Last December, Fantasy of Lights ran 21 drive-through nights at Vasona Lake County Park, from December 9 to December 30 with only Christmas off. This December it runs four nights, no cars are allowed on the route, and everyone who goes needs a ticket.
That one change moves the whole local calendar. Shortening the light show also squeezes it onto the same two weekends that already hold the tree lighting, the Children's Holiday Parade, a museum night and the Kiwanis market. Between December 4 and December 13, Los Gatos has more holiday programming packed into ten days than in any recent year. After that, the evenings belong mostly to a small train in Oak Meadow Park.
Tickets for the light show go on sale this Sunday, November 1.
What Changed at Vasona
Santa Clara County Parks has run Fantasy of Lights since 1999, and this is the 27th edition. For most of that time it was a drive-through event: families drove the 1.5-mile route through the park and saw the displays from the car. In recent years the county added a couple of walk-through nights at the start of the season, then opened the route to cars for more than two weeks.
Here is how 2025 compares with 2026:
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-through nights | Dec. 6 and 7 | Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13 |
| Drive-through nights | Dec. 9 to 30, closed Dec. 25 | None |
| Hours | Drive-through 6 to 10 p.m. | 4 to 9 p.m. |
| Walk-through price, ages 13 and up | $17 | $25 |
| Walk-through price, ages 4 to 12 | $8 | $10 |
| Drive-through price | $30 per vehicle, up to 12 people | Not offered |
The county has given one reason. "We did not make this decision lightly," Audrey Ann Díaz, acting senior communications officer for Santa Clara County, told NBC Bay Area in its October 15 report. "Like many beloved community traditions, Fantasy of Lights has faced rising operational costs over the years." In the same report, she called past walk-through events "wildly successful."
The county's own record backs that up. The 2025 walk-through nights are listed on the County Parks site as sold out. This year the format that sold out gets two more nights, and the format that held most of the calendar is gone.
The Math for a Carload
Pricing per car used to favor big groups. In 2025, a regular vehicle cost $30 for up to 12 people. In 2026, two adults and two children ages 4 to 12 pay $70 at the listed prices of $25 and $10.
The new event offers more for the money, according to the County Parks event page:
- Drone light displays on each of the four nights, weather permitting
- Expanded family engagement zones and photo spots
- Live entertainment
- More food options throughout the park
The 2025 walk-through featured an erupting volcano at the Dinosaur Den, Santa shooting hoops, a pen of penguins, pirate cannons, tunnels of moving lights and Moveable Feast food trucks. On foot, you set the pace. In a car, the pace was set by the bumper ahead of you.
Every person needs a ticket, including children 3 and under, whose tickets are free. The event goes ahead rain or shine, and the county guarantees entry only with a pre-paid ticket.
Three Ticket Windows, Starting Sunday
With four nights instead of last year's 23, and with last year's walk-through nights selling out, getting tickets takes some planning. The county is releasing them in three phases at parkhere.org:
- Phase 1: Sunday, November 1, 8:00 a.m.
- Phase 2: Friday, November 6, 6:00 p.m.
- Phase 3: Monday, November 9, 12:00 p.m.
The windows open at different times of day: a weekend morning, a Friday evening and a weekday lunch hour. If you miss Sunday morning, you still have two more chances at different points in the week.
Before you choose a night, check the rest of the town's calendar. All four nights fall on days that already have a downtown event.
The Ten Days That Hold the Season
This is everything in town with a confirmed 2026 date, in order:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Dec. 3, through Jan. 3 | NUMU Yarn-Wrapped Ornaments and DIY Gift Tags craft | 106 E. Main St. |
| Fri., Dec. 4, 5 to 7 p.m. | Los Gatos in Lights, the Town's winter celebration and tree lighting | Town Plaza Park |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 11 a.m. | 70th Annual Children's Holiday Parade | N. Santa Cruz Ave. to Main St. |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 4 to 9 p.m. | Fantasy of Lights, night one | Vasona Lake County Park |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | NUMU Free First Sunday | 106 E. Main St. |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 12:30 to 3 p.m. | NUMU holiday charcuterie board pour-paint workshop | 106 E. Main St. |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 4 to 9 p.m. | Fantasy of Lights, night two | Vasona Lake County Park |
| Fri., Dec. 11, 5 to 8 p.m. | NUMU Festive Night at the Museum | 106 E. Main St. |
| Sat., Dec. 12, and Sun., Dec. 13 | Kiwanis Los Gatos Holiday Market | 110 E. Main St. |
| Sat., Dec. 12, and Sun., Dec. 13, 4 to 9 p.m. | Fantasy of Lights, nights three and four | Vasona Lake County Park |
Saturday, December 5, is the busiest day of the season. The Children's Holiday Parade starts at 11 a.m. at Almendra Avenue and North Santa Cruz Avenue. It heads south on North Santa Cruz to Main Street, then east on Main and ends at Church Street. The Los Gatos Lions Club and LGS Recreation sponsor the parade, working with the Town of Los Gatos and Los Gatos High School. Five hours after it starts, the gates open at Vasona for the first walk-through night. A family can fit the parade, a downtown lunch and the light show into one day, but plenty of other people will be doing the same thing.
The Chamber lists the night before, December 4, for Los Gatos in Lights at Town Plaza Park from 5 to 7 p.m. On Sunday, NUMU's Free First Sunday offers free admission with registration.
The second weekend has the same overlap. The Kiwanis Los Gatos Holiday Market is listed for December 12 and 13 at 110 East Main Street, the same two days as the last Fantasy of Lights nights. The market's page doesn't list hours yet. NUMU's Festive Night at the Museum on Friday, December 11, comes the evening before, with free admission, holiday crafts, music and refreshments from 5 to 8 p.m.
If you go to Vasona on a Sunday, you'll share the day with museum and market crowds instead of parade crowds.
After the 13th, Oak Meadow Takes Over
In past years, the drive-through route kept Vasona lit almost until New Year's. This year the light show ends Sunday, December 13, and the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad Holiday Night Train starts the next night in Oak Meadow Park.
The railroad lists its schedule as Monday, December 14, through the 23rd, plus the 26th and 27th, from 6 to 9 p.m. It's closed Christmas Eve and Christmas. The County Parks page lists the train and carousel through December 28. If you're planning around the last weekend, check with the railroad before you go on the 28th.
How it works:
- Prices: $10 for the train, $6 for the carousel, $15 for a combo with one ride on each. Children 2 and under ride free with a paying adult.
- Tickets: Sold only at the railroad ticket booth during operating hours. You don't need to buy ahead or reserve, and regular daytime tickets aren't valid for the night event.
- Cutoff: The Oak Meadow Park entrance gate closes at 8:45 p.m., and ticket sales stop then.
- Weather: All hours depend on the weather.
The railroad's page also says the Fantasy of Lights won't be visible from the train. The two events used to overlap. This year they run back to back, so the train is the main after-dark holiday outing in Los Gatos for the second half of December.
Parking is in the Oak Meadow Park lot, where the Town of Los Gatos may charge a fee. If no attendant is there, parking is free, and overflow parking is available along University Avenue. The railroad suggests coming in from Los Gatos Boulevard to Blossom Hill Road and turning right into the park.
Getting to Vasona Without the Old Queue
The drive-through era was known for traffic. In December 2025, the Mercury News described past event backups on Blossom Hill Road, Lark Avenue and University Avenue, with waits of an hour or more. The 2025 drive-through directions sent Highway 17 traffic through Lark and University to reach Blossom Hill.
The 2026 plan moves the cars away from the park. Fantasy of Lights is at Vasona Lake County Park, 333 Blossom Hill Road. Free parking and shuttles run from Netflix at 121 Albright Way. For anyone who lives on the Blossom Hill side of town, December weeknights will look different this year. The traffic that used to come with three weeks of drive-through nights is down to four weekend evenings, and visitors park at a campus a short shuttle ride away.
If you'd like to help, the county says it needs hundreds of volunteers to run the walk-through nights each year, and you can sign up through the Fantasy of Lights page.
The fastest way to lose a night at Vasona this year is to wait for the third ticket phase. That's also true of a house in a market where good homes sell quickly. If you're curious what your home would be worth in the season ahead, Douglas Marshall can give you a clear, data-backed answer before the holidays fill your calendar. Get Your Free Home Valuation.
