In December 2024, the family behind A Tool Shed Rentals set up their chairs on the parade route at 5:45 a.m. The parade didn't start until 11. They wanted a good view of their own truck going by, and it was carrying the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad engine, smoking and blowing its whistle the whole way, as the Los Gatan reported in its recap. That year's lineup had 167 entries. The judges watched from the top of the Los Gatos Theatre marquee.
On Saturday, December 5, the 70th Annual Children's Christmas/Holidays Parade steps off at 11 a.m., rain or shine. Nobody throws candy. Only one Santa appears. Businesses walk with their names and nothing more. Only the school bands are judged. None of that happens by accident. These are written policies, and they keep a downtown Saturday parade focused on kids even as it has grown well past its small-town start.
It Started as a Walk While Parents Shopped
The Los Gatos Lions Club's own club history describes a modest beginning. The town Christmas parade began as a Recreation Department event: a nighttime gathering where a few children walked down Main Street while their parents shopped. After a year it moved to Saturday morning, and with support from the Chamber of Commerce it grew every year after.
The Lions showed up early. The same history says the club entered a float in the town Christmas parade in 1949 and won first prize. Later, Lion Gene Goldberg guided the club into a larger role, and Lions Dick Wall Jr., Frank Bonacorsi and Reed Graham took the lead in turn. The Lions and the Recreation Department became co-sponsors.
The 2024 parade program credits Goldberg as the parade's founder and its "Grandfather." It describes the first parade as 27 children in costume with a police escort. The Lions history says the event now draws more than 3,000 participants a year, "the vast majority of whom are children." It also says the Los Gatos Christmas Foundation has raised more than $150,000 through dinner dances, invested so the parade can keep going indefinitely.
That growth is why the rules exist. A walk for a few children doesn't need policies. More than 3,000 participants and well over a hundred entries on one downtown street do.
The Rule Sheet That Keeps It a Children's Parade
The 2026 policies and procedures come from the Los Gatos Lions Club and LGS Recreation, working with the Town of Los Gatos and Los Gatos High School. Their entry standard reads:
"The Parade Committee has the right to deny entry to any individual or group including those that do not conform to the theme of the parade, are not of interest to children, or violate parade policies and procedures."
The specific rules all follow from that test:
- No candy, toys or handouts. Nothing may be handed out or thrown from an entry, and any entry that does it is removed from the parade.
- One Santa. Only the official parade Santa takes part, and entries are told not to dress anyone as Santa.
- A holiday theme for every entry. Each one needs a Christmas or holiday theme to participate.
- One vehicle per entry, no more than 40 feet long, 10 feet wide and 12 feet tall. Limousines of any type and car clubs aren't allowed.
- Names, not ads. A vehicle can show only the entry's name, and soliciting or fundraising isn't permitted. For-profit businesses pay a $50 fee to take part.
- Everyone visible. Anyone riding in or on a vehicle has to be visible from the street, and a licensed driver has to be at the wheel.
- No alcohol in the parade, the staging area or on the streets, for participants and spectators alike.
Each rule targets a specific risk on a crowded route. A candy ban keeps small children from darting toward moving floats. With one Santa, the final float is the one moment every kid waits for. The vehicle limits keep the staging area workable. The advertising rule lets a dentist's office or a hardware rental shop walk in the parade without turning it into a commercial. The 2024 lineup still had plenty of variety: marching bands, Shriners in their little red cars, dance groups, YMCA Adventure Guides, Girl and Boy Scouts, local officials and charities. The Los Gatan also mentioned "your favorite dentist."
The handout rule covers entries, and the curb is a different matter. In 2024, the Salvation Army and the Silicon Valley Women's Auxiliary set up at Highway 9 and Santa Cruz Avenue and poured hot chocolate with marshmallows and a candy cane. Their dog mascot, Heinrich Von Kartoffel, came along.
The grand marshal choice follows the same logic. In November 2025, the Los Gatan reported that Los Gatos High School teacher Kurt Kroesche had been named grand marshal, and that the honor goes to someone who has made significant contributions to local youth.
Why Only the Bands Are Judged
The parade has one competition, and it's limited to school marching bands. Representatives of the Pacific Coast Judging Association judge every band from a stand on the Los Gatos Theatre's second-floor balcony. Bands are asked not to stop there.
Judging only the bands fits everything else on the rule sheet. The prize goes to students for musicianship, and floats don't compete for attention. In 2025, the lineup included the bands of Los Gatos High School, R.J. Fisher Middle School, Dartmouth Middle School's Symphonic Band & Color Guard, Union Middle School's Tiger Marching Band, Westmont High School's Warrior Marching Regiment, Hollister High School's Scarlet Regiment and Archbishop Riordan High School.
Some traditions stay with the same groups year after year. The 2025 program says Boy Scout Troop 539 has carried the opening banner and served as color guard for decades. The Los Gatos High School marching band has marched for more than 25 years. The troop has a long tie to the parade's sponsor. The Lions Club has sponsored it since November 1951, back when it was Troop 39. Some entries have become local favorites. The Mercury News, in its 2016 coverage, named the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad engine and the Cucuzza Squash Drill Team of the Italian Squash Growers' Society.
Planning Saturday, December 5
The route starts at Almendra Avenue and North Santa Cruz Avenue and runs south on North Santa Cruz to Main Street. It then turns east on Main and ends at Church Street. That makes the turn at Santa Cruz and Main, near Pizza My Heart, a natural place to watch, since every entry slows down for it.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 7:30 a.m. | Large vehicles, trucks, vans and floats must be in the staging area |
| 9:00 a.m. | Access streets close; entries must be in position |
| 11:00 a.m. | Parade begins promptly |
| 1:00 p.m. | Everything brought into staging must be removed |
There's no parking in the staging area or anywhere along the route. LGS Recreation posts a map of the staging area and route, plus street-closure information, on its website. Organizers scheduled entry position numbers and parade-day instructions to go up there by Friday, November 6. If you're driving in from elsewhere in town, check that page before you leave the house. Plan to be parked and walking well before 9 a.m.
If you'd rather stay warm, KCAT TV15 streamed the 2024 parade live and said it would rebroadcast it and earlier parades on Comcast Channel 15 and kcat.org. That same year, local station KPCR 92.9 broadcast from its second-floor balcony in the Lynx building.
The Friday Before and the Friday After
The parade sits between two evening events. On Friday, December 4, the Town of Los Gatos hosts "Los Gatos in Lights: Winter Celebration" at Town Plaza Park, 145 West Main Street. It's free, open to all ages and includes the tree lighting. Published listings give different start times, so check the Town's schedule before you head down.
A week later, on Friday, December 11, NUMU at 106 E. Main Street hosts Festive Night at the Museum from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is free, with crafts, music, refreshments, and local art and history. The Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce's free Magical Memories Trolley is listed as stopping at the museum. The parade itself is on the Chamber's event calendar for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on December 5.
If you're thinking about selling or buying a Los Gatos home in the new year, the weeks around the parade are a calm time to start planning. Elsa Garza can walk you through what your home is worth in English or Spanish, at whatever pace suits your family's holiday calendar. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, then enjoy the parade.
