Santa Clara's Holiday Season Starts on One Lawn and Ends in Neighbors' Windows

Santa Clara's season from now to Christmas mostly happens at one address. The Pumpkin Walk, both America250 lectures, the Kids Farmers Market and Samichlaus Abend all happen at Santa Clara Town Hall, 2603 Santa Clara Drive, or on the grass across the street.

Adventsfenster is the one tradition that doesn't. Starting December 1, the season leaves Town Hall and moves into decorated windows in homes and businesses around the city, with a new one revealed each evening. In date order, the calendar looks like this: about five weeks centered on one lawn, then 24 nights spread out across town.

Through Saturday: the Pumpkin Walk's last three days

Santa Clara's Community Pumpkin Walk opened Tuesday, October 27, and runs through Saturday, October 31. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day at Town Hall. That leaves Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The walk is free and open to everyone. Community members built the pumpkin displays, and visitors walk through the park and vote for their favorites.

Display reservations closed October 23, so the lineup is set and these last days are for visiting and voting. The 10 p.m. closing time means you can still go after dinner, even on Halloween night.

The week after: cemetery cleanup, then a lecture about local veterans

The first item in November isn't an event. It's a deadline. The city's October 2026 newsletter sets fall cemetery cleanup for November 2 through 6. Flowers and decorations need to be removed before Monday, November 2, and they can go back starting Friday, November 6. If you placed something for a family member, plan for that five-day window.

On Wednesday, November 4, at 7 p.m., the city's America250 lecture series comes back to Town Hall with "Stories of Santa Clara Veterans." It's scheduled to run until 8:30 p.m. The series is part of Santa Clara's yearlong observance of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Lectures happen monthly at Town Hall at 7 p.m. The October talk covered the history of Southern Utah's national parks. November's topic is closer to home, and it comes one week before Veterans Day.

On Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, city offices are closed. The council's November 11 meetings are canceled on the October agenda, along with the meetings on November 25. Some recurring calendar pages still list the November 11 meeting times, but the agenda is the newer source.

November 14: kids run the booths

On Saturday, November 14, Town Hall hosts the Kids Farmers Market from 1 to 4 p.m. The city describes it as a day for children to be entrepreneurs, selling their own products and services. The city's examples include slime, soaps, lemonade and lawn services. A booth costs $15, and reservations go through a form linked from the city's post.

The "lawn services" example is a good reminder that kids can sell more than crafts. A child who wants to rake leaves or pull weeds for neighbors this fall can take sign-ups here, at the same place most of those neighbors will come back to in December.

The Town Hall calendar at a glance

Adventsfenster is the only event in the table that isn't held at Town Hall, across the street from it, or at the city cemetery.

December 1: the season leaves Town Hall

The city explains Adventsfenster as a Swiss-inspired countdown to Christmas. From December 1 through December 24, decorated windows in homes and businesses across Santa Clara are revealed one per evening. Every window is designed differently, and each reveal happens at 7 p.m. As the month goes on, the number of lit windows around the city grows.

FOX 13 described it in December 2025 as a live Advent calendar. The station reported that visitors may get hot chocolate or a treat at a window, and that the local Historical Society brought the tradition to Santa Clara after learning about the Swiss custom. FOX 13 also reported that people hoping to host a window that year were on a waiting list. In 2023, St. George News reported 24 addresses, mostly homes, each matched to a reveal date.

This is the part of the calendar that requires some planning. Every other event has a fixed place. Adventsfenster comes with a list of addresses, and that list changes every year. The most recent location schedule on the city's site is from December 2025, and it went up on December 1. Keep an eye on the city's site around the start of December for the 2026 list.

The Wednesday, December 2, lecture brings the series back indoors for an evening. "Churchill in Washington" starts at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, the same time that night's window is revealed somewhere else in the city. If you'd like to do both, see the window another night. Each one stays decorated after its reveal, so the display builds through the month.

December 6: back across from Town Hall

The last big gathering of the season is back at Town Hall. The city calls Samichlaus Abend "Swiss Santa Night." It's held every year on December 6, the traditional start of the Christmas season in Switzerland, on the grass across from Town Hall. The city's event page lists free hot chocolate and donuts, plus a collectible ornament for sale that changes every year. Santa Clara started the event in 2020.

Because the city ties the event to the date and not to a weekend, it falls on Sunday this year. The 2026 start time and ornament price hadn't been posted on the city's event page yet. For comparison, last year's ornament cost $10, according to the city's 2025 event notice. That notice called the 2025 event the fifth annual and described Samichlaus and Schmutzli handing out oranges, peanuts and Swiss chocolate. In its 2023 coverage, St. George News described Schmutzli as Samichlaus's companion in a dark hood who controls who gets the treats.

By the evening of December 6, at least five windows will be lit around the city. Anyone who comes to Town Hall that evening can find a few on the way home.

Where to find the details

The Santa Clara city calendar is the place to check for the 2026 Samichlaus start time, the ornament price and the Adventsfenster address list. Until December 1, every event on this calendar except the cemetery cleanup is at 2603 Santa Clara Drive.

Every December, Adventsfenster spreads the season across Santa Clara's streets. If you're thinking about how your own home on one of those streets would compare this winter, or what's being planned along Santa Clara Drive, I'm happy to talk it through with you, with no pressure. Jeremy Back | Let's Connect.