The Los Altos Parade That Merchants Started and Volunteers Kept for 50 Years

In 1977, Ken Haukom was working for the City of Los Altos Department of Public Works. He got word "about folks who want to have a small parade on Thanksgiving evening." He told the Los Altos Town Crier that he remembers four or five "push-floats," built by volunteers and moved by hand.

The 50th Los Altos Festival of Lights Parade steps off on Sunday, November 29, 2026, at 6 p.m. from First and State streets. The idea came from downtown shopkeepers, and it has lasted 50 years because they handed it off. Since 1981 the parade has belonged to an all-volunteer association, with city services behind it. Your spot at the curb that night runs on a few rules, and a glow saber bought from the right table pays for next year's floats.

Three merchants and a toy soldier

According to the Town Crier, the parade was created by three downtown Los Altos merchants: Hope Higbee, Marion Jackston and Jack Huston. Their friends Bob Grimm, Ed Hilton and Ted Johnston helped. Huston's daughter, Maridee Huston-Charlton, was a toy soldier in the first parade while she was a student at Foothill. She told the paper her father "roped me and my best friend Diane into being soldiers."

The Town Crier reports that the parade soon grew too big for its founders. The Los Altos Village Association ran it for a few years, and in 1981 community members formed the Los Altos Festival of Lights Association to manage it. The parade moved from Thanksgiving evening to the Sunday night after Thanksgiving, and it has stayed there. That is why this year's date is November 29.

How the parade got bigger

The 1981 association solved the problem of who was in charge. Storage took longer. Haukom told the Town Crier that the early floats were kept in volunteers' garages until 1992, when a warehouse opened in the city's corporation yard. After that, the large floats could stay in one place all year.

The second change was the city's backing. The Los Altos City Council named the parade a Heritage Event. With that designation, the city provides police, infrastructure and waste management, services the Town Crier says organizers "could not do without."

Put those changes together and you can see how the parade grew. In 1977 there were four or five floats pushed by hand. Organizer Nancy Schneider told the Town Crier that the 48th annual parade had 62 entries, including eight marching bands and 23 floats, and that a new float that year was based on "Alice in Wonderland." The paper also reported that the parade draws thousands of people and usually runs less than an hour. The parade's about page gives its long-running theme as "A Child's Holiday Fantasy," with lighted floats, local high school bands, costumed characters, and Santa with his reindeer.

Rules for the curb on parade night

Because the parade is a Heritage Event, the Los Altos Police Department helps set the rules for spectators. The association and the department publish them together on the parade's viewing guidelines page, and they explain why the sidewalks look the way they do on the night.

1. Nothing goes down before noon. Chairs, stakes, rope, ribbon, signs and similar items may not be placed on public property to save a viewing spot before 12 p.m. on parade day.
2. Use a blanket, not tape. Chalk and adhesives are banned, including tape on trees, poles and signs. The parade FAQ recommends blankets and says ropes and chairs can block sidewalks and trip people.
3. Watch from the sidewalk or an intersection. No part of the roadway on the route may be occupied, and the guidelines specifically prohibit viewing in front of the parklets. Personal items can't go in planting areas or block wheelchair ramps.
4. Nobody can sell a spot. Selling, leasing or renting a seat or space on public property is prohibited.
5. Take everything home by 10 p.m. Anything still out after that goes to Lost and Found at the Maintenance Service Center, 707 Fremont Road.

Streets close well before the first float moves. The parade's street closures page says the downtown triangle, bounded by San Antonio Road, Edith Avenue and First Street, closes at 4 p.m. on parade day. Access into downtown from Foothill Expressway at Main Street closes as well. Accessible parking is in Plaza North, between Third and Fourth streets behind Wells Fargo Bank. Enter from Edith at Third Street; the parade asks drivers not to cross Main Street.

The schedule on November 29

The parade's homepage lists these times and calls them estimates.

The traditional route, as the Town Crier described it for the 48th parade, goes from First and State down State Street to Main Street, across First Street, down Whitney Avenue and across Third Street. The schedule also suggests where to stand. At First and State the parade starts at 6 p.m. Near the end of the route, the floats don't arrive until about 6:45 p.m. at the earliest. The parade's FAQ says the least crowded spots are toward the end, along Whitney, and that you can "often find the best views there, even if you come at the last minute."

What pays for 50 years of floats

The city's Heritage Event services cover police and cleanup. The floats, bands and lights are paid for some other way, and spectators supply part of it.

The FAQ calls glowing sabers and necklaces "one of the parade's biggest fundraisers." Local volunteer service groups sell them, and 100 percent of the profit goes back to the parade. The parade says that other sellers often offer similar products. To make sure your money goes to the parade, buy from volunteers or volunteer tables with official "Festival of Lights Volunteer" lanyards.

For the 50th, the association started a $50 for 50 campaign. Donations go through the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation. If you'd rather give time, the parade homepage links to a volunteer sign-up. If you missed last year's parade or have guests coming who weren't there, a replay of the 2025 parade is on YouTube.

The merchants' calendar around the parade

The Los Altos Village Association, which ran the parade for a few years before 1981, now puts on the downtown holiday events before and after it.

• Friday, Nov. 13, 5 to 9 p.m.: The 23rd Annual Holiday Stroll, with lights, strolling carolers and shopping specials at downtown shops and restaurants.
• Saturday, Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: A Small Business Saturday giveaway at Veterans Community Plaza, at Main and State, the day before the parade.
• Sunday, Nov. 29, 6 p.m.: The 50th Festival of Lights Parade.
• Friday, Dec. 4, 6 to 8 p.m.: The Holiday Tree Celebration at Veterans Community Plaza, with student performances, trolley rides and photos with Santa.
• Thursdays, Dec. 10 and 17, 4 to 8 p.m.: Holiday Markets on State Street, with live music, Santa visits and local vendors.

Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest stretch. The Small Business Saturday giveaway at Veterans Community Plaza, at Main and State, takes place the day before the parade steps off from First and State, on the same downtown streets where three merchants started it in 1977.

Shabber Jaffer is based in Los Altos and counts the parade among the traditions that make downtown a community. If you're planning a move and want to know how the weeks around Thanksgiving and the holiday events usually affect timing in Los Altos, we're glad to walk you through it, starting with a free home valuation.