of instrument, the “gravity wave telescope”, is giving us the power to “hear” cosmic events beyond the sight of ordinary telescopes. Gravity waves are ripples in spacetime created by events like collisions between black holes, and powerful processes that took place in the earliest times of our universe.
The Dutch Black Hole Consortium is currently building an enormous underground gravity wave detector, called the Einstein Telescope. When completed, this instrument will provide unprecedented insight into the nature of the universe and its origin, allowing scientists to probe cosmic secrets that light waves cannot illuminate.
WinterFest is only the beginning!
This year, WinterFest kicks off the start of our winter programming at Chabot! After WinterFest ends, the Center will be open with extended dates for Winter at Chabot: Open Monday the 22nd and Tuesday the 23rd. We’ll be closed for the Holidays, reopening on Friday the 26th through December 31st! During Winter at Chabot, you can continue to explore icy worlds and mysterious exoplanets, build your own gingerbread rover, and learn as a family this holiday season!
Generously sponsored by
