Alamo's Holiday Season Runs on Borrowed Ground, and Most of It Is Alamo Plaza
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
On Friday, October 23, a contractor working for Contra Costa County spent the day pruning one tree at Andrew H. Young Park, at Danville Boulevard and Jackson Way. The park was closed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The County's notice gave the reason: getting ready for the holiday tree-lighting festivities.
The County handled the pruning because Alamo has no city government to do it. The town is unincorporated, so its holidays don't come from a town hall. Hobby clubs, civic associations, a hospice and a women's club put them on, and they hold their events on property owned by someone else. This year most of that property belongs to one landlord, EDENS. The company owns Alamo Plaza, where the season's longest-running event opens the day after Thanksgiving.
In May 2006, Danville San Ramon reported that the new park would be dedicated on May 22 in honor of the late Andrew H. Young, an Alamo spokesperson and lobbyist. He was known for pushing to keep Alamo's rural character. He was named a San Ramon Valley Citizen of the Year in 1977, served as executive director of the Contra Costa County Historical Society and as president of the Alamo Park Foundation, and chaired the Boulevard of Trees project.
The lighting tradition is older than the park. A December 2006 feature in the Danville Weekly traced Alamo's holiday oak lighting to 1986. It reported that the heritage tree had once stood in the Alamo Grammar School yard, and that families later gathered for the lighting at Andrew Young Park, with the Alamo Merchants and Professional Association coordinating.
The organizers have changed over the years, and that fits a town with no government to host. In 2018, Danville San Ramon listed the free festival at Andrew H. Young Park as presented by the Community Foundation of Alamo and Alamo Parks and Recreation, with Santa taking pictures. In 2019, the same outlet reported Alamo Rotary as sponsor of an event at Oak Tree Plaza. The program included Santa, the Stone Valley Jazz Band, the Athenian School Capella Choir, the Alamo School Music Group, the San Ramon Valley High School Chamber Singers and the Monte Vista Choir. The host and the venue have changed. A volunteer group has always been the one staging it.
The same setup is easier to see at Alamo Plaza. From November 27, 2026 through January 3, 2027, the European Train Enthusiasts hold their holiday model-train show at the plaza, working with the Alamo Improvement Association. EDENS' event listing gives these details:
So four groups are involved: a hobby club runs the layout, a civic association co-hosts, a commercial landlord lists it, and a regional food bank gets the money. The beneficiary has changed too. When Alamo Today covered the 2022 show, proceeds went to the American Cancer Society. That year the exhibit filled Unit 170-A with a large HO-scale layout. The club's modular sections can be configured anywhere from 900 to 2,100 square feet. The club's own page for 2023 lists 170-A Alamo Plaza again. EDENS describes the show as "Alamo's beloved holiday tradition."
The show runs for five weeks. The oak lighting is a single evening.
On Sundays the plaza already works as a gathering spot. The Alamo Farmers' Market sets up in the parking lot near Bank of America from 9 a.m., all year round. At the November 1 market, Patch reported, vendor Heather Harlow announced two new vendors, Zaya Thai Pantry and House of Tek. The market's Facebook page is linked from the plaza's event listing, so check there for hours on holiday weekends.
On the weekends after Thanksgiving, both the market and the train show are open on Sunday. A morning at the produce stalls and an afternoon at the layout happen in the same parking lot.
The plaza hosting all this has been changing for four years. EDENS bought the Safeway-anchored center in 2022. As part of its upgrades, EDENS commissioned the Oakland-based ABG Art Group to paint the "Tunnel of Love / Welcome to Beautiful Alamo, California" murals. Trent Thompson, Sorrell Raino-Tsui and Erika Enriquez did the work in three parts over six months, including 13 smaller "postcards" of local landmarks. EJ Phair Pub, which opened at the plaza in 2019, held its first Oktoberfest in 2025, according to Danville San Ramon's downtown series.
The biggest change is the space that used to be Rite Aid. The store's last day at 130 Alamo Plaza was August 24, 2025, and Danville San Ramon noted that the closure left Safeway as the only anchor. In September 2026, the same outlet reported that Vim + Vigor Fitness was remodeling the space for its first "Reserve Club," with a December 2026 opening planned. The report also named the fitness tenants already there: The Iron House at 190F and BODYROK at 170F.
The December target puts the work on the old Rite Aid during the same weeks the train show brings families to the plaza on weekday afternoons.
The rest of Alamo's holiday calendar happens at another volunteer-run space. The Alamo Women's Club at 1401 Danville Boulevard hosts the Hospice East Bay Tree of Lights for Alamo on Tuesday, November 24, at 6 p.m. It's a memorial ceremony and fundraiser for the hospice, not a general community lighting.
The club's own calendar has two events before that:
Most of these events are fundraisers in some form: a coat drive, a hospice memorial, a train show for a food bank. Several of the holiday events this season collect for someone.
A planned tenant for the old Rite Aid and a five-week holiday draw both change how Alamo Plaza works for the homes around it. If you'd like to know what that means for your own Alamo home, The Russ Darby Team can walk you through it over coffee before the train show opens. Request a Home Valuation, and we'll put together a clear, local read on what your property is worth this season.
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