Festival of Trees San Diego: A Nightclub Tree Auction That's Raised a Quarter Million Dollars

Overview

Say "Festival of Trees" to most people and they picture a convention hall, a roped walkway, a few hundred decorated trees and a small train for the kids.

That is not this.

San Diego's Festival of Trees is a three-hour, 21-and-over benefit at Rich's, the Hillcrest nightclub, where local LGBTQ+ and allied businesses donate over-the-top decorated trees that get sold off in a live auction — and the winning tree is delivered to your house, fully set up, the next morning. It's in its sixth year, it's the official holiday kick-off for Hillcrest, and the mayor has made it a thing: Todd Gloria proclaimed the Sunday before Thanksgiving "Festival of Trees Day" in San Diego.

Here's the thing worth knowing before you buy a ticket, because getting it wrong means showing up to the wrong kind of night.

It's a cocktail party, not a walkthrough. Standing-room only. No general-admission seating at all — if you want a chair, the only way to get one is to buy VIP. Three hours, drinks in hand, auctions running. Festive dress is encouraged, and the organizers put it as "Holiday fabulous flair!"

And the trees are a live auction, not a raffle. You bid, you win, you pay that night, and the San Diego Armada Rugby Football Club delivers it to your home anywhere in San Diego County the next day. If you'd rather not keep it, you can have your tree donated to a family in need instead — which is a genuinely nice option to know about before the bidding starts.

The money is the point. 100% of proceeds go to the San Diego LGBTQ+ community, and this year's beneficiary is Stepping Stone of San Diego.

What You Need to Know

• Event: Festival of Trees San Diego, 6th annual — presented by BGCA, a 501(c)(3)
• When: Sunday, November 22, 2026. VIP 4–5 p.m. · General event 5–8 p.m.
• Where: Rich's San Diego, 1051 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 (Hillcrest). See the note below — their ticket page lists the wrong address.
• Age: 21+ only. No exceptions, no kids.
• Tickets: Sold through Universe, in a published range of $45.90 to $509.95 — the top end being VIP tables, which are released closer to the date
• Format: Standing-room, cocktail style. Seats are available only with a VIP purchase.
• Dress: Festive holiday attire — "Holiday fabulous flair"
• Beneficiary: Stepping Stone of San Diego
• Questions: tickets@festivaloftreessd.org

What VIP Actually Gets You

The two tiers aren't a coat-check difference — the VIP hour is a separate event that happens before the doors open to everyone else.

• The tree lighting, led by Shannel of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars. This happens in the VIP hour.
• A meet-and-greet with Eureka O'Hara in the upstairs VIP room at Rich's, with Lalo tequila swag.
• Two complimentary Fierce & Kind Vodka cocktails.
• A complimentary charcuterie board from Barrel & Board catering, plus Porchlight Cookies.
• An actual seat, which at a standing-room event for three hours is not a small thing.

General admission gets the main event, which is most of the night:

• Light charcuterie from Luna Grill
• The silent auction and the live tree auctions
• The travel raffle
• A limited meet-and-greet with a Drag Race queen, sponsored by Avery Productions

The organizers say VIP sells out early and expect the event to sell out. If the tree lighting and a chair matter to you, that's the decision to make now rather than in November.

The Travel Raffle Is the Sleeper

Buried on its own page is the best-value item of the night, and it's the one thing you can buy into without attending.

• The prize: two round-trip Southwest Airlines tickets, issued as e-passes, plus $1,000 in cash.
• The price: $100 per ticket.
• The cap: no more than 100 tickets will be sold.
• The draw: at the event on November 22.
• You do not have to be present to win, and tickets are sold both before and during the event.

A hundred entries, maximum, on a prize worth well north of a thousand dollars. Those are better odds than almost any raffle you'll be offered this year, and they're a matter of published policy rather than estimate. Raffle tickets are separate from event admission, so you can buy in whether or not you're going.

Good to Know

• Street and metered parking only. There's no valet. The organizers recommend a rideshare if you're drinking, which at a three-hour cocktail event is most people.
• Tickets are virtual. Nothing to print — your name is on a list at check-in.
• No refunds or exchanges. But because entry is checked by name, you can forward your confirmation email and give your ticket to someone else if you can't make it. Worth knowing before you write off $45.
• Admission isn't tax-deductible. Neither GA nor VIP. Silent auction and tree sponsorship questions are for your own tax professional.
• Silent auction winners are notified by text, pay on-site and take items home that night.
• Rich's is a big room. Two separate rooms, each with its own bar, DJ and dance floor, a VIP area with four private booths, two outdoor patios, and an upstairs private room that overlooks the main floor — which is where the VIP meet-and-greet happens.
• It's a five-minute walk to most of Hillcrest, and the event ends at 8 p.m. on a Sunday, so dinner afterward is easy.
• They need volunteers. festivaloftreessd@gmail.com, subject line "Volunteer for FOT."

Why It's Worth the Trip

The numbers tell the story better than the pitch does. This event raised just under $23,000 in 2021. Then $40,000 in 2022. $46,000 in 2023. $66,000 in 2024. $52,500 in 2025. In five years a nightclub fundraiser went from a good idea to something approaching a quarter of a million dollars delivered into San Diego.

This year it goes to Stepping Stone of San Diego, which has been doing LGBTQ+-affirming addiction recovery here since 1976 — the same year as San Diego Pride. They run residential treatment, an outpatient program in North Park and sober living, they're funded through Medi-Cal so eligible clients pay nothing out of pocket, and their own reporting says 166 people completed treatment in 2025, all of whom arrived homeless and left housed.

So it's a Sunday evening in Hillcrest, three hours, an auction full of absurd trees, and the proceeds go somewhere specific and local. That's a good use of a November night.

If Hillcrest is a neighborhood you've been curious about beyond a night out, our Hillcrest neighborhood guide covers what living there actually involves, and Hillcrest vs. North Park weighs it against its closest rival. For more of what's on this season, browse our full event calendar.