"It's almost like a little city, but not," Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen told Danville San Ramon in its fall 2025 Downtown Series piece on Alamo. The same article said Alamo residents generally head to Danville and Walnut Creek for shopping, recreation and entertainment. It added that Alamo still keeps its own traditions, starting with the annual tree lighting at the heritage oak in Andrew H. Young Park.
In a place that is almost a city but not quite, the clubs put on the holiday season. The Rotary lights one oak. The Alamo Women's Club lights another. A model-train club takes over a storefront in Alamo Plaza, and the Alamo Improvement Association helps make it happen. Most of these events also give something away, whether it's coats, food bank donations or support for hospice care. Seen that way, Alamo's December is mostly a giving calendar spread across a few blocks of Danville Boulevard.
The Oak at Danville Boulevard and Jackson Way
Andrew H. Young Park is a small park at the corner of Danville Boulevard and Jackson Way. A heritage oak stands in the middle, with a plaque at its base honoring Young, a past president of the Contra Costa Historical Society, World War II veteran and longtime civic leader. The tribute dates back nearly 20 years.
The season's prep work started here. On Friday, Oct. 23, a Contra Costa County Public Works contractor pruned one tree in the park and closed it while the work went on. The county's notice said the job was "in preparation for the upcoming Holiday Tree Lighting Festivities."
Alamo Rotary calls itself a key organizer and funder of the annual ceremony. It says the evening usually brings Santa, choruses from local schools, cocoa, and treats donated by local businesses. On a volunteer site, a setup shift for the Alamo Tree Lighting Festival is posted for Sunday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon at 1471 Jackson Way. That shift time covers setup only, so check Rotary's channels for the lighting time before you bring the kids.
A Storefront Becomes a Trip to Europe
The longest event of the season takes place indoors and runs for five weeks. Alamo Plaza's owner, EDENS, lists the European Train Enthusiasts holiday show, held with the Alamo Improvement Association, on its Alamo Plaza page under the heading "Alamo's beloved holiday tradition returns." Model trains run on a European-style layout. Admission is $5, and the money goes to the Contra Costa and Solano Food Bank. Children under 6 get in free.
The 2026 schedule:
- Opens Friday, Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
- Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Also open Dec. 22, 23, 29 and 30.
- Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
- Final day is Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027.
The club's own pages put the show at 170-A Alamo Plaza in both 2022 and 2023. Last year, Alamo Today's November 2025 issue listed "A Trip to Europe in Miniature!" at the same address, near the post office and Orange Theory. That run lasted from Nov. 28 to Jan. 4. This year's dates line up almost exactly with last year's, so the train show has become a fixed point between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
A Sunday visit can be paired with the weekly farmers market. It runs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 200 Alamo Plaza, in the parking lot near Bank of America. Kids who want a photo stop can try the "Tunnel of Love / Welcome to Beautiful Alamo, California" murals. The Oakland-based ABG Art Group painted them after EDENS bought the center in 2022.
The Women's Club Lights Its Own Oak
The Alamo Women's Club fills its calendar on the same giving pattern, beginning before Thanksgiving. Its November calendar lists One Warm Coat for Friday, Nov. 13, from 2 to 6 p.m., followed by a Jewelry Faire on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, Nov. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you've got a coat hanging in the closet that nobody wears, Friday is the day to drop it off.
The club's biggest night of the season is its Holiday Celebration & Hospice Tree Lighting on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m. The club promises wine, appetizers and seasonal music from the Monte Vista Barbershop Singers. At dusk, its oak tree is lit in memory of loved ones and in support of Hospice and Brun's House.
So Alamo gets two oak lightings this December, and two different groups run them. Rotary's at Andrew H. Young Park is the public one, with Santa and school choirs. The Women's Club lighting is smaller and is about remembering people.
The Old Rite Aid Gets a Tenant
One part of this season is a business opening, not a volunteer effort, and it sits in Alamo Plaza too. Rite Aid at 130 Alamo Plaza stopped filling prescriptions on July 28, 2025, and closed for good on Aug. 24, 2025. Prescriptions moved to the CVS at 3158 Danville Blvd. That October, Danville San Ramon's Downtown Series pointed to the empty Rite Aid as one of several vacant storefronts at the plaza.
The space is now being remodeled. Danville San Ramon reported in September that Vim + Vigor Fitness picked 130 Alamo Plaza for its first-ever "Reserve Club," a concept the company calls "our most elevated fitness experience." The company's Alamo location page says the enrollment office opens Monday, Nov. 16, with a grand opening in December 2026.
It will join two fitness tenants already in the plaza, The Iron House at 190F and BODYROK's pilates studio at 170F. With three fitness tenants, a storefront Danville San Ramon described as one of the plaza's anchors is set to reopen in the same December the train layout returns.
Alamo's Season, Date by Date
From publish day to the last train run:
| Date | Event | Where | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 13, 2–6 p.m. | One Warm Coat | Alamo Women's Club | Coat donations |
| Mon., Nov. 16 | Vim + Vigor enrollment office opens | 130 Alamo Plaza | |
| Thu.–Fri., Nov. 19–20 | Jewelry Faire | Alamo Women's Club | |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Train show opens | Alamo Plaza | Contra Costa and Solano Food Bank |
| Sundays, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. | Farmers market | 200 Alamo Plaza | |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 10 a.m.–noon | Tree Lighting Festival volunteer setup | 1471 Jackson Way | |
| Thu., Dec. 10, 4–6 p.m. | Holiday Celebration & Hospice Tree Lighting | Alamo Women's Club | Hospice and Brun's House |
| Sun., Jan. 3 | Train show's final day | Alamo Plaza | Contra Costa and Solano Food Bank |
Aside from the gym's enrollment office and the Sunday market, every date in that table belongs to a volunteer group. Rotary's setup crew is on Jackson Way on Sunday, Dec. 6, and the Women's Club lights its oak four days later. From Nov. 27 through Jan. 3, every $5 ticket to the train layout at Alamo Plaza goes to the food bank.
If the holidays have you thinking about what comes next for your home, or you'd just like to know what your place is worth before the new year, Kailani Kimoto is happy to sit down with you, and maybe meet you at the train show. Request your free home valuation, and I'll bring local numbers along with the cocoa.
