Christmas carnivals in Del Mar.

The holiday midway, Del Mar style.

Guests meet the arch first, a frame of candy canes, peppermint swirls, and gingerbread cutouts over the opening to the booth row. Inside, the booths line up in red-and-white and green-and-white stripes, each with a game and a shelf of prizes, and the string lights above them do the work of daylight as the afternoon fades. People circle the ring toss and the bean toss, stop for snacks, and end at Santa and Mrs. Claus, who sit at a photo-op station with a lane for the line. A walk-in inflatable gives families a backdrop to pose against.

A seaside village shares its open space, which means the layout must be polite. A park lawn near homes gets a loop of booths with the center left open and the music kept low. A fairgrounds lot gets a longer row with room for a crowd. A school field gets a layout that keeps parent parking clear. The host covers tables, chairs, drinks, catering, heating, permits, other vendors, and any tent past our booths, while My Little Carnival brings the booths, games, snack stands, arch, and Santa station. Send photos of the site and the first draft of the layout comes back marked with where everything stands. A church with a courtyard, an HOA with a clubhouse lawn, or a school with a spare field can each describe the space and get a booth count to match.