Los Altos' Festival of Lights Reaches Its 50th Parade, and Downtown Still Plans Its Season Around the Merchants' Parade

Ken Haukom was working for the City of Los Altos Department of Public Works in 1977 when he heard, as he told the Los Altos Town Crier, "about folks who want to have a small parade on Thanksgiving evening." He remembered four or five push-floats made by volunteers. He helped set up that first parade.

On Sunday, Nov. 29, at 6 p.m., the 50th Los Altos Festival of Lights Parade starts at First and State. It began as a downtown merchants' idea, and the downtown merchants' association still schedules its holiday events around it. Small Business Saturday comes the day before, the tree celebration the Friday after, and the holiday market on two Thursdays after that. Volunteers still build the floats, and private donations still pay for them.

From garage floats to a city Heritage Event

The Town Crier's history says three downtown merchants created the parade: Hope Higbee, Marion Jackston and Jack Huston. Friends Bob Grimm, Ed Hilton and Ted Johnston helped. Maridee Huston-Charlton was in that first parade as a toy soldier. She told the paper her father "roped me and my best friend Diane into being soldiers."

The parade then changed hands a few times:

1. 1977. The first parade rolls with a handful of push-floats.
2. The next few years. The Los Altos Village Association, the downtown merchants' group, runs the event.
3. 1981. The all-volunteer Los Altos Festival of Lights Association is founded and takes over.
4. 1992. Floats move out of volunteers' garages and into a warehouse in the city's corporation yard, where the big ones are stored year-round.
5. 2019 and 2020. Rain stops the 2019 parade, and COVID-related restrictions cancel the 2020 parade.
6. 2021. The parade comes back with 55 entries and about 1,200 participants, and it is televised live on Comcast Channel 15 for the first time.

The 1977 floats were pushed by hand. By the 48th parade, organizer Nancy Schneider counted 62 entries, including 23 floats and eight marching bands, and a new float based on "Alice in Wonderland." The theme hasn't changed. Every year it is "A Child's Holiday Fantasy."

The day moved too. The founders talked about a Thanksgiving-evening parade, and today it runs on the Sunday night after Thanksgiving. The Los Altos City Council has named it a Heritage Event, so the city provides police, infrastructure and waste management. According to the parade's FAQ, building, repairing and renovating the floats and costumes is paid for entirely by private donations. The parade's welcome page is asking for donations to a 50th-anniversary campaign.

Most of the work is done by volunteers. After the 2025 parade, co-president Nora Haley told the Town Crier that more than 150 volunteers worked on parade night. They prepped and pushed floats, wore costumes and checked the lights on them. She also said the 50th would bring "some truly special touches throughout the parade!"

Sunday, Nov. 29, hour by hour

The organizers post estimated times, and they add up to about an hour and three-quarters from first float to last.

The closed triangle is bounded by San Antonio Road, Edith Avenue and First Street. The traditional route goes from First and State down State Street to Main, across First Street, down Whitney and across Third Street. The 2026 page confirms the First and State start.

That route explains the timing. Floats that start near the front reach Whitney close to an hour before the last ones arrive. The FAQ calls the end of the route, along Whitney, the least crowded place to watch and says "you can often find the best views there, even if you come at the last minute!"

The rules for claiming a spot

The parade association posts viewing guidelines, and its FAQ explains a few of them:

• No claiming public space before noon on parade day.
• Blankets are best for holding a spot. Chalk and tape are hard for volunteers and city staff to clean up, and ropes and chairs can block the sidewalk and trip people.
• Watch from sidewalks or intersections, not in front of parklets, and keep sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and planting areas clear.
• Leave pets at home. The FAQ says the music is loud and "floats have been known to backfire and frighten dogs."
• Accessible parking is in Plaza North between Third and Fourth, behind Wells Fargo. Enter from Edith at Third, and don't cross Main Street.
• If rain is in the forecast, the association will post by noon on its website and social media whether the parade is on. A canceled parade has no rain date.

The glow sabers and necklaces sold along the route are one of the parade's biggest fundraisers. The association sells them with local volunteer service groups, and all of the profit goes back to the parade. Official sellers wear "Festival of Lights Volunteer" lanyards. The 2025 parade was livestreamed at losaltosparade.org/kmvt, and a replay is posted on the parade's welcome page.

The merchants' events before and after

The Los Altos Village Association is in its 60th year. It promotes more than 150 retail, dining, service and professional businesses downtown. It ran the parade in the early years, and its 2026 calendar starts with a Holiday Stroll on Friday, Nov. 13, with lights, carolers and shop specials from 5 to 9 p.m. After that, its events cluster around parade weekend:

1. Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28. This is the day before the parade. LAVA will have a stop at Veterans Community Plaza, Main and State, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a giveaway for shoppers.
2. Festival of Lights Parade, Sunday, Nov. 29, 6 p.m. The volunteers' night.
3. Holiday Tree Celebration, Friday, Dec. 4, 6–8 p.m. Veterans Community Plaza again, with student performances, trolley rides, and photos with Santa until 8 p.m.
4. Selfies with Santa, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2–4 p.m. At Enchante Boutique Hotel, 1 Main St.
5. Holiday Market, Thursdays, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17, 4–8 p.m. On State Street.

Each big evening event has a daytime event right next to it. Small Business Saturday comes the day before the parade, so shoppers are downtown before the streets close. Selfies with Santa falls the afternoon after the tree celebration. Downtown's merchant group runs the events on both sides of the parade, and the parade's own volunteers run the night itself.

State Street keeps its Thursday evening hours

The Holiday Market fills a time slot that was empty for a while. The Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association scheduled the downtown Los Altos farmers market at 200 State St. on Thursdays from April 30 through Oct. 29, 4 to 8 p.m., with support from LAVA and the City of Los Altos. The Holiday Market also runs Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. on State Street, a few weeks after the farmers market season ended. LAVA calls it a "European-style night market" with local vendors selling gifts and stocking stuffers, live music and visits from Santa. The calendar listing puts it at State Street Market, 170 State St.

That address has something new this year. The Almanac reported in September that Coffeebar planned to open inside State Street Market in early October. Coffeebar's locations page now lists the Los Altos café, open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Nov. 29 it closes at 6 p.m., the same time the first floats leave First and State, so a warm drink means getting there before the parade starts.

The second Holiday Market night is Thursday, Dec. 17, from 4 to 8 p.m. on State Street.

If you're thinking about how downtown Los Altos looks from your own front door these days, Tony Ngai puts together a monthly neighborhood market report and free home valuations, in English, Cantonese or Mandarin. Request your free Los Altos market report and home valuation, and we'll send it before the holiday market wraps up.