From Trick-or-Treat to the Trolley, Willow Glen's Season Runs Through Two Addresses

The neon still comes on every night at 1165 Lincoln Avenue. That is the Garden Theater's marquee, and no film has played behind it since 1988. The auditorium was gutted the next year and rebuilt as offices and shops. The facade, the marquee and the tall vertical sign stayed.

Eighty street numbers up the avenue is the Bank of America parking lot at 1245 Lincoln. Between them, these two addresses host nearly everything the Willow Glen Business Association has scheduled from October 30 to the week before Christmas. They also split the work in a way that's useful when you're planning. The theater handles the free, daytime, drop-in events. The lot handles the ticketed events that leave at set times. And the biggest draw of the season, the lit-up streets, isn't on Lincoln Avenue at all.

1165 Lincoln: The Marquee That Outlived the Movies

The Garden Theater opened on June 22, 1949. Otto A. Deichman designed it and General Theatrical ran it. The Willow Glen Community Foundation's history of the building says it gave Willow Glen families first-run movies without a drive to downtown San Jose. By the mid-1970s it was showing Spanish-language films. That lasted more than a decade, until the programming stopped paying, and the theater closed in 1988.

The 1989 conversion turned the building into an office and retail mall and kept the sign lit, and the Community Foundation notes that the neon still glows every night. A marquee that stays lit is an easy landmark to meet at, and three of this season's events use it.

This fall it's booked three times, and all three are free:

1. Friday, October 30. During Trick or Treat Along Lincoln Ave., the nonprofit Books for Treats sets up at the theater and lets each child pick one free book. Children in kindergarten and younger come from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Children in first through sixth grade come from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The candy route runs from Minnesota Avenue to Willow Street, and the association asks families to walk it clockwise.
2. Sunday, November 8. "Autumn in Willow Glen" is a makers market at 1165 Lincoln from noon to 4 p.m., run by SJ Makers for local artists and small businesses. Funcheap's listing says admission is free.
3. December 12, 13, 19 and 20. Selfies with Santa runs at the Garden Theater from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on two weekends. These are the dates on the association's homepage, which match the 2026 weekends. Its month-by-month calendar shows slightly different ones, so check before you go.

Books for Treats was founded in 2001 and has been handing out books at Halloween for more than two decades. In the association's event listing, founder Rebecca Morgan explains why she picked Halloween:

"Halloween is already filled with excitement and imagination, so it's the perfect time to give children another kind of treat—one that can take them on countless adventures long after October 31."

The group takes donations of new or gently used children's books through BooksForTreats.org. The association is also looking for volunteer crossing guards and sidewalk monitors for both trick-or-treat sessions.

1245 Lincoln: A Bank Lot on a Timetable

Both ticketed December events check in at the Bank of America lot, where the association sets up wristbands, glasses and a firm departure clock.

The trolley schedule shows how limited it is. Six departures a night for 12 nights, at 32 seats each, comes to 2,304 seats for the whole season, and families with kids and groups of neighbors are all after the same seats. The association also rents out whole trolleys for private parties on a few select nights. You arrange that by emailing [email protected]. Most of the trolley is open to the weather, so the association tells riders to dress warmly or bring a blanket. No dogs are allowed, not even lap dogs, and drinks need a secure lid.

The dates moved a day earlier this year. The Mercury News holiday lights guide from November 2025 listed last season's rides as Dec. 7 to 18 at $20 to $40. The 2026 run starts Sunday, Dec. 6, the day after the Bubbly Walk, at the same prices.

A Wine Walk Where the Tax Office Pours

The association calls the Bubbly Walk its most popular wine walk of the year. Most of its 14 tasting stops are not restaurants. The list is BellaVista Landscape Services, Blue Dot Tax Solutions, The Thrift Box, Picture This Productions, Hammer & Nails-Willow Glen, BellaJames, Sushi Confidential, Whatnots And Dodads, The Injector Lounge, Gal in the Glen & Sprouted Twig, Mariette Chocolates, Hidden Jewel Antiques, Glow Wax Studio and Barre3. Hone Piercing is the water stop.

That mix explains how the afternoon is set up. The association's event page says Health Department rules limit non-restaurant stops to pre-wrapped individual snacks, so most of them won't have much food. That's why check-in opens two hours before the first pour, and the page suggests lunch at one of the avenue's restaurants first. The same page cites ABC regulations in asking attendees to finish or pour out their glass at each stop before walking on. The association checks every attendee's ID, and friends who come along without tasting don't need a ticket.

If you're eating before check-in, Copita Tequileria y Comida at 1098 Lincoln is close by. Eater SF reported that it opened at that address on October 30, 2023.

Parking that day is free in the Bank of America lot, and the association says to ignore the two-hour signs for the event. It also says plainly where you'll get towed: behind CVS or Orange Theory Fitness.

Where the Trolley Actually Goes

The trolley page says the ride goes "through the festive streets of Willow Glen" and doesn't publish a route. The streets people come to see are well known, though. The 2025 Mercury News guide describes about five blocks where neighbors decorate their homes every year, each in their own style, with lit archways, light poles, candy canes, giant snowpeople and Santa with his reindeer.

The guide names these streets:

• Glen Echo Avenue
• Glen Eyrie Avenue
• Glen Brook Avenue
• Cherry Avenue
• Camino Ramon, Camino Pablo and Camino Ricardo

The reindeer on Glen Eyrie have been there the longest. NBC Bay Area reported in December 2023 that the giant display had been part of the neighborhood for close to 20 years. Its photo of the "PEACE" letters at Glen Brooke and Glen Eyrie, from the Mercury News, shows how close together these displays are.

The timing works out. According to the Mercury News, most Willow Glen homes have their decorations up by the first weekend of December. This year that's December 5 and 6, which is when the Bubbly Walk and the first trolley night happen. The association runs the trolley, but the displays it drives past are put up by the households on those streets, and the Mercury News guide notes you can also go on your own.

Planning Around the Two Addresses

To plan the season, think of it in two parts. Anything at 1165 Lincoln is free, happens during the day, and only needs you to show up. That covers the free book on October 30, the makers market on November 8, and Santa on two December weekends. Anything at 1245 Lincoln runs on tickets and an arrival time, with a few exceptions: non-tasting companions on the Bubbly Walk and children under 2 on a trolley lap ride free. For the Bubbly Walk, check-in closes at 3 p.m. sharp, and nobody gets a refund for missing it. Trolley rides leave on time, and if you're late you don't get your money back. Book the trolley first, since seating is limited, then plan the other events around it.

A home on Glen Eyrie or Cherry sits on a street the Mercury News sends holiday visitors to, and selling one well means knowing what that street offers. Diane Bucher Real Estate Group has lived and worked in these West Valley neighborhoods for generations, and we're glad to talk through your Willow Glen home whenever you're ready. Request Your Personalized Home Valuation.