The owners of Capitol Hill's Christmas Dive Bar sold the bar it used to live in, so this year the pop-up is moving into a nightclub that closed over the summer, with a run that lasts into the new year.
This year, most of the Hill's holiday calendar works the same way. Between now and the end of December, a closed Pike/Pine club becomes a Christmas bar, and a glass house in Volunteer Park hosts a DJ on a Friday night. On 15th Avenue East, a barbershop pours wine on a Wednesday. Few of these rooms were built for what they'll host this season. The places that are changing hands, closing, or doubling up are the ones that hold the season.
A 20-year nightclub gets one more season
The Capitol Hill Christmas Dive Bar, the seasonal pop-up from Joey Burgess and his husband Murf Hall, has its 2026 home at 1010 E Pike, the former home of Havana. CHS Capitol Hill Seattle reported in October that the pop-up had found its 2026 home there, a few months after Havana's owner announced he was closing the club after 20 years of Pike/Pine nightlife.
On timing, CHS said this:
"The Christmas Dive Bar is usually lined up for a Thanksgiving-approximate debut."
The bar's own website lists the address as 1010 E Pike St. and says it opens daily at 4 p.m. It takes no reservations and runs "for a limited time only through January 2027." The site promises "Christmas starting in November." Before you go, check @christmasdivebar on Instagram, which CHS named as the place for updates.
Last year the pop-up decorated a different room. Per CHS, Santa, snowflakes and Christmas lights took over the Queer/Bar space through December 2025. Since then, Burgess and Hall have sold Queer/Bar to the owners of The Cuff. That left the Christmas Dive Bar, which CHS says the couple built into a holiday tradition that helps their bottom line and their staff's year-end finances, without a home.
The block at 10th and Pike is mid-change
The pop-up gives Havana's room a busy December. It doesn't settle what comes next. CHS reports that the long-term future of the old Havana is still undecided, and Burgess told the outlet the pop-up probably has little to do with that future.
The rest of the Hunters Capital-owned building is changing too:
- Glossier's Capitol Hill store is set to close for good in January as part of the company's worldwide retail pullback. That means this holiday season is its last on the block.
- Poquitos, next door, has new owners and is now a sibling business to Tavern Law.
- The former Havana hosts the Christmas Dive Bar through the holidays, with its long-term use still undecided.
So a December night at 10th and Pike covers one store's last holiday season, a restaurant's first one under new owners, and a nightclub filled in for the season. The holiday crowds arrive on a block whose next version hasn't been decided yet.
Up on E Olive Way, a bakeshop counter now pours mezcal
A few blocks northwest, the same thing is happening on a much smaller scale. Bar Laa, at 1500 E Olive Way, took over the compact bakeshop-turned-bar that used to house Laurel, and CHS reported it planned a guest-list grand opening for Hilloween weekend.
Laara Garcia created the bar together with Laurel owner and longtime Capitol Hill nightlife figure Kate Opatz. The room is under 500 square feet, built around open standing counters instead of seats, and the drinks focus on agave spirits: tequila, mezcal and raicilla. CHS described spirit flights served with pairings, including one tasting with kiwi berry salt and dark chocolate. Garcia raised just under $50,000 through crowdfunding for the buildout. She previously helped launch Gold Bar, which closed on E Olive Way in the summer of 2025.
For the holidays, the size is what matters. The Christmas Dive Bar fills a nightclub. Bar Laa fits a few people at each counter. Both are new uses for rooms that served something else a year ago.
On 15th Avenue East, the shops do the pouring
The Capitol Hill Holiday Wine Walk, now in its second year, runs Wednesday, December 9, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door if any are left. Seattle Uncorked organizes the walk with the 15th Ave E business improvement area, and merchants host pop-up tastings with Pacific Northwest boutique wineries. Check-in is at KeyBank, the main check-in, and at Hilltop Apartments, which also handles winery check-in and check-out.
The host list is mostly businesses that don't normally pour wine:
- EnvironmentalWorks
- Rufous & Co
- Liberty Bar
- Thistle & Poppy
- Station 7
- Rainbow Remedies
- Palermo Pizza
- Hopvine
- Shop Agora
- Milo's Barber Services
- Red Balloon Company
Featured wineries include Aluel, Bacovino, Cairdeas Winery, Category 5 and Dineen Vineyards. On a barbershop's calendar, December 9 is a regular Wednesday. On the walk, it becomes a tasting room for three hours, and you can do your holiday shopping between pours.
Volunteer Park's greenhouse stays open into the evening
The Volunteer Park Conservatory is known as a daytime place to go. Four times this season, it hosts evening or holiday-specific events instead.
The free Annual Open House is Friday, November 20, 5 to 7 p.m., with guest DJ Andrew Corse playing among the plants. The night opens the Seasonal House Winter display and starts the Conservatory's Lego conservatory raffle, at $5 for one ticket or 5 for $20.
Two weeks later, Holiday in the Park on Thursday, December 3, 5 to 7:30 p.m., spreads beyond the greenhouse into a free, park-wide event with singer Ben Johnson and holiday treats.
Then come two Saturday mornings of Photos with Shanta Claus, on December 5 and December 12, both from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Photos are $10, and admission is separate.
The season on one page
Here is everything above in date order, starting the Sunday after this post goes up:
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Applelooza at the Capitol Hill Farmers Market | E Barbara Bailey Way, Broadway to 10th Ave E | Market runs 11 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 20, 5–7 p.m. | Annual Open House with DJ Andrew Corse | Volunteer Park Conservatory | Free |
| Thu., Dec. 3, 5–7:30 p.m. | Holiday in the Park with Ben Johnson | Volunteer Park | Free |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. | Photos with Shanta Claus | Volunteer Park Conservatory | $10 per photo |
| Wed., Dec. 9, 5–8 p.m. | Capitol Hill Holiday Wine Walk | 15th Ave E | $30 advance, $40 door |
| Sat., Dec. 12, 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. | Photos with Shanta Claus | Volunteer Park Conservatory | $10 per photo |
| Seasonal run through January 2027 | Christmas Dive Bar, daily from 4 p.m. | 1010 E Pike St. | No reservations |
According to Neighborhood Farmers Markets, the Capitol Hill Farmers Market runs every Sunday, all year, on E Barbara Bailey Way between Broadway and 10th Ave E, the stretch of Denny Way renamed in 2019. Its hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and its Applelooza on November 15 starts the season a week before the Conservatory open house.
From Barbara Bailey Way, it's a short walk south to 10th and Pike. The Christmas Dive Bar's site lists daily opening at 4 p.m., so a Sunday at the market can end at a bar that has Havana's room through January 2027.
Behind each of these events is a Capitol Hill storefront that's changing, and we follow those changes on Pike/Pine, E Olive Way and 15th Avenue East all year. If you own on the Hill and wonder what the street's new mix means for your place, Zac Lee can walk you through it over coffee. Get your free home valuation.
