The Lighting of the Old Oak Tree is named for a tree on Diablo Road near West El Pintado. The Town of Danville's official 2026 event area is somewhere else. It covers Hartz Avenue from Linda Mesa Avenue to School Street, plus Prospect Avenue from Front Street to the Clocktower parking lot entrance.
That gap is how the evening is designed. On Friday, November 27, from 5 to 8 p.m., the 50th lighting starts at the oak. Then a procession heads down Diablo Road and into downtown for the entertainment and holiday treats. The tree is where it begins. The storefronts are where it's meant to end up, and most of Danville's November calendar points to those same few blocks.
The tree is on Diablo Road. The map covers Hartz and Prospect.
The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Town co-sponsor the lighting. It's held the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the Chamber says it "kicks off our holiday shopping season." The Town's planning shows that purpose clearly. The boundaries it set for 2026 are a retail footprint:
- Hartz Avenue, from Linda Mesa Avenue to School Street
- Prospect Avenue, from Front Street to the Clocktower parking lot entrance
- The event map, which lists participating businesses in downtown Danville
Neither boundary includes Diablo Road. The ceremony takes place at the tree, and the procession is how the crowd gets from there to the area the Town has mapped.
How the evening ran last year, and what's confirmed for 2026
For 2026, the Town's calendar lists only the 5 to 8 p.m. window, at "Historic Downtown Danville, Hartz & Prospect Avenues." No countdown time has been posted for this year. The 49th lighting, as DanvilleSanRamon.com reported it, went like this:
- The program started at 5:15 p.m. at the base of the tree.
- It included remarks from the mayor, choir performances and appearances by Father Christmas and the Snow Angel.
- The countdown to the lighting came at 6:30 p.m.
- After that, businesses along Hartz Avenue stayed open with seasonal sales until 8 p.m.
That's last year's schedule, not a promise for this one. Still, its shape matches what the Chamber has published for 2026. The Danville Girls Chorus, the Monte Vista High School Chamber Singers and the San Ramon High School Chamber Singers perform first. Father Christmas and the Snow Angel greet the crowd next. Then the procession leads down Diablo Road and through downtown. Last year, the time after the lighting belonged to the shops. This year's listings give that stretch a defined area on Hartz and Prospect.
The Town hasn't posted street closures or parking guidance for 2026, so check the Town's event listing again closer to Thanksgiving week.
A 350-year-old oak on a steel brace
The landmark is much older than the tradition. The Chamber's 2026 history of the Old Oak Tree puts its age at about 350 years. It says the tree "has started to show its age" and was found to be at risk of weakening and possibly falling. With community support, a special metal support structure was installed to keep it standing. Estimates of its age vary. In 2021, DanvilleSanRamon.com called it 400 years old in coverage of what was then the 45th lighting.
The Chamber calls 2026 the golden anniversary and the tree "the most notable landmark in Town of Danville." The brace matters on lighting night. The ceremony takes place under a tree the town physically holds up, and then the evening moves elsewhere.
Why the procession ends at the storefronts
Patch reported on November 24, 2025, that downtown Danville had been named a California Main Street affiliate community. The 49th lighting came that same week, so this year's is the first full holiday season planned with the designation already in place. In the Town's Small Business Saturday announcement, quoted by DanvilleSanRamon.com, Mayor Renee Morgan said:
"The Main Street designations recognize not only the Town's investment in our local businesses, but the dedication of our business owners to our community."
The 2026 rules for businesses build on that. To appear on the event map, a business needs a brick-and-mortar location inside the event area or a partnership with one. It needs an active Town of Danville business license. It also has to offer an activity or special promotion during event hours. Registration by November 16 guarantees a spot on the map. The map is a list of stops where something is happening between the lighting and 8 p.m.
Hartz Avenue itself has a new dinner option since last year's lighting. Patch reported on September 1, 2026 that Rancho Cantina, a family-owned restaurant from Lafayette known for wood-fired cooking, opened a second location at 501 Hartz Avenue in the former Cocina Hermanas space. The restaurant calls its menu "quality Mexican cuisine together with a California influence." It sits inside the Hartz Avenue stretch the Town drew for the evening, though whether it appears on the event map depends on its own registration.
November uses the same few blocks
The lighting is the biggest night on downtown's November calendar, and most of the month's other entries take place on the same blocks. Here's the Town's calendar from the week this post goes live:
Wednesday, November 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Veterans Day Celebration and Open House at the Veterans Memorial Building, 400 Hartz Avenue.
Sunday, November 15, noon to 4 p.m. Art and About Holiday Stroll in Historic Downtown Danville, on Hartz and Prospect Avenues.
Friday, November 27, 5 to 8 p.m. The 50th Lighting of the Old Oak Tree, starting at the tree and ending in downtown.
Saturday, November 28, 8 to 10 p.m. Holiday Show: "The Best Intentions" at the Village Theatre, 233 Front Street.
Tuesday, December 1, 10 to 11 a.m. A Senior Center "Buzz Session: Holiday Walk and Shop Local" at 115 East Prospect Avenue.
The Art and About stroll uses the same Hartz and Prospect footprint as the lighting, twelve days earlier. The Village Theatre show the next night is on Front Street, the street where the Prospect Avenue part of the event area begins. Even the Senior Center's December session is called a holiday walk and shop local.
The Saturday after the lighting is the open question. Last year, Small Business Saturday fell on November 29, with live holiday music at Prospect Park Plaza from 1 to 3 p.m. A 2026 version hasn't appeared on the Town's calendar yet. If it follows last year's pattern, it would fall on November 28, the same day as the Village Theatre's evening show.
The 50th lighting starts at an oak on Diablo Road that has been braced to keep it standing for this many seasons. The crowd then walks to the businesses on Hartz Avenue and Prospect Avenue that have signed up to stay open for them.
At The Kristy Peixoto Team, we pay attention to the parts of the San Ramon Valley that show up every year, from a landmark oak to the blocks around it that fill on the Friday after Thanksgiving. If you'd like a measured conversation about your property's place in Danville, Schedule Your White-Glove Consultation.
