Spectacular holiday light shows decorate Bay Area
When Mike Martin’s twin daughters were little, he brought them up to delight in the magical display of lights and community spirit on what’s called Alameda’s Christmas Tree Lane.
Eleven years ago, Martin and his wife had the amazing opportunity to buy a house on Christmas Tree Lane, which is known as the 3200 block of Thompson Avenue the other 11 months of the year.
“When my wife and I found a house to buy on Christmas Tree Lane, we were super excited,” said Martin, a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who previously lived in Oakland.
This year, he’s built a mechanical elf to display in his front yard in the coming weeks, while his daughters, home from their first years at college, will dress up as Santa’s helpers to distribute candy canes to visiting children.
Alameda’s Christmas Tree Lane is a full-scale neighborhood effort that involves more than 50 homes. It’s also one of the spectacular displays of twinkling lights and other holiday-themed decorations that Bay Area families can visit on nippy December nights leading up to Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Some of these displays are put on by individual homeowners; others are the work of entire neighborhoods like the residents of Alameda’s Thompson Avenue. And still other favorite light shows come courtesy of places such as the Oakland Zoo, the Santa Clara County Parks Department and even a cemetery in Oakland.
So bundle up. Here are some of the best holiday light shows in the Bay Area. You can visit most nightly, after sundown and at no cost, unless otherwise indicated.
Deacon Dave’s world-famous display
The light show at Deacon Dave Rezendes’ Hillcrest Drive home in Livermore has been featured on cable and international television, with HGTV once ranking it among the biggest home displays in the United States. This year’s show at Casa del Pomba — “House of the Dove” in Portuguese — is Deacon Dave’s 35th, and is expected to be his biggest yet, boasting more than 500,000 lights. “It’s about getting people in the Christmas spirit,” Rezendes, who serves at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Livermore, told the Bay Area News Group in 2016. Visitors should be advised that there can be waits of up to an hour to tour his yard, but Mondays and Tuesdays are good nights to avoid the crowds.
Where and when: 352 Hillcrest Drive, Livermore. 6-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 6-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Jan. 1. Also 6-10 p.m. Christmas Eve and Christmas night.
California Christmas Lights must-sees
The California Christmas Lights website (formerly known as Lights of the Valley) is the place to go to find homeowners in many Bay Area towns who are getting into the holiday spirit. A few select homes on the site earn the designation “must see.” That means their owners are known for getting into the spirit big-time and doing more than just stringing lights from their eaves. Their shows can include lights synchronized to music or elaborate, sometimes mechanized displays of gingerbread houses, Christmas villages and Santas. Four of these dazzling displays are in the Tri-Valley area: 1279 Hearst Ave., Pleasanton, through Jan. 1; 2612 Calle Reynoso, Pleasanton, 6-9 p.m. today through Dec. 28; 3671 Chelsea Court, Pleasanton (aka “Widmer World”), 6-9 p.m. through Dec. 31; and 467 Knottingham Circle, Livermore, through Dec. 31.
Alameda’s Christmas Tree Lane
As mentioned above, Alameda’s Christmas Tree Lane is a cooperative effort put on by more than 50 homes. Local school bands and popular entertainers, including Alameda’s Tap Dancing Christmas Trees, have been known to turn up to perform. Be sure to have kids stop by a special mailbox and drop off their letters to Santa.
Where and when: 3200 block of Thompson Avenue, between High Street and Fernside Boulevard, Alameda; 5:30-10 p.m. through New Year’s Eve.
Christmas Tree Lane, Palo Alto
One of Palo Alto’s most enduring holiday traditions began in 1940, when homeowners in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of Fulton Street decided to string lights and put up Yule trees and other displays. The only time Palo Alto’s Christmas Tree Lane has gone dark was in 1942, when a blackout was ordered during World War II. Visitors are advised to park on adjacent streets and stroll over to Fulton Street.
Where and when: Fulton Street between Embarcadero Avenue and Seale Road, Palo Alto; 5-11 p.m. Monday to Dec. 25.
San Ramon’s Festival of Lights
Every year, more than 160 homes on 15 streets in the Vista San Ramon neighborhood participate in the “Festival of Lights,” now in its 30th year. Park your car at San Ramon’s Central Park or Iron Horse Middle School, and walk over to the neighborhood.
Where and when: Woodview Terrace Drive and other streets, San Ramon; nightly through Jan. 1.
Peninsula light show
In a San Carlos neighborhood on Eucalyptus Avenue, home after home is adorned with lights. Many residents are known to sit around fire pits in front of their 1950s-era homes, socializing with one another and with visitors.
Where and when: 1900 block of Eucalyptus Avenue; nightly through Dec. 25.
San Jose’s Christmas in the Park
Every year, San Jose’s two-acre Plaza de Cesar Chavez is transformed into a land of lights and holiday displays, including a 60-foot tree and a forest of smaller trees decorated by San Jose schools. Christmas in the Park also features entertainment by local groups and a variety of special events, including a Saturday night holiday movie series and the Santa Run Silicon Valley 5-kilometer run/walk on Dec. 17.
Where and when: Plaza de Cesar Chavez, 9 a.m.-midnight, including Christmas, through Jan. 7.
ZooLights at the Oakland Zoo
Seeing the lions, elephants and alligators isn’t the only reason to visit the Oakland Zoo this month. The zoo hosts one of the most unusual holiday displays in the Bay Area. Hundreds of thousands of lights brighten trees and buildings around the zoo. You can see them riding on the Outback Express Train or sailing over the zoo in a gondola. From there, you also can look out over the lights around San Francisco Bay. This year’s ZooLights also features a cool new laser light show. Warm up with hot cocoa and s’mores, available at Flamingo Plaza and the zoo’s main entrance.
Where and when: Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Road; 5:30-9 p.m. through Dec. 23, plus Dec. 26-31 and Jan. 1; admission $9$10.
Los Gatos’ Fantasy of Lights
Enjoy a 1.5-mile drive through a “fantasy land” of lights, animated figures and a 90-foot twinkling tree from the comfort and warmth of your car. This show at Vasona Lake County Park comes courtesy of the Santa Clara County Parks Department.
Where and when: The route starts at 333 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos; 6-10 p.m. nightly, except Christmas, through Dec. 30. You must purchase tickets in advance, $20 per car, at the park’s website (www. sccgov.org).
Tilden Park’s merry merry-go-round
The famous Tilden Park carousel becomes a festive showplace during the holidays, with trees festooned
with lights and visits by Santa and his elves.
Where and when: Tilden Regional Park, at the intersection of Central Park Drive and Lake Anza Road, Berkeley. 4-8:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 23.
Cemetery’s Holiday Circle of Lights
Don’t be put off that this display is in Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, because you’d be missing out on seeing the creative way that Christmas lights can be shaped into skaters, snowmen, playful penguins and a horse and sleigh. Lights also are arrayed around buildings, arches and the cemetery’s front fountain.
Where and when: Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland; 5-9 p.m. through Jan. 1.
Big-city lights
Lace up your skates and enjoy turns around the ice rinks at San Francisco’s Union Square or Embarcadero Center — under the lights of grand hotels, skyscrapers, giant twinkling Christmas trees and, in the case of Justin Herman Plaza, the historic Ferry Building. These are signature San Francisco holiday events, and a great way to end a day of shopping and gazing at window displays at Tiffany’s and other shops.
Where and when: Union Square ice rink, 333 Post St., 10 a.m.-11 p.m. through Jan. 15; $13-$18, including skate rental. Embarcadero Center ice rink at Justin Herman Plaza, 10 a.m.9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Jan. 7; admission $5-12, with $5 for skate rentals.