In April 2001, crews set heavy steel beams into the median of Diablo Road. A few months earlier, arborists had found root rot in Danville's best-known Valley oak and given it what SFGate described as a death sentence. The Town did not remove the tree. It spent $69,000 on a retrofit the columnist compared to Bay Bridge engineering, using steel beams the paper put at 40,000 pounds to keep the tree from falling into traffic.
Not everyone liked how it looked. One nearby resident told SFGate the braces were "Ugly, ugly, ugly." The paper reported that the reddish steel would be repainted within a week in "Danville Green," the dark shade the Town uses on its traffic light poles.
On Friday, November 27, Danville gathers for the 50th Lighting of the Old Oak Tree. That makes the steel half of the anniversary story. The tree has been held up since at least 2001, so roughly 25 of the 50 lightings have happened only because the Town decided to keep it standing.
The landmark is a living tree, and the Town chose to keep it
Danville's historic walking tour guide lists the Old Oak Tree as stop number 10. It identifies the tree as a Valley oak on Diablo Road, dates it to around the 1600s and notes that "the tree is surrounded by a structural brace to prevent the branches from falling." The same guide calls it the town's most notable landmark.
The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce's 2026 history of the tree says the same thing more plainly. The oak "has started to show its age," it "was discovered to be in jeopardy of weakening and possibly falling down," and "a special metal support structure was installed to prevent the tree from falling."
The tree stands in the Diablo Road median just east of Hartz Avenue, not on a street corner. For past lightings, the Town closed Diablo Road from Hartz to 50 feet east of the tree. Anyone who drives that stretch daily passes a 350-year-old oak in the median, held up by green-painted steel.
How old is it? The estimate keeps changing
Each telling of the story gives the tree a slightly different age. The sources disagree by about a century, and the disagreement says something about how the tree is remembered.
| Source | Year | Age given |
|---|---|---|
| SFGate | 2001 | About 300; the columnist wrote it had "celebrated the Big Three-Oh-Oh" |
| DanvilleSanRamon.com | 2021 | 400 years old |
| Town walking tour guide | Undated, current | Over 350 years, circa 1600s |
| Danville Area Chamber history | 2026 | Estimated 350 years |
The age is a range of estimates. The 2001 decision is on record: a rotting oak in a traffic median got steel supports instead of a chain saw. The SFGate piece notes that almost any other tree in that condition would have been cut down quickly. Each lighting since then has taken place at a tree the Town decided was worth bracing.
Fifty lightings, and one that went online
The edition numbers line up year after year. The Town called the 2020 ceremony the 44th annual. That year it went virtual. DanvilleSanRamon.com reported a recorded address, choir songs and archival photographs instead of a crowd on Diablo Road. The oak was still lit for the season and stayed lit for anyone driving or walking past.
The in-person event returned in 2021. In 2023, DanvilleSanRamon.com described the Town Council hosting and organizing the evening with the Chamber, and reported the Snow Angel returning for her 30th year. Father Christmas has also appeared for decades. Some of the people in costume on Diablo Road have been part of the event for more than half its history, which is about as long as the tree has had its braces.
What the 50th looks like on November 27
The Chamber's 2026 event page lists the evening from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. The event is co-sponsored by the Town of Danville and the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce. According to the Chamber page, the program runs in this order:
- Holiday songs from the Danville Girls Chorus, the Monte Vista High School Chamber Singers and the San Ramon High School Chamber Singers
- Father Christmas and the Snow Angel greet the crowd
- A procession down Diablo Road and through downtown to the festivities, entertainment and holiday treats
The procession links the tree to the rest of downtown. The Town's business registration form sets the event area as Hartz Avenue from Linda Mesa Avenue to School Street, plus Prospect Avenue from Front Street to the Clocktower parking lot entrance. Participating businesses offer an activity or special promotion during event hours and appear on an event map.
If you run a downtown business and want to be on that map, the Town's form asks for registration by November 16. You need an active Town of Danville business license and a brick-and-mortar location inside the event area, or a partnership with a business that has one. The Chamber page lists [email protected] for questions.
Planning the evening, using last year as a guide
The Town hasn't yet published 2026 street closures or parking details. The Town calendar listing gives only the time and the location at Hartz and Prospect Avenues. Last year's setup is the best available reference, but it may change for 2026.
For the 2025 lighting, the Town's November 24, 2025 release included:
- A program start at 5 p.m., with the tree lit by 6:30 p.m.
- Several downtown street closures from 4 to 9 p.m.
- Diablo Road closed from 1 to 9 p.m.
- Free parking on surrounding streets and in municipal lots
The 1 p.m. Diablo Road closure is the part most likely to affect a regular afternoon, since the tree sits in that road's median. If the Town repeats that setup this year, an errand that usually runs along Diablo Road on Black Friday will need another route. DanvilleSanRamon.com's 2025 coverage put the lighting at 6:30 p.m. with festivities continuing until 8. If you want to see the lights come on, rather than just walk the procession route afterward, arriving well before 6:30 has worked in past years.
What else is on the downtown calendar after the lighting
The lighting starts the holiday shopping season, according to the Chamber's history sheet. These dates are already on the Town's calendar for the following weeks:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, November 28, 8 to 10 p.m. | The Best Intentions holiday show | Village Theatre, 233 Front Street |
| Tuesday, December 1 | Holiday Walk and Shop Local | Danville Senior Center |
| Monday, December 7 | The Price is Merry | Danville Senior Center |
| Tuesday, December 15 | Holiday Brunch | Danville Senior Center |
Last year, Small Business Saturday followed the lighting, with holiday music at Prospect Park Plaza from 1 to 3 p.m. A 2026 version has not been posted yet. The Town calendar is where it would most likely appear first.
On the night of the 27th, the choirs will sing, Father Christmas and the Snow Angel will greet the crowd, and the procession will head into downtown. The braces painted Danville Green will be holding the tree up through all of it.
At Myron Potter, much of our work is with families deciding what to keep, repair or let go of in a home that has carried years of their history. If you're facing one of those decisions this season, whether in Danville or elsewhere in the East Bay, we're glad to talk it through calmly and at your pace. Book an appointment whenever you're ready.
