On a clear, crisp Wednesday night last December, the plaza in front of Piedmont Community Hall was packed. The Piedmont High School Troubadours sang. Mayor Betsy Smegal Andersen spoke. Then a single switch lit the 80-foot redwood, the menorah, Piedmont Park and Community Hall all at once, as the Piedmont Exedra reported.
The 2026 version, Lights Up!, is set for Wednesday, December 2, at 7:00 pm at Piedmont Community Hall, 711 Highland Avenue. The Piedmont Beautification Foundation and the City are hosting it, and the Recreation Department's Fall 2026 activity guide calls it "a community lighting celebration in Piedmont Park." The evening opens the season, and it also shows how the rest of the season works. Piedmont's December stays close to that tree, almost entirely on one stretch of Highland Avenue, and volunteers keep it running.
The Tree Came First
The tradition began in 1969 as a tree lighting ceremony, according to the City of Piedmont. At its center were the lighting of the redwood and the Troubadours singing carols a cappella on the plaza steps.
In 2022 the event grew. While volunteers strung the lights ahead of that year's ceremony, then-PBF President Karen Sullivan spoke with the Piedmont Exedra:
"Lighting this beautiful 80 ft redwood has been a tradition in the city for almost 60 years. Tonight, we will expand on that tradition with additional lighting throughout the park. Light is symbolic in many cultures, holidays, and celebrations this time of year."
What 2022 Added, and What It Started
The 2022 event kept the tree and the Troubadours and added a lighted menorah, holiday lights around Piedmont Park, and an activity run by Piedmont's Girl Scouts. The Exedra described these additions as "intended to create a more inclusive and welcoming event that celebrates the diversity of our community." By 2023 the menorah was being lit at the same moment as the tree, and the Exedra's preview that year called it the event's second year under the Lights Up name.
That change on the plaza now shapes the whole month. The Piedmont Recreation Department's December events sit side by side on the same calendar and in the same building. Donuts & Dreidels and Surf's Up Santa! both take place at Community Hall, six days apart. The opening night's two lights became two Saturday-and-Sunday mornings in the same room, with Santa photos and Hanukkah sufganiyot each getting their own turn.
Who Strings the Lights
The Piedmont Beautification Foundation obtains, installs and removes the colorful LED lights on the redwood every year. PBF and Piedmont Garden Club volunteers work alongside Public Works to put them up. The Piedmont Garden Club lists Lights Up among its community work, saying it helps plan the event and helps put up and take down the central tree lights.
The refreshments come from the community too. At the 2025 event, PBF President Patty Dunlap emceed. Piedmont Boy Scouts poured hot cider donated by Piedmont Grocery, and Recreation Department staff served latkes donated by the Chabad Jewish Center. Piedmont Girl Scouts and the Recreation Department ran light-themed crafts and games in the courtyard, and inside the hall, children wrote letters to Santa and posed with him.
The City listed last year's ceremony as free and open to everyone.
December 2026, Listed by Address
Below is Piedmont's confirmed December calendar, sorted by street address instead of by date. Listed this way, the month falls on three Highland Avenue addresses, with a single evening concert across the line in Oakland.
| Address | Venue | Event | Date and time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 Highland Ave | Piedmont Community Church sanctuary | Joy and Good Cheer: An Overture to Christmas | Sat Dec 5 and Sun Dec 6, 7:30 to 9:30 pm | See church registration |
| 400 Highland Ave | Piedmont Community Church | Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir service performance | Sun Dec 6, 10:00 am | No tickets required |
| 401 Highland Ave | Veterans Memorial Building | Noon Year's Eve | Thu Dec 31, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm | $10; under 2 free |
| 711 Highland Ave | Piedmont Community Hall | Lights Up! | Wed Dec 2, 7:00 pm | See City listing |
| 711 Highland Ave | Piedmont Community Hall | Donuts & Dreidels | Sun Dec 6, 10:00 am to noon | $10; under 2 free |
| 711 Highland Ave | Piedmont Community Hall | Surf's Up Santa! | Sat Dec 12, 10:00 am to noon | $10; under 2 free |
| 2619 Broadway, Oakland | First Presbyterian Church of Oakland | Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir Candlelight Concert | Sat Dec 12, 7:00 to 9:30 pm | See choir listing |
Each Recreation Department event has its own character. According to the City's special events page, Donuts & Dreidels includes live music, a holiday scavenger hunt, crafts, dreidel games and menorah making, and a photo with Doctor Dreidel. Coffee, juice and sufganiyot, the jelly donuts eaten at Hanukkah, go to families who register in advance. Surf's Up Santa! puts a tropical spin on the holiday photo, with crafts, holiday drinks and Santa in a Hawaiian shirt. Noon Year's Eve brings the New Year's countdown to midday for younger children, with DJ Kev and a balloon drop to welcome 2027. Parents or guardians must attend; it is not a drop-off program.
Two Weekends, Planned Along Highland
Because so much happens on the same street, two December weekends can be planned almost entirely on foot from one end of the civic center to the other.
- Saturday, December 5, evening. Joy and Good Cheer: An Overture to Christmas in the Piedmont Community Church sanctuary at 400 Highland, 7:30 pm. The concert repeats Sunday evening at the same time for anyone with a Saturday conflict.
- Sunday, December 6, morning. Two options start at 10:00 am, a short walk apart on Highland. The Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir sings at Piedmont Community Church, with no tickets required, and Donuts & Dreidels runs until noon at Community Hall.
- Saturday, December 12, morning. Surf's Up Santa! at Community Hall, 10:00 am to noon. Children under 2 attend free and do not need to register online.
- Saturday, December 12, evening. The Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir's Candlelight Concert at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway, starting at 7:00 pm. This is the one event on the list that takes you off Highland.
Later in the month, choir singers appear with Oakland Ballet in Graham Lustig's The Nutcracker at the Paramount Theatre on December 19 and 20. Check the Paramount for performance times before you buy tickets.
When School Is Out
The Fall 2026 activity guide lists Recreation Department holiday camps for December 21 to 23 and December 28 to 31, then January 4 and 5, 2027. There is also a short camp session November 23 to 25, during Thanksgiving week. In July the City said the department had planned 20 camp offerings across the November and winter breaks. For families with Noon Year's Eve on their calendar, the December 31 camp day and the 11:00 am balloon drop at 401 Highland fall on the same morning.
The Donuts & Dreidels, Surf's Up Santa! and Noon Year's Eve listings each link to registration.
Volunteers string the redwood lights, Scouts pour the cider, and the Recreation Department runs the Community Hall mornings. If you are new to town and want to know how the season works, or you have been here for years and are thinking about your next chapter, Anian Tunney and Adrienne Krumins are always glad to talk with you over a cup of cocoa on Highland Avenue. Contact Us.