In 1977, Ken Haukom was working for the City of Los Altos Department of Public Works when he heard "about folks who want to have a small parade on Thanksgiving evening." He helped set up that first downtown parade, which he remembered as four or five "push-floats" built by volunteers, according to the Los Altos Town Crier.
The 2025 parade had 24 floats among its 60 entries. The 50th Los Altos Festival of Lights Parade steps off at 6 p.m. on Sunday, November 29. Most of what rolls down State Street that night belongs to the parade's own volunteer association. Volunteers store those floats in a city warehouse and repair them on Saturday mornings all fall, and the bill is paid with donations, not city money. The anniversary rests on that arrangement.
Four merchants, then an association that owned the floats
Three downtown merchants, Hope Higbee, Marion Jackston and Jack Huston, started the parade with help from Bob Grimm, Ed Hilton and Ted Johnston. Maridee Huston-Charlton, Jack Huston's daughter, played a toy soldier in that first parade. She told the Town Crier her father "roped me and my best friend Diane into being soldiers."
The Los Altos Village Association ran the parade for a few years. In 1981, community members formed the Los Altos Festival of Lights Association, and the event became all-volunteer. For roughly the next decade, the floats were kept in volunteers' garages. Haukom told the Town Crier that changed in 1992, when a warehouse opened in the city's corporation yard and the large floats got a year-round home.
The warehouse made the parade's biggest pieces things that could be kept, fixed and improved from one year to the next. Haukom, who started volunteering in the mid-1980s after Grimm brought him onto the board, said technology has given the floats lighting and features the early ones lacked.
Saturday mornings, September through November
The association's volunteer page describes the work behind the hour-long show. From September through November, float work parties meet every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon to maintain and refurbish the floats the parade owns. The page says electrical and mechanical experience helps but is not required. Costume volunteers design, make and maintain the costumes and run try-on sessions in October and November. On parade day they dress the characters, apply makeup, and collect and launder every costume after the last float finishes.
Longtime volunteer Nancy Schneider told the Town Crier in 2024 that the parade needs more than 125 behind-the-scenes volunteers. They move floats to staging, repair lights, care for costumes and push or drive the floats along the route. In 2025, co-president Nora Haley told the Town Crier that more than 150 volunteers worked parade night alone.
The Town Crier's previews in 2021, 2023 and 2025 show the fleet changing a piece at a time:
- 2021: "The Shredders" debuted with technology that controls its characters' movements, lights and music. Two board members oversaw the build with local high school students. Schneider said a donation from Kathy Bridgman would bring the same technology to the rest of the floats over the following few years. That year also brought a new Santa float with new reindeer harnesses and lights.
- 2023: Organizers refurbished two floats and, with help from student interns, added smoke and sound effects to the popular train float.
- 2025: An animated dragon named Bertha joined the parade, riding on top of the circus train.
Some pieces stay put. The Snow Queen and the toy soldiers have been in the festival for 15 years or more, according to the Town Crier's 2025 preview. Huston-Charlton's husband, Bruce, has marched as a toy soldier for about 20 years. Her sister Robin's two sons, who once wore parade costumes, now help pace the parade.
Who pays for what
The city's share and the association's share are separate. The Los Altos City Council designated the parade a Heritage Event, so the city provides police and other services. The association's FAQ says building, repairing and renovating the floats and costumes is funded entirely by private donations. Haukom told the Town Crier the Heritage Event support covers police, infrastructure and waste management, services organizers "could not do without."
For the anniversary, the association is running a donation campaign called "Celebrate 50 Years, Give $50", which asks for a $50 gift to the parade's fund.
The years the floats stayed in the warehouse
Twice since 1977, parade night ended without floats on State Street. The 2019 parade was rained out, and the 2020 parade was canceled because of COVID-19 restrictions. Even in 2020, the floats came out. The committee put on a registered drive-through float display, and the Town Crier reported it was fully booked. A joint video called "Homage to the Holidays" showed parade floats along with the Westwind Community Barn lighting and a tour of downtown decorations, and it aired on KMVT.
The parade came back on November 28, 2021, with 55 entries, including 21 floats and eight marching bands. About 1,200 people took part, and the parade aired live on Comcast Channel 15 for the first time.
Rain still decides the night. If rain is in the forecast, the association announces on its website and social media by noon on parade day whether the parade will go ahead. If it is canceled, there is no rain date.
After the 2025 parade, Haley told the Town Crier what to expect this year:
"...so the community can look for some truly special touches throughout the parade!"
The theme is the same one the parade has used for years, "A Child's Holiday Fantasy."
Parade night, by the clock
The route starts at First and State streets, runs down State to Main, crosses First, continues down Whitney and crosses Third. The association's welcome page posts an estimated schedule:
- 6:00 p.m. The parade begins at First and State.
- 6:20 to 6:30 p.m. The first floats reach First and Main.
- 6:45 to 7:00 p.m. The first floats reach the end of the route.
- 7:20 to 7:45 p.m. The last floats reach the end. Santa and his reindeer traditionally close the parade.
Plan around the road closures, which come well before the first float. According to the association's street closure page, the downtown triangle bounded by San Antonio Road, Edith Avenue and First Street closes at 4 p.m. on parade day, and so does access from Foothill Expressway at Main Street. Accessible parking is in Plaza North, between Third and Fourth streets behind Wells Fargo. The association asks drivers to enter from Edith at Third and not cross Main.
The association's viewing guidelines say public viewing spots cannot be reserved before noon on parade day, and spectators must watch from sidewalks or intersections, not the roadway. Its FAQ recommends blankets for saving a spot. Chalk and tape are hard for volunteers and city staff to clean up, and ropes and chairs can block the sidewalk. The least crowded stretch is near the end of the route along Whitney Street, which the FAQ says often has the best views, even for late arrivals.
The 2025 parade was streamed live on KMVT, and the association's site links to a replay.
The rest of downtown's holiday run
The parade falls in the middle of a series of Los Altos Village Association events on the same few blocks:
- Saturday, November 28: Small Business Saturday, the day before the parade. Shoppers are invited to Veterans Community Plaza at Main and State streets from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Friday, December 4: The Holiday Tree Celebration in Veterans Community Plaza, 6 to 8 p.m., with student performances, trolley rides and Santa.
- Saturday, December 5: Selfies with Santa at Enchante Boutique Hotel, 1 Main St., 2 to 4 p.m.
- Thursdays, December 10 and 17: The Holiday Market on State Street, 4 to 8 p.m., with live music, Santa and local vendors.
The State Street Holiday Market takes over the block where the Los Altos Farmers' Market finished its season with the October 29 Fall Fest. The association's float crews hold their last Saturday work parties of the year in November, ahead of the 6 p.m. start on November 29.
At KL Real Estate Team, we know the South Bay through local traditions like this one as well as through its homes. If you're watching from Whitney Street on November 29 and the season has you thinking about your own plans in Los Altos, Kendra and Lindsay can talk through what your home is worth today. Get your free home valuation.
