Alys Beach's Thanksgiving Week Runs on Two Calendars, and Caliza's Kitchen Closes Right After

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the afternoon in Alys Beach moves between two kitchens. At Caliza, pumpkins get painted from 2 to 4 p.m. At The Summerhouse, guests arrive at 4:30 for a cooking demonstration that begins at 4:45, led by the Alys Beach culinary team, for 16 people at $25 each. Both are on the town's calendar. Neither is open to the general public.

Two days later the Amphitheatre on Somerset Street fills for a free tree lighting that anyone driving down 30A can walk into.

That split runs through the whole week. Alys Beach keeps two holiday calendars, one public and one for owners and rental guests, and they meet in the same few blocks. The private calendar is anchored at Caliza, and Thanksgiving weekend is the last stretch before Caliza's restaurant service closes for the winter. When the week ends, the town's daily dining moves from the pool to Town Center, and it stays there until March.

The Week, Day by Day

Here is how the two calendars line up for November 24 through 28, 2026, as published on the Alys Beach events calendar.

The calendar also lists a Make Your Own Squishy bar on Friday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m., and a $15 Make Your Own Trucker Hat session for kids at The Silva on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.

The public events bunch up on Thursday and Friday. The owner and rental guest events spread across the days around them. A household hosting family for the full week can fill nearly every afternoon. A visitor who comes just for the tree lighting sees only the Friday half.

Thursday Morning, 30A Belongs to the Runners

The week's one event that reaches every household is the race. The 30A 10K Thanksgiving Day Races start at 7:30 a.m. with the 10K, then the one-mile fun run at 7:35 and the 5K at 9:30. The Alys Beach listing for the 30A 10K says Highway 30A is closed to all traffic from 7 to 10:30 a.m. The closure runs from the start and finish line at East Water Street in Rosemary Beach to the 10K turnaround at Bridge Lane, just east of The Big Chill.

Alys Beach sits inside that stretch. For anyone picking up a turkey, collecting relatives or heading for an early tee time, the practical window is before 7 a.m. or after 10:30. Guests flying in Wednesday night need to know this before they plan a Thursday morning drive along the corridor.

Friday Is the Public Day

Friday opens with the Thanksgiving Turkey Burn at the Alys Beach Amphitheatre from 9 to 10 a.m. Kyle Higginbotham, ZUMA's Head Fitness Professional, leads a full-body HIIT circuit of bodyweight work, strength and cardio. No equipment is needed beyond a mat. Tickets are $20, the Merchants of Alys Beach present it, and the town notes it can change or be canceled because of weather.

The same Amphitheatre turns over that afternoon for Alys in Winter Wonderland, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The schedule is tighter than it looks:

1. 4 p.m.: the holiday concert begins, and the activity stations open. These include cookie decorating at $3 a set, letters to Santa, face painting, Santa photos at $3, and holiday photos by EPIC on the splash pad.
2. 5:45 p.m.: lines close promptly so vendors can serve everyone already waiting.
3. 6:30 p.m.: the tree lighting with Santa.

The event is free and open to the public. Families who want both the Santa photo and the cookies need to be in line well before 5:45. Anyone there only for the lighting can arrive later. The Merchants of Alys Beach present it and use the event page to point to the next day: "Please join us the following day to support our merchants on Small Business Saturday."

Saturday Is Caliza's Last Big Morning of the Season

Sweets with Santa takes place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Caliza Pool, for owners and rental guests. It has photos with Santa and donuts. It is the last Caliza event on the Thanksgiving calendar, and the timing matters.

Caliza's page lists the pool deck as open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and drinks from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Below those hours is one line: "Restaurant Services Closed: Dec 1 – March 1." Caliza is at 23 Nonesuch Way, and the pool deck hours carry no winter closure. The kitchen and bar are what go quiet.

So Thanksgiving weekend works as the handoff. Three days after Santa sits poolside, lunch at Caliza stops. Pool days continue, but a winter afternoon there means walking to Town Center for food.

Where the Winter Table Moves

Town Center has more depth this winter than in past ones. SoWal reported in October that Indaco, an Italian concept from the Indigo Road Hospitality Group, began welcoming guests in Alys Beach in July 2026. The menu centers on fresh seafood, wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas. It joins O-Ku, the group's other Alys Beach restaurant, open since 2024. This is Indaco's first holiday season in town.

These are the regular hours posted for Town Center food and drink on the Alys Beach merchant directory. Holiday hours can differ from these.

• Fonville Press: daily, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Raw & Juicy: daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with dinner Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m.
• George's: lunch daily, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner daily, 5 to 9 p.m.
• The Citizen: lunch and brunch Wednesday through Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; oyster happy hour daily, 2 to 5 p.m.; dinner daily, 5 to 10 p.m.
• Indaco: weekday lunch and weekend brunch, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; aperitivo daily, 2:30 to 4 p.m.; dinner daily, 4 to 10 p.m.
• NEAT Bottle Shop: daily, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with Wine & Song on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m.

Together these cover the hours Caliza leaves open. Indaco's 2:30 to 4 aperitivo and The Citizen's 2 to 5 oyster happy hour fill the late afternoon, when a Caliza pool day would usually end with a drink at the bar. Fonville Press covers the morning coffee and runs until 8 p.m. every day.

Town Center's holiday shopping has new names too. SoWal's October story named Rowan, a California-based clothing brand, as a new Alys Beach tenant. The menswear shop is the brand's first location outside its home state. The same story said KREWE, the New Orleans eyewear brand that has long sold through the Alys Shoppe and its Tiny House, was expanding this fall into its first Florida brick-and-mortar storefront, with optical frames, lens cutting and other services.

The Public Calendar Picks Back Up on December 31

After Thanksgiving, the next public date at the Amphitheatre is the Noon Year's Eve Party, Wednesday, December 31, from 10 a.m. to noon. It is free and open to the public, with live music, activities and a Fonville Press bar.

That puts a Town Center merchant behind the bar at the Amphitheatre on the last morning of the year, a month into Caliza's winter closure.

Some owners use these quieter weeks to think about how they use an Alys Beach home across the full year, from the rental-guest weeks to the stretch after Caliza closes. If that's you, Randy Carroll Realty would be glad to talk it through. Contact the CJB Group for a private consultation.