At 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 28, local nonprofit teams will start decorating more than 30 trees in front of the Veterans Memorial Building at 649 San Benito Street. Each tree is about five feet tall, each team is limited to six decorators, and every ornament has to be weatherproof and shatterproof. The trees are donated by Bourdet's Christmas Trees. They stay on display all day, and after the celebration they go to San Benito County families in need.
The trees are the clearest example of how downtown Hollister's November works this year. The Wednesday farmers' market ended its season on October 21. Since then, the downtown calendar has centered on one building. Three of the season's biggest dates happen at or in front of the Veterans Memorial Building, and most of them ask you to bring something that leaves the building with someone else.
Wednesday, November 11: The Day the Market Used to Have
From April 15 through October 21, Wednesday afternoons downtown belonged to the Downtown Certified Farmers' Market on San Benito Street, which ran from 3 to 7 p.m. The first big downtown gathering after the market closes also falls on a Wednesday. In 2026, Veterans Day is Wednesday, November 11.
The day has two parts. The Hollister Downtown Association lists a Veterans' Day Celebration at 11 a.m. on the Veterans Memorial Building Plaza. The association's page still shows "Tuesday" next to the date, but November 11, 2026 is a Wednesday.
The parade comes after the ceremony. BenitoLink reports that VFW Post 9242's 2026 parade steps off at 1:30 p.m. Participants line up at 12:30 p.m. at Haydon and Monterey streets. The route runs down San Benito Street, turns left on Fifth Street, then left again onto Monterey Street.
That gap between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. falls over lunch, and the restaurants a few doors from the plaza fill it well. The table further down lists them.
Veterans Day is the only one of the three dates without a donation request. It still sets the pattern for the month. The building is named for the community's veterans, and November opens there by honoring them before the rest of the month turns to collecting for neighbors.
Saturday, November 21: Holiday Shopping With Socks and Blankets
Ten days later, the same building hosts the free Winter Wonderland Makers Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. BenitoLink's event listing describes it as an annual craft event with more than 30 vendors selling handcrafted jewelry, soap, candles, cards and artwork. Kids can get their faces painted, and there are photo opportunities with holiday characters.
The organizers also ask shoppers to bring new socks or blankets for seniors in the area. Put a pack of new socks in the bag you'll carry your purchases home in.
The market is also the first holiday shopping event downtown, a week ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend boutique. If you're working on a gift list, these two events split it up well. The 21st has handmade goods inside the building. The 27th and 28th bring a second round of artisan vendors along with the parade.
Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28: Trees, a Boutique and The Nutcracker
The busiest stretch of the month takes up the Thanksgiving weekend, and almost every part of it involves giving.
Here is how the two days fit together, based on the Hollister Downtown Association's Lights On Celebration page and its Dec-A-Tree application.
- Friday, November 27. The Lights On Boutique opens with more than 30 artisan food, craft and goods vendors, plus coffee and cocoa.
- Saturday, November 28, 9 a.m. Dec-A-Tree decorating begins in front of the Veterans Memorial Building. Trees are judged that day, and the association announces the winning sponsors on social media.
- Saturday, November 28. The boutique continues with kids' activities, including face painting, balloons, crafts, special guests and letters to Santa.
- Saturday, 5:30 p.m. The free 36th Annual Lights On Celebration parade goes down San Benito Street. This year's theme is The Nutcracker, and Ray Pulver of Upbeat Parade Productions is providing the displays.
The parade has its own donation request. The association encourages attendees to bring canned food or toys, which are collected at its office at 350 Sixth St., Suite 102. The association also asks people to eat, shop and play at downtown merchants before or after the parade, to look at the decorated storefronts, and to stop by the Dec-A-Tree display on the Vets Plaza.
Across the month, there are three separate asks. Socks and blankets on the 21st benefit seniors in the area. Canned food and toys on the 28th are collected at the downtown association's office. The decorated trees go home with San Benito County families in need. If you plan to attend more than one event, you can pack for them a week apart.
Nonprofits that want a tree should note the application deadline, which is Monday, November 2. Trees are assigned first come, first served, to applicants with an email confirmation. For entering a parade display, the association lists 831-636-8406 and [email protected].
Filling the Hours Between Events on San Benito Street
The events run on fixed schedules, but they leave long gaps. There's lunch between the Veterans Day ceremony and the parade, and an afternoon between the 9 a.m. tree decorating and the 5:30 p.m. parade. These downtown spots have had recent local coverage, and their addresses put them within a short walk of 649 San Benito Street.
| Stop | Address | What recent coverage says |
|---|---|---|
| Crave Wine Company | 616 San Benito St. | Runs rotating "Thirsty Thursday" tastings and The 20 Club, a quarterly wine selection sourced within 20 miles of the shop |
| Country Rose Café | 756 San Benito St. | BenitoLink's November 2025 profile listed daily hours of 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Running Rooster | 800 San Benito St. | Hired a new executive chef and launched a new menu in spring 2025 |
On Saturday the 28th, Country Rose Café's morning hours line up with the 9 a.m. tree decorating, if those 2025 hours still hold. Running Rooster is the farthest of the three from the Veterans Memorial Building, and it's on the same street.
Crave fits the month's theme best. BenitoLink's October feature covered a recent local release, the 2023 Old Vine Grenache from Peneyra Winery. The grapes come from Ness Peneyra's home vineyard off Southside Road, which sits on part of the historic Almaden Vineyards. That operation ran for 70 years and once covered 100 acres in the area. Only four acres of the 60-plus-year-old grenache vines remain on his property. Peneyra made just 180 cases. Crave sells it by the bottle, and the local restaurants Cosmos and Paine's pour it by the glass.
A bottle grown a few miles from downtown and sold a few doors from the parade route makes a good host gift for a Thanksgiving weekend table. Crave's Mike Kohne told BenitoLink the shop aims to be "that home base for the wines that are made from grapes that are grown here." The October tastings in that feature are over, and Crave posts upcoming ones on its events page.
Mad Pursuit Brewing Company and Farmhouse Cafe also poured at the downtown Wine & Beer Stroll in May, according to BenitoLink, so both are options for a day downtown.
If the Weekend Has Room for a Drive
For a weekend meal outside downtown, Frank Léal has reopened his old Grove restaurant as MOHI at the Grove, on his Léal Vineyards estate off Pacheco Pass Highway. The Hollister Free Lance reported in August that it now uses counter service, with self-service touchscreen kiosks for ordering and cocktail servers bringing drinks. At the time it was open Friday through Sunday, with brunch on Sundays. Léal told the paper that about 70% of the food comes from his own farms, including eggs from roughly 140 chickens kept on-site.
The same Free Lance story said acoustic sets would move indoors once the outdoor patio season ended. Late November is about when that change should happen. The restaurant's ordering page lists 7511 Pacheco Pass Highway. The August days and hours may have changed since, so confirm them before you drive out.
If you're planning family visits around these dates and want to talk through the season in South County, I'm always happy to compare calendars. That includes the small places I'd point a houseguest to between the tree decorating and the parade. You can reach me anytime at Lori Robitaille Biasca. Let's Connect.
