"It's essentially a live Advent calendar," Denise Webster told Fox 13 last December. "So you go to a home, they open their window... And instead of picking a chocolate out of the box, they have a hot chocolate or a treat or something for you."
Webster and Sue Yocum are third-generation co-owners of Frei's Fruit Market. They opened the 2025 season with a Swiss Miss hot chocolate display on a historic porch next to their market. The house belonged to their great-great-grandmother Barbara Staheli, the first baby born to the Swiss settlers who founded Santa Clara in the 1860s. The family calls it Aunt Mandy's, after her youngest daughter Amanda, who was the last to live there.
The city puts on the anchor events at Town Hall. The tradition that lasts all of December belongs to families, volunteers and the Historical Society, and it moves to a different address every night. That's why the schedule comes from flyers and social media, and why the city's event calendar won't show you most of it.
October and November Happen at Town Hall
The season starts on a lawn the city does manage. Santa Clara published its fall lineup on October 9, 2026, and both events are at Santa Clara Town Hall, 2603 Santa Clara Drive.
- Community Pumpkin Walk, October 27–31, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It's free. You can build a display or just walk through the park and vote for your favorites. To claim a display spot, reserve by October 23 using the QR code on the city's flyer.
- Kids Farmers Market, Saturday, November 14, 1–4 p.m. Children sell their own products and services, and the city's examples run from slime and soap to lemonade and lawn care. Booths cost $15 and are reserved through a QR code on the flyer.
Both events are listed in full on the city's fall events page, with dates, hours and sign-up links. December works differently. On October 13, the city's online event calendar listed events only through November 25, with nothing yet for December.
December 6 Comes Back to the Same Lawn
Samichlaus Abend, or Swiss Santa Night, marks December 6, the traditional start of the Christmas season in Switzerland. The city's Samichlaus Abend page says it's held every year on that date on the grass across from Town Hall, and that it began in 2020. The city's own numbering points a year later, though, since it called the December 2025 gathering the fifth annual. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that former council member Leina Mathis played a key role in bringing the celebration to town.
The focal point is a pecan tree across from city hall, wrapped in white lights. The Tribune describes residents gathering there each December 6 for the tree lighting. Samichlaus arrives with his helper Schmutzli, a dark-robed figure the Tribune says once handed out punishment to naughty children and now gives them a burlap bag of treats. The city's 2025 announcement listed what goes in the sacks: oranges, peanuts and Swiss chocolate. Everyone else got donuts and hot chocolate.
The city says many families collect the ornaments. Each year it sells an exclusive collectible Christmas ornament, and in 2025 it was $10 while supplies lasted. That's last year's price, and 2026 could be different.
The timing needs checking this year. The most recent posted schedule, in the city's December 2024 newsletter, ran the event from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. with the tree lighting at 7. December 6, 2026 is a Sunday. The city describes the event as held every December 6, but no 2026 announcement had been posted as of mid-October, so watch the city's channels for this year's date and time.
Before or after the tree lighting, walk over to the glockenspiel on city hall. It debuted in 2017 as a tribute to the Swiss immigrants who helped settle the area, and at Christmas its life-sized figures rotate as the clock tower chimes on the hour.
Then the Season Leaves Town Hall for 24 Different Addresses
Adventsfenster runs from December 1 through December 24. Each evening at 7 p.m., a decorated window at a home or business is unveiled, and the display builds across town until Christmas Eve. December 1, 2026 is a Tuesday, so this year's first reveal comes before Samichlaus Abend, just as it did in 2025.
Accounts of the start year vary from outlet to outlet. Fox 13 said in 2025 that the tradition began four years earlier, after Sherri Anderson of the local Historical Society came across the Swiss version. St. George News traced the heritage back further, to Swiss immigrant families called to settle in 1861 who stayed in Santa Clara after a flood wiped out the original settlement.
Some of the hosts are descendants of those settlers.
At the Historic Dutchman's Market, descendants of the original Frei family have created intricate miniature displays featuring tiny cookbooks, small portraits and guitars barely a centimeter high.
That's how Fox 13 described Nick and Lissa Frei's 2025 window. The station reported they had been working past midnight every day to finish it. In 2024, St. George News reported that Dutchman's Cookie Co. opened the season, and that other reveals that year included refreshments or entertainment.
No one is paid to do this. Webster told Fox 13 her family's display took a few days of lights and setup with plenty of help. The station also reported a waiting list of people who want to host, even though the work is unpaid. "We're just trying to just create good Swiss traditions and try to keep our Swiss heritage alive," Webster said.
Finding Each Night's Window
Because the windows change hands every year, the route comes out each season rather than sitting on a permanent page. Here's where it has come from in past years:
- The dated schedule. The city's December 2025 Adventsfenster notice pointed to a dated schedule and told residents to follow the city's and the Historical Society's social media accounts for updates.
- Paper flyers at the market. In 2024, St. George News reported a digital flyer listing dates and addresses, with paper copies at Dutchman's Market and Dutchman's Cookie Co.
- The History Museum's Facebook page. The same 2024 report pointed readers there for updates.
As of mid-October, no 2026 host list, route or sign-up process had been posted. If you'd like to host a window someday, Fox 13's account suggests the waiting list is how people get in, though no formal application process has been published.
Why December Evenings Feel Busier on Santa Clara Drive
All of this happens on a street that already draws holiday traffic. The Tribune describes Santa Clara Drive lined with tall London plane trees and Christmas banners hung from light posts wrapped in red rope lighting. At night, it says, streams of cars drive the length of the street to see the lights on homes and trees. The same story followed a couple from Mesquite who make a December trip to Santa Clara just for the decorations.
Put together, the reveals at 7 p.m., the tree lighting at 7 in 2024, and the drive-through light traffic all land in the same early-evening window on the same main street. None of the sources we found give crowd counts or parking plans for these events.
Here's how the season lays out, using confirmed 2026 dates where they exist and past-year details where they don't:
| Date | What | Where | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23 | Pumpkin Walk display reservations due | City flyer QR code | Confirmed for 2026 |
| Oct 27–31 | Community Pumpkin Walk, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. | Town Hall, 2603 Santa Clara Drive | Confirmed for 2026 |
| Nov 14 | Kids Farmers Market, 1–4 p.m., $15 booth | Town Hall | Confirmed for 2026 |
| Dec 1–24 | Adventsfenster, nightly reveal at 7 p.m. | A different home or business each night | Standing tradition; 2026 route not yet posted |
| Dec 6 | Samichlaus Abend and pecan tree lighting | Grass across from Town Hall | Standing tradition; Dec 6 is a Sunday this year, so confirm the time |
If you're hosting family this December, or wondering how a home near Santa Clara Drive fits into a season like this one, I'm happy to talk it through, along with what your own place might be worth. River Creek Realty works with the principal broker directly, from the first question to the closing table. Request Your Free Home Valuation.
