On the Saturday after Thanksgiving last year, Sonoma Plaza held two events in one day. Sip N Shop ran from 2 to 5 p.m., with Plaza retailers pouring Sonoma Valley wine for shoppers. At 6:30 p.m. the Lighted Tractor Parade began, and people lined East Napa Street to watch decorated vineyard tractors, farm trucks and trailers circle the Plaza. One Glen Ellen family watched from the back of their pickup, according to the Sonoma Index-Tribune's coverage.
This year those two events fall a week apart. The parade keeps the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28. Sip 'N Shop moves to Saturday, Dec. 5. Add the Lighting of the Sonoma Plaza on Nov. 21 and the Sonoma Valley Woman's Club Holiday Market on Nov. 14 and 15, and the season now covers four Saturdays in a row. The two biggest of them are organized or co-hosted by the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance.
The Parade at the Center of the Season Is Four Years Old
The Alliance's own listing calls this year's Lighted Tractor Parade its "4th Annual," so the event that now anchors Thanksgiving weekend on the Plaza has only three earlier editions behind it.
It grew quickly. The Index-Tribune described the 2024 parade as the second annual, with about 30 entries. One of them came from Sangiacomo Family Vineyards. The paper's photo captions say vehicles of every kind were invited, from trucks and cars to assorted farm equipment. Several hundred people came to watch, and many stores and restaurants stayed open for the evening.
By 2025 the paper was calling it the third annual. Organizers said it commemorates the city's agricultural heritage, and the entries came from local growers, vintners and neighbors. A Friedman's truck carried riders around the Plaza. An old fire truck came through strung with lights. Santa drove a tractor pulling a trailer full of children.
For 2026, the details that matter on the night are on the Alliance's parade page:
- When: Saturday, Nov. 28, at 6:30 p.m., free
- Route: the entire Sonoma Plaza perimeter
- Street closures: streets start closing at 5 p.m. If you park on the route after that, your car stays there until the parade ends.
- Viewing: stay out of the street and keep clear of the entries. The page says they are large, lit-up vehicles whose drivers have limited visibility.
That 5 p.m. cutoff is the practical detail for anyone planning dinner on the Plaza that night. Park off the perimeter before then, or plan to stay until the last tractor has gone around.
Sip 'N Shop Gets Its Own Saturday
Moving Sip 'N Shop to Dec. 5 gives the holiday shopping afternoon a day of its own. The Alliance's listing has it running from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Plaza retailers host wineries from around the valley, and many local tasting rooms take part too. You pick up a glass and wristband that afternoon. The Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance co-host, and there is a participation fee. The event goes ahead rain or shine, and the listing says refunds are not offered.
The same afternoon, the City lists Come Carol with Sonoma Hometown Band from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. That makes Dec. 5 a full afternoon on the Plaza: wine and gift shopping from 2 o'clock, with carols starting halfway through.
The Alliance's name appears on both Thanksgiving weekend and the first Saturday of December, once behind the tractors and once behind the wine pours, so it is attached to two separate Plaza weekends.
Every One of Those Saturdays Starts at Garden Park
Before any of the Plaza events begin, the Saturday Harvest Market at Sonoma Garden Park runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 19996 7th St. East, and it continues through December. The produce, flowers and eggs come from the park's own garden and resident chickens, alongside local honey and olive oil. The Sonoma Ecology Center has run the park under an agreement with the City since 1993.
The park's Native Plant Nursery holds its sale on Fridays from noon to 3 p.m. The Ecology Center says it carries more than 80 native species year-round and presents them as a way to build drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly gardens. The City's calendar lists the sale every Friday through December, including Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
Garden Park fits the theme of the season. The parade celebrates the valley's farming, and Garden Park sells what it grows every Saturday morning before the Plaza events start.
The Four Saturdays at a Glance
| Saturday | Morning | Afternoon and evening |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 14 | Harvest Market at Garden Park, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Sonoma Valley Woman's Club Holiday Market, 574 First St. East, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., also open Sunday, Nov. 15 |
| Nov. 21 | Harvest Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Lighting of the Sonoma Plaza, 5 to 8 p.m., free |
| Nov. 28 | Harvest Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Lighted Tractor Parade, 6:30 p.m.; streets start closing at 5 p.m. |
| Dec. 5 | Harvest Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Sip 'N Shop, 2 to 5 p.m.; Come Carol with Sonoma Hometown Band, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. |
The Sonoma Valley Woman's Club Holiday Market features local artisans and handmade arts and crafts. It is the first of the four weekends, and on publish day its second weekend is still ahead.
The Sonoma Valley Sun bills the Lighting of the Plaza as "Wine Country's Favorite Community Holiday Event." The evening has local performers and special guest stars, cider, cookies, food trucks, wine and beer, and a holiday tree lit "with the power and energy of the community."
Shops Along the Route
Several shops around the Plaza have opened or have been preparing to open as the season starts. They are worth knowing about before Sip 'N Shop on Dec. 5.
- Fine Eye Gallery moved from Sutter Creek and opened Sept. 2 at 535 1st Street West, run by owner Dora Martin, the Index-Tribune reported.
- Sonoma Eats, a Mexican restaurant from Efrain Balmes and Hayley Cutri, is at 561 Fifth St. W., per the paper's roundup of summer newcomers.
- Belongings, Jennifer Adler's women's clothing and consignment shop, was set to open inside Nanigins at 529 Broadway on Nov. 4, according to the Index-Tribune.
- See's Candies planned a temporary holiday pop-up at 201 W. Napa St., Suite 10, starting in mid-November. It sells prepackaged products and closes after the holidays, the paper reported.
- Overland Sheepskin Co. has been preparing a store at 452 First St. E. A company vice president, Cody Phipps, told the Index-Tribune it would open in mid- to late November, "definitely before Thanksgiving."
After the Fourth Saturday
Once Sip 'N Shop is over, the calendar moves to a mix of weeknight and weekend events:
- Dec. 6, 6 to 7 p.m.: Lights of Remembrance, on the City's special-events calendar.
- Dec. 9, 4 to 4:30 p.m.: Children's Hanukkah Celebration.
- Dec. 16 to 20: Transcendence Theatre's Broadway Holiday at the Sebastiani Theatre, with 7 p.m. shows Wednesday through Friday, shows at 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, and a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee.
- Dec. 21, 5 to 8 p.m.: Music in Place Holiday Solstice Celebration.
The City keeps the full list on its special events calendar, including each Friday's native plant sale. The Harvest Market at Garden Park keeps its Saturday morning hours through the end of December.
If the Plaza at holiday time is part of why you love living near it, and you'd like to talk about property within walking distance of these events, Hillary Ryan Group is glad to help. Request a private consultation.
