The 50th annual Lighting of the Old Oak Tree takes place Friday, November 27, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in Historic Downtown Danville. The Town of Danville's event listing gives the address as Hartz and Prospect Avenues. The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce calls this year the golden anniversary.
The tree sits at one end of downtown, beside the freeway. The tradition was built to light it and then lead everyone up into the shops. In the Chamber's own words, the event "kicks off our holiday shopping season." On the street the crowd walks into afterward, several addresses have new names since last November.
A very old tree in a median beside I-680
The Old Oak stands in the median of Diablo Road, between West El Pintado Avenue and the I-680 freeway. The Town's notice for last year's 49th lighting describes it that way.
The tree's age depends on who you ask. The Chamber's 2026 history sheet estimates it at 350 years old. It also says the tree "has started to show its age." The oak was found to be at risk of weakening and possibly falling, and a metal support structure was installed to hold it up. A 2021 DanvilleSanRamon.com story described the oak as 400 years old.
The lighting itself is easier to date. The local newspaper called the 2007 ceremony the 31st annual lighting. In 2011, DanvilleSanRamon.com called it the 35th. Count back from those numbers and the first lighting falls around 1977. That makes this year's ceremony the 50th, held the Friday after Thanksgiving as it traditionally is, with the Chamber and the Town as co-sponsors.
How the evening moves from the tree to Hartz Avenue
The Chamber's 2026 program follows the same shape the event has used for years: a gathering at the oak, then a walk into town.
- Music near the tree. The Danville Girls Chorus, the Monte Vista High School Chamber Singers and the San Ramon High School Chamber Singers perform holiday classics.
- Father Christmas and the Snow Angel. The two greet the crowd after the choirs finish.
- The procession. Everyone follows the procession down Diablo Road and through downtown.
- Downtown festivities. Entertainment and holiday treats wait downtown, and merchants stay open for the evening.
Last year gives a sense of the timing. The 2025 program began at 5 p.m. near the tree. Father Christmas and the Snow Angel led a countdown to light the oak by 6:30 p.m., and holiday entertainment ran at several spots along Hartz Avenue until 8 p.m. The 2026 listing gives the same 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. window but no ceremony time. If seeing the lights come on matters most to your group, plan to be at the median early.
Where the 2026 event takes place
The Town's business registration form for the 2026 lighting marks out the downtown area that counts as part of the event.
Street | Event area |
|---|---|
Hartz Avenue | Linda Mesa Avenue to School Street |
Prospect Avenue | Front Street to the Clocktower parking-lot entrance |
Businesses inside that area could sign up to appear on an activity map listing their special hours, promotions and offerings. The Town form says registering by November 16 guarantees a spot on the map. Last year the Town's event notice linked to a full entertainment map. When this year's map comes out, it is the best guide to which shops will be open late that Friday.
For a sense of scale, here is what the Town closed in 2025. Parts of Hartz Avenue, Diablo Road, Prospect Avenue, El Pintado, Front Street and Linda Mesa Avenue were closed from 4 p.m. to about 9 p.m. A section of Diablo Road was closed from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free parking was available on surrounding public streets and in all downtown municipal parking lots. If you plan to drive near Diablo Road that afternoon, check the Town's 2026 notice before you go.
What's different on Hartz since the 49th lighting
The procession ends on Hartz Avenue, and that street has changed in the twelve months since last year's lighting.
Address | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
501 Hartz Ave. | Cocina Hermanas, closed in March 2026 | Rancho Cantina, soft-opened August 24, 2026 |
267 Hartz Ave. | Virtue + Vice | Closed after its final service in September 2026 |
398 Hartz Ave. | Starbucks | Sana'a Café proposed, aiming for the holiday season |
Rancho Cantina is the biggest change. Patch reported in March that Cocina Hermanas was closing. DanvilleSanRamon.com later reported that Danville residents Nico and Alice Tzikas planned Rancho Cantina for the space. Their menu draws on Spanish and Mexican Californio food traditions, with wood-fired dishes, tacos, burritos and fajitas. Bay Area Telegraph reported the soft opening on Monday, August 24. The restaurant's own page now says it is open. If you want dinner downtown before or after the lighting, call ahead to confirm holiday-week hours.
Virtue + Vice at 267 Hartz served its last meal in September, according to DanvilleSanRamon.com. No replacement had been announced in that report.
Sana'a Café is the one still to come. A piece on Open Governance, published October 14 and labeled opinion, describes a Yemeni-inspired coffeehouse planned for Prospect Park Plaza in the former Starbucks space. It is aiming to open for the 2026 holiday season. The same article says the plans are still going through Town review, renovation and inspections. Lighting night will be the first chance for many people to see whether anything has changed at that corner.
The rest of the weekend, and the weeks around it
The Danville Farmers' Market runs year-round on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 205 Railroad Avenue, according to the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association. On the regular schedule, it will be open the morning after the lighting, November 28.
Last year the Town marked Small Business Saturday with live holiday music at Prospect Park Plaza from 1 to 3 p.m. It also started the Auggie the Elf Holiday Hunt, which ran through January 4. In December 2025, the Town added Holiday Pop-Up Gift Markets at the plaza on two Saturdays, noon to 3 p.m. For this year's versions, check the Town's holidays page.
The Town's November calendar lists several other dated events downtown:
- Wednesday, November 11: Veterans Day Celebration and Open House, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Veterans Memorial Building, 400 Hartz Avenue.
- Saturday, November 28: Holiday Show: The Best Intentions, 8 to 10 p.m., at the Theatre, 233 Front Street.
- Friday, December 4: Kids Night Out, 6:30 to 10 p.m., at the Valley Oak Room, 420 Front Street, according to the Town's December calendar.
For lighting-night questions, the Chamber's event page has the poster and the history sheet, and the Chamber's office number is 925-837-4400.
Wendy and her team have cheered the Old Oak through many Friday nights after Thanksgiving, and the 50th is one we're glad to see. If the holidays have you thinking about what's next, whether that's a first home in the San Ramon Valley or a smaller place close to downtown Danville, Wendy Moore would be happy to talk it through over coffee on Hartz. Contact Us whenever the timing feels right.
