previous < Christmas Trees  > next   Light Up the Row is Santana Row’s Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony Santana Row shopping complex welcomes the holidays with a tree lighting ceremony as the dazzling lights, sounds of music and special entertainment fill the cool San Jose evenings with song, celebration and wonder.   Santana Row Winchester and Stevens Creek boulevards, San Jose, CA 95128 (408) 551-4611 Time: 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. Santana Row's LIGHT UP THE ROW Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony kicks off the holidays with TV personalities who host the ceremonial Light Up the Row, which annually delights local residents and visitors with a splendid holiday show. Live entertainment with holiday songs, special performances by local theatre groups including the Children's Musical Theatre and San Jose Repertory Theatre and the lighting of more than 500,000 lights make this one of the brightest celebrations in Silicon Valley. Additional festivities take place throughout Santana Row from 6:30-9 p.m., with live music, choirs, carolers, stilt walkers, hot chocolate sampling and activities for children and families. Previous events have included San Jose native Katee Shean, who danced her way to the finals of season four of “So You Think You Can Dance.” The Celebration Stage on Olin Avenue, and all corners of Santana Row bustle with excitement. An annual event for Lights Galore! is often seen in the center island kitty corner from Border's Books, at the "Outdoor Concierge Lounge" with couches and a crackling fire. Performing holiday and wide appeal music before and after the gigantic Tree Lighting ceremony that takes place around the corner, the band is but one more reason to attend.   For tourists that seek a beautiful getaway from Southern California and other parts of the globe, a flight into San Jose's convenient airport and a hotel stay at Hotel Valencia on Santana Row offer an affordable escape for the holiday season. Hotel guests can actually walk over to the Winchester Mystery House to see this world-famous attraction decked out in its splendor that only Sara Winchester could possibly have imagined and created. If you really love the holidays you may want to attend other wonderful events that you can only see in San Jose. Among them are the beautiful Ballet San Jose annual performance of the The Nutcracker and San Jose Ice Skate Downtown.